Super Fun Vaca -- Day 1

With the rascals safe in the spoiling them rotten loving hands of the 'rents, the husband and I headed out for our Super Fun Vaca.

First Stop: Music City, USA....Nashville, Tennessee

Mode of Transportation: Minivan (we rocked it!)

Traveling Companions: Our besties, Eric & Stephanie and Wes & Lisa

Time of Departure: Crack of dawn thirty

How I Coped With Crack of Dawn Thirty: a horribly funktified delightfully delicious hot mocha which the restaurant folks "forgot" to fill all the way to the top, but I'm not holding grudges about it. Really.

So, we met up with our peeps and headed out. Nashville is about a 5 or 6 hour drive from where we took off from, so we had plenty of time to visit in the car.

Now, I hate roadtrips. Because I hate to ride in cars, but that trip yesterday might possibly be the best roadtrip I've ever been on. I'm telling you....we laughed. A LOT. And we learned A LOT about eachother that we didn't know. Some of us learned more about others than we probably bargained for. Ahem. And we played a fascinating game of "Name That Tune," which I have come to discover that I stink at.

We finally rolled into the hotel parking lot, checked-in, and we girls got all gussied up for our big night out on the town.

We came to Nashville for the wedding of some great friends of ours. But, with the wedding on Saturday, we decided to take advantage of our evening in Music City and do what everyone should do at least once in their lifetime whether they like country music or not....go to the Grand Ole Opry!!

But, it is a well known fact that you can't listen to music on an empty stomach. And vacations usually revolve around the food for me, so dinner was first on our agenda.

We ate here.

Very cool. The restaurant's tables surround this ginormous aquarium, and it was stocked full of huge fish, sharks, and some gnarly stingrays. And a huge creepy lime green eel.

Don't we all look spiffy?

Kirk ate this.

And I ate this.

And it was delish. I wanted to lick my plate, but I was afraid that my friends would fire me.

After dinner, the girls posed with this shark. The boys wouldn't do it. Party poopers.

The restaurant was handily located directly across the street from the Grand Ole Opry, so we mosied our way over. And we posed in front of the building like all good tourists should do.

Then we headed in and found our seats. (This is where I have to give props to Stephanie. She is now our official travel agent. She planned this whole Nashville trip, and she rocked it on the ticket and hotel deals. So a big Woo Hoo to Steph!) Our seats were great....well, the location of our seats was great. You are seated on church pews. No joke. Like old country church church pews. Not so comfortable. But, back to the location. We were up in the mezzanine, which gave us a perfect view of the stage. And these were a few of my favorites (and not-so-favorites)...

That's Little Jimmy Dickens. He makes me smile, and he is hilarious. He had the best jokes of the night, and my heart was grinning because he reminded me of my Grandpa Sib.

That's Pam Tillis.

That's Collin Raye. And I sang along with him. And I liked his shirt.

That's Charlie Pride. He was interesting. And that's all I'm going to say about that. My traveling companions know of what I speak.

All I remember about this guy was his very snazzy yellow jacket. And the blue sequins on his hat. I felt underdressed.

And this guy had very white boots.

And this is Emerson Drive. And I likey the Emerson Drive.

The Opry (also called the "Opera" by someone who shall remain nameless...um, Wes) was so much fun! I think even Lisa had fun, who had sworn off all matters of country music, and only came to the Opry as a result of peer pressure.

(We interrupt this vaca blow-by-blow to insert this small note of sentimentality. The Opry is very dear to my heart, and I even teared up a time or two last night, because my Grandpa Sib was at the front of my mind the entire time. My mom's dad loved country music. Old school country music. And he was an incredible musician himself. One of his dreams was to come and visit the Grand Ole Opry; to see the stage where all his beloved stars preformed on all those radio shows that he would sit on his kitchen stool and listen to. My Grandpa Sib passed away a couple of years ago, but about a year before he died, his dream came true. My parents took him and my step-grandmother to the Opry. And my mom said that my grandpa was so happy that night. So....while I was sitting on that church pew, my mind kept drifting back to Grandpa's kitchen, his music, and remembering his smile. Because the Opry made him smile.)

After the Opry, we headed back to the hotel and sat out in the courtyard. The weather was perfect last night here in Tennessee, and we had a great time visiting, laughing, and just enjoying being together. And we learned even more about some of us. Ahem. Our peeps are the best.

So....Super Fun Vaca Day 1. Over and Out.

On to Super Fun Vaca Day 2.