Music City, USA

 8/3/20 - 8/10/20 Hartford, TN to Crossville, TN, 130 miles, stayed at Spring Lake RV resort, one week, $270

8/10/20 - 8/8/17/20 Crossville, TN to Goodlettsville, TN, 133 miles, stayed at Grand Ole Opry RV Resort, one week, $226

Nashville, TN

The Grand Ole Opry RV Resort was situated about 20 miles north of Nashville.  But, they did their part to provide live music every night after dinner. They had some pretty good groups playing, even though country’s not my favorite style of music. You could hear the music wafting across the park, or go sit in a rocking chair on the patio and enjoy until the sun set.  

I had my first taste of hot chicken and waffles at Big Shakes Nashville Hot Chicken. Their spice levels were Original, Cry Baby, Stop Drop n Roll, Rambo, and Executioner. Now I like spice, but those names intimidated me a little. I choose Cry Baby with one Stop Drop n Roll chicken tender. It wasn’t that hot. But the spicy, salty and sweet flavors when mixed with the syrupy waffle were AWESOME!  

I’m a fan of American Pickers in the History channel, so I knew I wanted to visit their store in Nashville. I recognized some of the decorations in the shop, but they must keep most of the good stuff in Iowa, because there really wasn’t much there besides souvenirs. Of course I bought the t-shirt. 

Also in downtown, we saw the state capitol up a huge hill, and the Bicentennial Capital Mall State Park that is essentially a walkable timeline of the history of Tennessee outside the state museum. Also right close is the best farmers market we’ve seen so far. When it’s fully open, I bet it’s a buzz of activity. The restaurants inside were open, but there was only seating outside, and there weren’t as many vendors outside as I would have hoped, but we still picked up some veggies and ate gyros from the Greek place. I also had my first bubble chai tea!  I love the flavor, not so much the big black tapioca.  

We drove past the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Titans stadium, and down Broadway. There had just been riots there in the past week, so we decided not to get out and walk. But there were plenty of  tourists lined up on the sidewalks waiting to get inside places that had reached max capacity!

I found out that there was a Chihuly glass exhibit that had just opened at the Cheekwood Estate and Gardens. That’s one that I would love to see, but the tickets were sold out for the dates we were there, ugh!  Such is the life of a traveler.  If you don’t know where you’re going well in advance, you miss out on some things, but get to enjoy others.