Nashville and Memphis!

This past weekend I went to Nashville and Memphis with Allison. We decided on Nashville because it was a place that both of wanted to go and chances of getting our husband's to agree to go seemed pretty slim, so we packed our bags and jumped on a plane. A weekend of sightseeing and fun! So here is the trip in a nut shell!

Arrived in Nashville on Thursday night really late and checked into a hotel near the airport.
Friday morning we awoke before the sun and headed to the popular local Pancake pantry where I ordered an amazing stack of cinnamon apple pancakes with apple butter and applesauce on the side. Makes my mouth water thinking about it!
Then on to the Belle Meade Plantation . On our way to the Parthenon (the only exact replica of the real one in Greece) we ran into the Wienermobile. (we continued to see it 3 more times that day around the city. Allison on the steps. At the Parthenon, we also saw the worlds largest indoor statue Athena ... pretty huge. Then we went on a tour called the Nash Trash Tour (not really impressive in terms of getting to know specifics on famous people in Nashville, but okay. The ladies were entertaining even though their little song was stuck in my head for a couple of days following) This is me in front of their pink tour bus.
After that we headed back to our hotel and took a nap for a couple of hours as we had been dragging pretty bad by this point due to our late flight and early morning.

Friday night we went to the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman. Marty Stuart was the headliner... it was awesome. Just as it was in my head. Lots of sequins, big hair and good old country music. We had front row seats (good worker Allison) it was awesome. Nashville was a beautiful city and the people are so nice. After seeing the opry we headed back to our hotel to go on an indoor boat ride in the 4.5 acre atrium... it proved to be quite lame, but oh well.
On Saturday we got up really early and drove to Memphis. It was a 3 hour drive one way, but actually passed by quite quickly. Allison also had a really great mix of music for the road trip!
We went to Graceland and saw Elvis's house and property, and I am actually more of a fan than I have ever been. After visiting the King, we went to Sun Studio (famous recording studio where Elvis was discovered and lots of other people recorded). There even was an Elvis wanna be in the studio getting a milkshake. Then we headed to see the Mississippi River. Then we had lunch at Gus's Fried Chicked. (it seriously was the best fried chicken I have ever had). Then we went to the National Civitl Rights Museum and spent the afternoon there. It was really well done and paid respect to those who fought for their rights. This was the motel where MLK was killed on his balconey. After we finished up there, we jumped in the car and headed back to Nashville. Again the trip went by pretty fast.
On Sunday we packed up and checked out of the hotel. We had breakfast at a cafe called Loveless Cafe about 45 minutes outside of Nashville. We didn't really know how far it was, but it really was good and worth the trip!
After breakfast we went to Andrew Jackson's home called the Hermitage. It was a beautifully restored museum. Nice to learn more about a president that gets very little real estate in our general history books. After we visited here, we went to Country Music Hall of Fame Museum and then on to see Studio B (the recording studio where Elvis recorded most of his hits as well as Dolly Parton and others.)
After Studio B we hit Shoney's for dinner (we had struck out at several local joints and were running out of time)

Then off to the airport and home. Nashville was surprisingly fun and entertaing. Lots to do and see.

Thanks again Allison. I had a blast.