On Saturday, we unhooked the Bus and began our trip to Nashville, TN. On the way, we looked for fuel on Gas Buddy, and found a good deal at a Walmart Murphy Express……. diesel for $1.84/gal!!
We filled up and drove the rest of the way to our campground in Goodlettsville……. about 10 miles north of Nashville……….. Grand Ole RV Park and Market. We arrived at the campground and got set up about 4:00pm.
We mostly rested from our long days in Chattanooga, and then went to a local Cracker Barrel Restaurant for dinner. After dinner, Patsy and the kids play dominoes with a set that Matthew got from Betty, Patsy’s cousin in Memphis!
On Sunday, we got up early to be on the road by 8:00am to take Rachel to Memphis to meet her Mom for handoff. Rachel has some summer camps next week, and could only spend one of the weeks with us. Since it was her first road trip, we weren’t sure that she would make the whole 9 days….. but she did, like a champ!!
We met Deanne at the Pyramid Bass Pro shop for the transfer of Rachel, and all her gear……. including two car seats!! While there we had lunch at the Uncle Buck’s restaurant inside the Bass Pro shop. Here’s a couple of pictures of the kids and Grammie clowning around while waiting on our food at our table near the aquarium……
Deanne and Rachel were at the other end of the table, and did not get into the few pictures that I did take!! One picture that I did not fail to take was one of Matthew, after he went down in defeat when he ordered and tried to eat a “Tournament Burger”, a double meat cheeseburger with bacon and fries . He had pride in never ordering a meal and not finishing it………… but this one beat him!!!
To be fair, all the burgers were big and filling. The trip from Nashville was 235 miles (one way) and we made it in three hours. The drive back to Nashville seemed longer and we did the last 30 miles in very heavy rains…… so heavy that most vehicles slowed to 35mph and ran with flashers on.
When we got back to the Bus, we weren’t hungry but were very tired. We snacked a little and went to bed early.
We did not have a specific plan for Monday, so we went through ideas on Sunday night, and decided to drive to the Amish community in Ethridge, TN.
On the way, we decided to drive to the Nashville Downtown Visitor.s Center for more information. However the area around the visitors center as well as a lot of downtown Nashville had roads shut down, and preparations for July 4th were underway. We found our way back out of town, but snapped a few pictures of the area that we did see…..
The AT&T Building…………….
All towns have at least one, but this one sounded unique….
…….. and the Tennessee Titans Stadium.
We managed to get to Ethridge by 11:30am, and visited a few Amish gift shops. At one, we picked up a map of the countryside, and took off on a drive-around! Most of the real Amish goods are sold directly from the Amish makers from their farms and homes.
With our map, we headed out to cris-cross the countryside. A few homes sold off the front porch, and some had small sheds that they sold out of….
Patsy and I have always enjoyed visiting the Amish areas of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Those Amish take a lot of pride in the upkeep of their homes, and property. The Amish in Tennessee don’t seem to put that much work into keeping their homes and property up to high standards, but there are exceptions. This was the entrance of one farm that had a shop………
This photo shows a buggy traveling on the road in the distance on the left side of the sign………..
By using some mean threats (no more candy and sweets), I got Matthew to model an Amish hat……..
Grammie had made some Cinnabon rolls for breakfast before we hit the road, and Matthew had wanted to eat at a Rainforest Cafe for dinner, so we opted to sample Amish foods as we drove around. We picked up some Cheese and crackers at an Amish grocery store along with some sodas. Later, we bought some chocolate bon bons. We then found some homemade peach, blueberry and pineapple-coconut fried pies from one porch.
After the “tour”, we drove the 65 miles back to the Opry Mills outlet mall and had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Here’s a couple of pictures (with some clowning around) at the Cafe, around our table with an aquarium right behind our table………
Typical decoration in the cafe………
The kids with lemons slices in their mouths……..
Tuesday is our last day in Nashville, closing out with tickets to the Grand Ole Opry at 7:00pm and hopefully, we will find some fireworks being shot off after the show.
More later………..
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