Tennessee Summer Vacation PART ONE // NASHVILLE
Back in the Spring of 2018 Jordan and I had taken the kids to the park before dinner one weeknight. While pushing the kids and climbing up slides the conversation moved to Summer Vacations. We hadn’t planned anything, but knew we wanted to do something different. We threw out a bunch of locations but nothing really resonated until I suggested, or maybe it was Isla…. Either way, one of us suggested Tennessee.
The plans quickly formulated and by the time we were walking home we had it all planned out. We would fly into Nashville and spend the first leg of the trip, the weekend school let out with Jordan’s family. From there, the plan was to head to Chattanooga and explore that area before making our way into the Smoky Mountains. The trip would commence with a weekend in Knoxville showing the kids all of our old college spots and catching up with friends.
We were all excited and ready for Summer to begin so that we could start our adventure. After a quick couple of months, the day had finally come and we made our way to the airport at the crack of dawn.
We recently found a great travelers trip: Check out the local hotels for off site parking. It’s nearly a third of the cost of any other parking, plus you get to partake in the continental breakfast…. Well, we did anyways!
The flight was uneventful, however once we got to Nashville, Isla seemed to have the opposite reaction to the ginger homeopathic dramamine that we had given her…. Once that was all sorted Jordan headed to the rental car agency to pick up the minivan that would take us around the state of Tennessee for the week.
Playing on the airplane while waiting for Daddy
Unfortunately there was a bit of a wait on the rental car as they currently had no vans available. After about 30 minutes Jordan showed up in the van, both of our nerves a tad frazzled. I headed around to the back to start putting the bags into the trunk while Jordan was presumably securing the car seat and Holden into the back.
As I bent down to pick up the first piece of luggage I noticed the car backing slowly towards me. In my tired mind I thought, “well that doesn’t make sense… Jordan’s not even in the car anymore”. Yes, all this was true, but this being a new car and a model that Jordan had never driven before, he apparently forgot how to put a car into park…. Did I mention our nerves were a wee bit frazzled? LOL!!!
Luckily I avoided a trip to the emergency room and the trip started to get back on track.
We headed downtown to meet Jordan’s parents for some BBQ. Although we have our fair share of BBQ joints in Texas, everywhere does BBQ differently and we were craving some east coast pulled pork BBQ.
Martins BBQ Joint Downtown
The kids were beyond excited to see their Nana and Papaw
From there our day in Downtown Nashville began. We ended up walking around, taking pictures and walking in buildings when necessary, like when candy or ice cream was involved. Although we’ve been to Nashville more times than we can count, we really haven’t done the tourist thing.
Isla held her Nana’s hand all afternoon
After spending some time on Music Row we headed to meet Marshall, Jordan’s youngest brother at Fat Bottom Brewery.
It was a really cool little spot in an up and coming area, and we enjoyed relaxing for a couple hours. It helped that Holden was super interested in the rock field right next to our table.
COME ON UNCLE MARSHALL!!! You’re supposed to be super strong… Throw me HIGHER!
After such a long day of travel the kids were getting tired and ready to go home and get settled, so Nana and Papaw took them home while we stayed out with Marshall. We did a little more exploring
… And then met up with Kenzie at yet another BBQ joint.
Finally, totally pooped, it was time to head back to Nana and Papaws for some swimming and dinner.
We finished the night playing board games and hanging out.
It was a GREAT start to our Summer Vacation.
The next morning Isla woke up early - yes, you heard me - EARLY to attend Zumba with Nana. I think the Starbucks was also a swaying factor, but she was VERY excited.
Jordan and I headed down to hunt for some more murals, (see my full post on this later), with Holden.
The rest of the day was spent poolside with Taylor, Emerson and Landry. It was so fun getting to see all the kids together and playing. Isla especially took to her sweet little cousin Landry. I have a feeling these two would be trouble together if left alone for too long!
That night we went to bed relatively early in preparation for our next adventure: Rock City and Ruby Falls! Jordan’s parents are always the best hosts and we all had SO MUCH FUN visiting. Thank you for the hospitality and fun times. We will be back soon!