I love going to Nashville, Tennessee! I've been there 3 times now and it never gets old. We planned a girls vacation there this summer and 5 days is NOT long enough. It's about a 7 1/2 - 8 hour trip straight through, but with 4 women you definitely have a lot of stops. Also, I always like to look for odd or interesting pit stops along the way.
Our first stop was in Fairmount, Indiana. My sisters thought I was nuts when I pulled into a cemetery, but their minds were put to rest when the headstone I searched was found. Both of my sisters are in their 60's so I knew it would interest them to actually see James Dean's grave site.
We added a bouquet of purple flowers, signed the white rock nearby and climbed in and headed south.
We stayed in downtown Nashville for 2 nights and hit all the honkytonks we could stumble into (we even danced on the bar at Tootsies!)
and spent Sunday seeing the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Shelby Street Bridge and the downtown shops.
Before heading out towards Music Valley Drive where we stayed for the next 3 nights, we checked out the large granite Tennessee map at Bicentennial Mall State Park, Antique Archeology store, the Parthenon and grabbed a sandwich and fries at the Elliston Place Soda Shop.
Besides doing the downtown honkytonks, other musts to do are to attend the Grand Ole Opry and enjoy a dinner and a show cruise aboard the General Jackson Steamboat. Take a tour of the Opryland Resort and do some shopping at the huge Opry Mills Mall. We stayed at the Guesthouse Inn and Suites and they provided a shuttle over to those places. Speaking of our hotel, we booked a Two Queen Family room that had 2 queen beds and 2 sleeper sofas with lots of room for 4 females! http://www.guesthouseintl.com/hotels/musicvalley?chebs=gl_ghi
On the way home, being wine lovers, we checked out the Long Hollow Winery and Vineyards and the Sumner Crest Winery. Both of them were decorated so nice.
My last pit stop was to be on the way home at Munfordville, Kentucky. Just a little area they call Stonehenge (or Clonehenge).
But, we actually ended up seeing it on the way down because we just happened to get off the interstate in that area to look for someplace to eat.
I'm already looking forward to the next trip, checking out websites and areas of interest. So little time.....so many places to see. Travel on!
