Reflections Without a Campfire

The majority of the photos in today's post were taken at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge and the Opryland Hotel in Nashville (both in Tennessee).  These establishments truly know how to do it up right for the holiday season. 

Earlier this month, Alan and I took an impromptu trip to Tennessee.  For years we had talked about visiting both Dollywood and Nashvillle during the holiday season.  This year a Tennessee Christmas adventure finally fit into our schedule – after the holiday shopping was done but before the gifts were wrapped and in between two critical dental appointments.  I needed a shoehorn (remember those?) to wedge it into our calendar, but wedge it I did.

Nashville Sights & Sounds – Country Music Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Opry & Opryland Hotel

This post represents another installment in The Big Switcheroo series – tales from last spring’s epic journey from the northeast to the Florida Keys and back – involving family, friends and an extraordinary range of adventures.  You may want to grab your favorite beverage at this point and settle in for a time.  I realize this is a long post, but I didn't want to split up our Nashville visit into too many posts.  We still have a lot of miles to cover on this trip!

Alan’s and my most recent memories of Nashville date back approximately 23 years to when our son Ryan was just two years old, and our daughter wasn’t even a twinkle in anyone’s eye.  During that visit to Music City, we were traveling with my Mom and her niece, my cousin, Annie.  At the time, the Opryland theme park was still in existence, our visit to Nashville coincided with the holiday season, and we enjoyed a wonderful (but brisk) walk through Opryland to take in the lights and shows.  Unfortunately, we happened to be there during a cold snap, and I can still recall the wicked temperature of 17 degrees on the evening of our excursion through Opryland.  (It was not a problem that a large mug of hot chocolate and the pleasure of being with family couldn’t fix.)  On that trip, our budget allowed for one night at the Opryland Hotel and, rather than drag Ryan’s camper crib in for just a single night, Alan and I decided that we’d let him sleep in the bed with us.  Big mistake.  We discovered that our two year old traveled about 4.5 miles in his sleep at night, and Alan and I woke a number of times with Ryan’s various body parts in our faces or poking us in the back or belly.  Lesson learned.  Never again.

A Musical Journey - from Dean Martin to George Strait

This isn’t exactly another installment in The Big Switcheroo series – tales from last spring’s epic journey from the northeast to the Florida Keys and back - but, rather, a prelude to an upcoming post about our experiences at the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame.  I thought a little background about my journey through music might first be in order.

My parents married a bit later in life than was customary for their generation and I have one sibling, my brother Michael, who is 10 years older than I am.  Considering the age spread among the four of us, it’s not surprising that our family’s musical interests spanned a lot of decades.

Nashville, Tennessee - An Excellent Start to our Music City Adventure!

This post represents another installment in The Big Switcheroo series – tales from last spring’s epic journey from the northeast to the Florida Keys and back – involving family, friends and an extraordinary range of adventures.  The photos included with this post were all taken at Seven Points Campground in Hermitage, Tennessee.

Westward, ho!  The stretch of blacktop between Bush’s Visitor Center near Dandridge, Tennessee, and Nashville would mark the westernmost leg of last spring’s roundabout journey to Florida for us.  As we traveled through eastern Tennessee, we would love to have stopped to meet Joe and Helen Bruner but, alas, the fates would not allow it.  (Joe blogs over at Easin’ Along which is accessible from the list of My Favorite Blogs to the right.)  As it so very often happens with those of us enthralled with the RV lifestyle, Joe and Helen were off on an RV adventure of their own, and we had to settle for waving hello to their empty home as we drove on through to Nashville.