Nashville

 

Melanie had an ARON conference in Nashville so plans were made and we headed to Middle Tennessee. Marjorie flew in Friday afternoon so we picked her up at the airport and headed to the big city. With time to kill, we started day one of many days walking the city. After getting a layout of the city we checked into our Condo and then started at the Yee Haw Brewing Company listening to live music. Then we met our cousin Faith at the Bar Louie to watch her perform. Melanie came in at midnight.

Saturday while Melanie was in conference we toured the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman, and Broadway. The tour of the Ryman was really cool. Built as the Union Gospel Tabernacle, the Mother Church then held the Grand Ole Opry. Craig shared memories of his Grandpa sitting here all day listening to the performers and eating Goo Goo Clusters. Afterwards, we met Faith where she was auditioning at Tootsies. They were impressed and hired her and her band! The talent in Nashville is impressive! ARON had a 75th anniversary party which we attended. Later we ended the day on Broadway.

Sunday we did the riverwalk with Marjorie and saw the Capital building and the other government buildings around the Hill. We met Melanie for a BBQ lunch, and then we took Marjorie to the airport. From there we went to Warner Park and hiked the 2.5 mile Warner Woods trail. Lots of wildflowers were blooming. Bloodroot was covering one whole hillside. We came back to meetup with Melanie and went to dinner with Faith.

Monday Lora and I explored the old churchs; the architecture is amazing; the old Union Station with it's impressive lobby, and government offices (the Courthouse is only 2 years old and there was no tour available. We took a tour of the Capital building  where hopefully business was being conducted, and Fort Nashborough. We had dinner at The Stillery which had awesome food! That night we went for a gathering of ARON at the Nashville Underground. Lot's of dancing.

Tuesday we met up with the Nashville Chapter TTA for breakfast. Then we headed over to the Parthenon to check it out. We met Melanie for lunch and to view the conference center. We met up with Faith at the TailGate Brewery Headquarters and then did dinner at Blanco Cocina & Cantina which was great food. Afterwards we walked and danced Broadway. 

Wednesday we got up at 4am and took Melanie to the airport. Then we headed over to Radnor Lake SP  to hike with the Nashville Chapter of TTA. We got there before the gate opened, still dark, took a nap, waited and watched lots of hikers show up but none of them were our group. Finally asked one hiker about the trailhead and she said we were at the wrong one. The other trailhead was just across the lake but you couldn't reach it from where we were, we had to drive 13 minutes away to the Visitor Center. We got there 3 minutes late but our friends were still in the parking lot. Wildflowers are blooming here also, lots of Toothwort, and some Dutchmans Breeches. We saw deer, turtles, eagles, cormorants, ducks, and turkeys. After their scheduled hike, we stayed and hiked the Lake Trail. 

Pictures: