Honky Tonk Central

Time for a recap of our super fun trip to Nashville with Heather and Ryan!!!  It's hard to believe it's almost been two weeks now since we left to start our adventure.

These pictures were taken from our first night out.  We stayed right in the heart of downtown and and were able to walk everywhere.  It was just great!

Heather and I went to graduate school together after working together for 2 years before that on a pediatric surgical floor.  We shared patients, projects and lots of late night study parties.  We even went through our grueling Master's Thesis together...which, by the way, ended up getting published... We also each were instrumental in supporting and realizing who those lucky husbands of ours would be!!!  I always tell Ryan that he owes it all to me...which is really a joke because God's hand trumps mine every single time and these two were meant to be.  ;)

We walked through the famous Printers Alley, that is getting ready to be a part of history.  Once a busting and hopping alley, it is now run down and will soon be turned into condos...

We ate at Puckett's with Heather's brother, Jacob and his girlfriend, Taylor.  They were our tour guides for the weekend and they were fantastic!!  I remember the bar that was playing at Puckett's as being one of my favorites from the weekend.  They played, "I went down to the River to Pray" and I had to text my dad.  My parents kept the kids and also got a play by play of my trip because they were absolutely a huge part in my developing my love of country/western and bluegrass/old time traditional music and just music in general.

Oh, the sign of Nashville...the Bat building...

Which was just outside the Ryman, where Billy Idol was obviously preparing to play that night.

It was am amazingly beautiful place.  I felt so much history just sitting there and listening.  The self guided tour taught me so much about this grand church and it's rich connection and history to Nashville and to music.

Heather and I enjoyed sitting in the old original pews.  They were just beautiful and preserved in their original state.

So did my love and I.

You might recognize this microphone from the Opry?  They offered pictures in front of it with a guitar in hand, for a mere 20 bucks a pop.  :)

We spent a good part of the early afternoon exploring the Ryman...and then we took a walk...

Past this gem...which we later did venture into...

...to the awesome Music City Hall of Fame.  This was one of my favorite exhibits, Trisha Yearwood's wedding gown from her wedding to Garth Brooks.

And their love story and albums.  I guess they feature an artist, so that the exhibits are always rotating and it was Trisha Yearwood's turn.  I grew up loving her music.  I think I had every cd she put out during my middle and high school years...along with Garth's...

This was an old auto harp I found particularly interesting.  I sent the picture to my dad and he knew right away who they first real auto harp player was, Mother Mabel.

I found this outfit quite interesting...

And, this, this old car had silver dollars glued to the dashboard and all on the inside doors and arm holders.  It also had at least 20 different pistols fashioned onto it in various ways...very interesting.

But, not quite as interesting as this gem.  This was Elvis's car.  The paint- 40 coats of paint with gold and crushed diamonds.  It was so pearly and shiny, it was amazing to still look like it did.  It also had all gold interior with a TV, phone, microphone and an automatic record player with changer.  Ca-razy for that time period!  He truly had more money than he knew what to do with.

And, Reba and George Strait's outfits from a show they did...

It was a really neat tour.  I really learned a lot about the history of Country Music and enjoyed learning about people behind the scenes, like Sam Perkins.  I did see some families with young children and thought for a brief moment that I would like to expose my kids to this...but them I saw the kids giving their parents' grief as inevitable boredom set it.  I think we will wait until our 3, 5 and 8 year olds are a bit more mature...and I won't feel guilty at all about waiting!

Next stop...the famous, "Tootsies".  We heard an awesome band and relaxed, danced and really just unwound...great times.

Love this girl so much!

And, aren't they the cutest?

And...time for night 2 on the town!!

Cowboy boots for the girls, smiles for all.  What an awesome time.

I just love this picture.  We were all really enjoying the music, the fellowship and sampled a few of Nashville's finest brews.  I think we heard about 4-5 different bands that night.  Ah, the music!  It's everywhere!

Stan and Heather had some time to bond.  He always reminds me that he has been friends with Heather as long as I have.  :)  I met Heather when Stan and I had been dating for about 2-3 months, so he has been around our entire friendship!  He makes sure I don't forget that.

Sweet Taylor and sweet Heather.

The girls!

The next day, we did a bit more history, going to the courthouse and capitol building.

Crazy crew!

Next stop, the Volksfest.  It was a celebration of Volkswagens!!  They had a ton of polka music, bugs and good German brews.

The boys had to stand proud with their Steins...

And we toasted Nashville...

What a terrific get away.  It was our first time getting away for 4 days without the kids.  It was a gift to be with Heather and Ryan, who we never see.  They also have three kids and that life is very blessed and very busy.  We just reconnect right away and the ease we have with each other is just like home.  We just gel. And, we all needed a breather from life.  Someone said, "Time away for parents is as important as feeding the kids." Wow.  So true and so affirming in a world I live in of mommy guilt.

Yay for time away and yay for awesome life long, best of friends like Heather and Ryan. Cheers, guys!