Nashville

We took a family vacation to Nashville from July 22-29.  What a good time.  Here's the rundown of what we did and saw:

22nd:  After stopping for the night in Bristol, TN, I borrowed some time in the morning to go over to Bristol Motor Speedway to attempt to do one of their track tours.  It didn't quite work out as I had planned as they had rented the track out, but instead got to do a self-guided tour of the infield!  Basically I signed a waiver, walked through the tunnel, and had freedom to roam around the infield.  It was really crazy.  But a lot of fun.  I even got my exercise by climbing the banking into the turns, getting my picture taken, then seeing a car had pulled onto the track and had to run down the banking (which was a lot harder than it sounds).  It was the best $5 I didn't have to spend!

23rd:  I attended the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Nashville Superspeedway.  As it stands right now, it's the last NASCAR race there for at least 18 months.  I bought the "All Access" pass which allowed me to go into the pits and meet drivers like Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Elliott Sadler, among others.  It was pretty cool.  My name is on the start finish line and may be there for some time now since there will be no racing at NSS for a while.

24th:  We went to historic downtown Franklin.  Enjoyed walking around the downtown area.

25th:  Visited the Country Music Hall of Fame, Bridgestone Arena, and walked around the Opryland Hotel.  The Hall of Fame was really well done.  We got to see the Williams family collection, which was the rotating exhibit. 

26th:  Visited the Hermitage, which was Andrew Jackson's estate, and the Belle Meade Plantation house.  Jackson's estate was rather interesting.  There was lots to see, and they have done a very good job maintaining a lot of the artifacts that Jackson owned and had in the house.  Belle Meade was also well done, but we did not allow enough time to tour the entire plantation, but we did sample some of their wine and even brought some home.  We finished the day at Cooter's museum.

27th:  We left Nashville for the day to head over to Chattanooga and visit the Tennessee Aquarium.  What a place!  It was very interactive and there were plenty of activities for "kids" of all ages.  My daughter, who turned 7 months hte next day, enjoyed watching the fish and sharks.  At one point, there was a large catfish that was swimming right where she was being held.  Her eyes lit up every time he swimmed by, but finally he stopped and made her day.  She also enjoyed seeing the penguins.  We had dinner with some of my friends that night who I hadn't seen in 8 years.  It was good to catch up and see them again.  We joked that the next time needed to be sooner than 8 years from now!

28th:  Last day in Nashville.  We decided to take a day trip to Mammoth Cave up in Kentucky.  We did the historic tour, which was quite amazing.  There's one spot on the tour called "Fat Man's Misery" where it's only 2 feet wide and about 4 feet high.  My back and my legs surely got a workout!  The guide was very  good and was very talkative.  The part that interested me the most was how dark and quiet it got in there.  At one point we stopped and were told to turn all lights off.  It was rather dark and quiet in there!  But the simple glow from a camera or cell phone was enough to help you find your way out!  That night we went and had dinner with one of Lauren's friends.  We went out for a bit afterwards and got to catch up with her.


All in all a great trip.  Although I think we saw all the major things within the Nashville area, it was very relaxing and I would go back.