This year for our Mother/Daughter weekend we headed to the heart of country music, Nashville, TN. We got on the road Friday morning and had the best time catching up on the drive. Our first stop was Knoxville, TN for lunch. We found this great little hole in the wall called North Corner Sandwich Shop. Everyone was crazy nice and helpful. They loved that we had found a local favorite and were surprised we were there.
We made it to our hotel in Nashville with plenty of time to hit the town on Friday night. So after getting checked in and freshened up we headed out.
That night was walked around there downtown area, checked out a few live bands (both country & rock n roll), did a TON of people watching and grabbed dinner at Bakersfield.
There was a large property to explore before we were able to get in on a tour of the inside of the house. On the tour, we learned the family made all there money horses and horse racing. It was a very informative and interesting tour. I would definitely go back to this place.
When we finished the tour at Belle Meade, we headed off to the Belmont Mansion. It was a beautiful home and so much history. If we understood the story correctly, the owner of this "summer home" was at one time the richest women in America. Like many in that time, she had many tragedies in her lifetime with losing many children and husbands.
The home was beautiful but has changed hands many times and is now owned and operated by Belmont University. They have done a fantastic job but over time all of the land has been "taken" or donated or used for other things so the house that was one time up on a hill where you could see countryside for miles in all directions, is now tucked in between academic buildings on three sides.
Our final plantation of the day was a bit of a disappointment. We stopped at Traveller's Rest. The two previous plantations we visited were from a very different time period and were used for a different purpose. Traveller's Rest was a very simple home and the home and the land were used during the Civil War. It was still very impressive and amazing to see how simply people lived even when they were incredible wealthy and to learn more about our countries history.
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| The 3 seater outhouse! |
After the last plantation, our brains were on over load with everything we had learned so we decided
to take a break from learning and head over to Opryland Hotel to explore. I know it sounds silly to go exploring at a hotel but everyone needs to come check this place out. It is incredible!
We spent time walking around and just relaxing, grabbed dinner and headed back to our hotel for the night.
On Sunday morning, we went to the Grand Ole Opry for a Backstage Tour. It was so fun to go and check out the building, see where Hew Haw was filmed and learn a lot about country music.
After our tour, we decided to start the drive home for the weekend but make one pit stop on the way home. We were able to stop in Mars Hill, NC, home of the Lions. My mom went to school here for a year and we had the best time walking down memory lane. We walked around campus, walked into the dining hall, talked to current students and parents and stopped to eat in there super tiny downtown at The Original Papa Nicks. (I think it was the only restaurant opened on a Sunday evening.) I am so glad we stopped there. It was just a great experience.
Monday it was back to work for me and mom headed home but I am so, so thankful that we take the opportunity to do this every year. I can not wait to see what and where our next adventure will be. THANKS MOM!
