Nashville, Tennessee

(Date of visit: January 14, 2011)

Since we were in the state, we decided to take a peak at Nashville, TN. We aren't huge country fans but it would have been cool to run into someone famous.

(For the record, I don't literally mean "run into" I was referring to something more like a random sighting, from a safe and appropriate distance. Just thought I would throw that out there in case we get into an accident with a celebrity and get sued for premeditated assault. You can never be to safe.)

Where was I? Nashville, right. Home of the Grand Ole Opry.

So we pull up and I ask Tom, "Where is the red barn?" He laughs.

No, seriously. No barn? Really?

I honestly thought the Grand Ole Opry was in a big red barn. Nope. Just this sign and a big brown building that does not resemble a barn in any way. (And before you make fun of me, I have told a few other people that I expected to see the red barn and I am happy to report that I am not alone here.)

You actually have to go to a show inside the Grand Ole Opry to see the red barn (facade) on stage. It's just a prop. Stage decoration?!?

It's almost as shocking as finding out about Santa.

Most everything was closed because they were still recovering from the flood that happened in May of 2010. So there wasn't a lot to do. We could have gone to the Dukes of Hazzard Museum but we decided to skip it.

I think I was so disappointed about the red barn that on some subconscious level I was afraid that I would go there and find out that the General Lee was really just a Ford Pinto or something like that. I just couldn't risk any more disappointments. ;-)

We did swing by to check out the Parthenon. It's not often that you get a look at an ancient Greek building without actually traveling to Greece. LOL  The kids saw this building in the movie Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief so we thought we should check it out.

The Parthenon

Greek Goddess Athena

I thought the Goddess Athena was suppose to be pretty? Shiny, yes. Pretty, not so much. Pretty scary, definitely. Is it just me or is Tom looking a little to closely at the sculpture of the scantily clad Goddesses? Just sayin'. (I just put that in here to see if he actually reads these posts.)

Memphis, Tennessee

(Date of visit: January 12, 2011)

Our next stop brought us to the home of the King of Rock-n-Roll, Memphis, Tennessee and Elvis' Graceland. Cool, huh?

Believe it or not, there is an RV park right across the street from Graceland behind the Heartbreak Hotel (of course). I kid you not. Check it out: Graceland RV Park and Campground.

We thought visiting in the middle of the week in January would be a good time to go. I even said to Tom, "We'll probably have the place to ourselves. Who else would come here when it's so cold outside?" (It was freezing too!) I was wrong. We had to wait in line to get the shuttle over to Graceland. There are still a lot of Elvis fans out there.

Welcome to Graceland.

We put on our headsets that play the recorded tour. Unfortunately for Andrew he always seemed to be a day late and a dollar short. You would think that when the recording said, "Go to the next room and push play," he would, I don't know, go to the next room an push play?! Not so much. Bless his heart. By the end of the tour I suggested he take them off and let me carry them for him. It was easier that way.

The mansion was really beautiful in a 50's/60's/70's sort of way. It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be but I'm sure back in the day, it was a huge home. They don't let you go upstairs into the "private areas" which would have been cool to see and maybe that would have made it feel bigger. But don't get me wrong, it was still an incredible place to visit.

Walking around Graceland felt like walking back in time. The kitchen still had the harvest gold appliances and if I remember correctly there was an avocado green something or another in there too. I told the kids those were like the ones I had growing up. Who knew that my mom had such good taste?

One of Elvis' living room

The kids' favorite room? The Jungle Room, of course.

One of my favorite things were all of the costumes and clothing on display. Here are a few of my favorites:

We also saw his planes, his cars, the stable, his racquet ball building (which displays even more gold records and costumes).

The is so much to do in Memphis. We enjoyed some really good BBQ, took a tour of the Gibson Guitar Factory and walked around Beale Street too.

Memphis is an amazing place to visit.