Road trip 2018

Road trip 2018 is underway!! This year we are headed to Florida! We woke up this morning and got on the road by 5:30 to get a jump on our day. The girls slept the first few hours as the miles disappeared under our tires. We had rainy skies which set the tone for a sleepy, lazy drive to Nashville. The morning was pretty quiet as we read books, did math packets (I know, homework on vacay – but it keeps them busy), and played a little car karaoke. J

Is this what your car looks like when you go on vacation?

Of course no trip south is complete without a stop in Metropolis to visit Superman. It was a great spot to stretch our legs, use the restroom and have a little fun. The girls practiced their flying and then we took our superpowers back on the road to continue to FL.

Then we hit Gilbertville and sat. And sat some more. We were stuck in traffic for nearly an hour when we saw fire trucks squeeze through and shut down I-24. Lucky for us, we had an exit ahead so we were rerouted around and about 30 minutes later we were back on i-24 and heading on our way. Not so lucky for anyone who was stuck after the exit as when we rejoined i-24 there was not.a.single.car. The interstate was still closed and they had not reopened to let a single person through. Yikes.

It was smooth sailing from there and we arrived in Nashville just in time to make Mass at the Cathedral of the Incarnation. This place was beautiful and, lucky for us, they asked if we would like to take up the gifts. It was a cool experience being in such a beautiful church and getting to participate as if it were our own parish. 

After Mass we met up with the Kearns! They relocated to Nashville in January and we haven’t seen them since, so it was great to catch up, see where they live and experience a snapshot of their new life in Nashville. Erica is always a phenomenal hostess and this time was no different. We met up in a cute, trendy little neighborhood in East Nashville for pizza at Five Points, supposedly the best pizza in Nashville! While we were waiting for a table we jumped across the street to Bongo’s café and game room for a few drinks while the girls played board games and we caught up. This place was so cute and a great place to hang out while we waited for a table. Then it was back to Five Points for dinner!

Five Points was amazing! With seating for about 40 it’s no wonder there is always a wait and a line out the door, but it is SO worth it. They started off by giving all of the kids a little pizza dough to play with and the girls (and Whitten J) had fun making sculptures, spelling out words and stretching their dough.  It was the perfect way to keep them occupied having sat in the car for 9 hours, followed by sitting through church and then a restaurant! Before we knew it, our pizza was on the table and it was NO LIE some of the best pizza I’ve ever had. Which apparently is a big compliment as Josh assured us that the pizza in Nashville is no good.

After dinner, we walked around the corner to the Pied Pieper. A cute little ice cream shop in a little bungalow. The city was alive with music and there were no bugs and it just seemed like a magical slice of Heaven in Nashville. We ate our ice cream and headed to the Kearns house to call it a night. They live in a gorgeous house in Murfreesboro and were such gracious hosts. The 4 girls had a sleepover together in the bonus room and we could hear their giggles and laughter down in the kitchen as they settled in. It was the perfect little trip to Nashville and it was so amazing to get to see Erica and her family again. You can tell the girls didn't have any fun at all! :) 

Grand Ole Opry

While in Nashville, we headed over to the Grand Ole Opry, because you can’t come to Nashville and not check it out. It was just as impressive as I had imagined. We were tempted to stay for a show (Trace Adkins was there that night) but we weren’t sure the girls would make it through. Instead we headed to dinner. Though our rule on vacation is usually to never eat at a chain restaurant or anywhere that we could eat in Iowa, we broke the rule tonight. Across from the Grand Ole Opry is Opry Mills Mall which has a Rainforest Café in it. Considering only a handful of states have one, and Iowa isn't one of them, we figured we would imbibe. Norah was over-the-top excited. She loved the thunderstorms, the fish, the jungle animals…it was fun to watch her excitement. We had planned to stay in Nashville for the night, but decided it would be more beneficial to drive a few hours to get out of the city and help divide the drive to St. Louis a bit. We found a quaint little hotel in Metropolis overlooking the Ohio River which gave us a great opportunity to stop off and see the home of Superman!

Oprahland?! No Opryland!

They have no idea what they are even looking at. I was happy they appeased me though...I couldn't imagine being in Nashville and not taking a peek. 

My little tree frogs at dinner. If you have kids and you've never eaten at a Rainforest Cafe, it's a must. 

Centennial Park Nashville

We left Belle Meade and headed to Centennial Park – this time in Nashville. In the middle of the park is an exact replica of the Parthenon in Greece. The girls loved seeing how big the columns were. We then walked over to a few old trains and airplanes. It is a beautiful park with gardens, playgrounds, parks and people. Being so close to Vanderbilt it is the perfect oasis for students and is easy access for everyone. We then drove through Vanderbilt campus (reminded me a lot of Coe with its brick buildings and shady quads) and through Music Row towards the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was awesome to get a little taste of Music City. 

The Parthenon now houses Nashville's Art Museum. We didn't go into the museum, but we couldn't resist walking up and checking out how huge the columns were. 

Originally built in 1897 for Tennessee's Centennial Exposition, the building itself is something to see, even if you don't enter the museum. 

All three girls together couldn't even get their arms around a column.

Planes, trains and automobiles throughout Centennial Park.

Belle Meade Plantation

Nashville seems like it would be a great place to visit, however, I really think it is geared to the 21+ age group. There were a lot of great little piano bars, and had a very starving artist/college feel to it. We started off in Nashville with a visit to the Belle Meade Plantation. Though we had already visited a plantation in Charleston, we thought we’d take in another one so we had something to compare it to. This one brought our trip full circle as we learned about Bonnie Scott – a thoroughbred who sired or has blood lines tied to numerous derby winners including Secretariat, Sea Biscuit, even American Pharaoh. It was fun to see our Lexington knowledge come to help us out in Nashville. We learned all about the Jacksons and the Hardings and all of the famous horses to go through Belle Meade. 

Quite the Southern Belle this girl is turning out to be. And her southern accent cracks me up!

Though Boone Hall was a far more beautiful plantation, Belle Meade had a far more beautiful house. Boone Hall presented a far better look at slavery and emancipation, whereas Belle Meade presented a far better look at 5 generations of history and war. Ms. Margaret started off our tour and then 6 other guides took us through the plantation to answer all of our questions. 

It was a great visit walking the grounds, smelling the magnolias in bloom, and doing a little wine tasting. While the girls had a little pretzel treat, Mark and I tasted a bunch of the Belle Meade Wines and, per tradition, bought our souvenir bottle of wine. Photo credit to Grace, she really loves taking pictures.

The horticulturist really came out in Emma on this trip. She loved the Magnolia trees, the little greenhouse, and has gotten pretty good at telling the difference between a lot of trees. She can tell you lots of stories about Spanish Moss as well!

The grounds at Belle Meade weren't as breathtaking as Boone Hall, but not too shabby!

The had a pretty impressive lot of civil war era artifacts in the carriage house. 

Emma hanging out under her favorite magnolia tree. She loved that the roots made the perfect seat for her...and the much needed shade for another 100+ degree day.