Good Monday Morning 05.05.25

Happy Monday, friends!  Did you catch that date?  05.05.25 – for some reason, I thought that looked cool.  Means nothing special to me but I liked it.  Whatever the date, happy Monday wishes to everyone and it is nice to be back at the computer.  Doing the blog thing:)  Thanks to everyone who stopped by and left a hello last week.  As you know, I was away.  In Nashville.  I thought, this morning, I would do a bit of “look back” at my trip.  It was purely for fun and was very low-key (just as we had hoped), so maybe not the most exciting recap but it will be fun for me to have it documented.  I want to include some pictures, but, for the sake of time, I am not going to edit them.  Just bare with me.

One of my dearest friends was there on business.  I joined her on the last day of her forum and then we stayed on for three days.  Brilliant, I say.  So, the first day was semi-work related, but it was all the fun stuff.  The entire forum was at the Gaylord Resort and Conference Center which I have to say was beyond impressive.  Absolutely beautiful and top-notch service everywhere.  Our first day there, we had a wonderful “wrap up” lunch (oh but I love a room full of prettily set tables! )and then a super fun closing party that evening.  I was able to join all of it and … so much good fun.  And country music.  And lots of cowboy boots.  I do not own boots (and was not willing to pay the price for something I probably would never wear again) but I seemed to manage a very good time even without the standard country footwear!

The forum ended that night.  It was amazing to see how “empty” the resort appeared the next morning.  But it doesn’t last for long.  The morning we were leaving, the bellman told me they were expecting another convention the following day – with 10,000 attendees!  It would not be “quiet” for long!  With work behind her, we headed out for the day.  We had breakfast at Biscuit Love.  If you find yourself in Nashville, I highly recommend Biscuit Love.  You order at the counter and then the food is brought to your table.  The line to get in and to order is often out the door and down the sidewalk but don’t be deterred.  It moves quickly – and is so worth it.  All the typical breakfast fare but the biscuits are amazing.  Mile high biscuits.

After breakfast, we toured the Johnny Cash museum.  Every trip needs a little tourist experience.  The museum is small.  More like a large exhibit but that was perfect for me.  Just enough.  My friend knew a lot about Johnny Cash, his music and his life.  She was the most interesting part of the museum.  Really filled in the gaps from just reading the little bits under each display.  It really is interesting to learn the backstory on people’s lives.  We all have backstories.  And stuff (good and bad…and tragic).  The “human-interest side” of the museum was interesting to me.

Then we took a stroll down Broadway, the main street of country music – and honky tonks – in Nashville.  It was literally around the corner from the museum and, I suppose, when in Nashville…..  It was not my favorite part of the trip but we did not stay long.  I’m not exactly a honky tonk kind of girl.  So, there’s that.  And so much noise (er, music).  So many people.  And too many smells.  Just sayin.  We were actually looking for a specific boot store.  For family reasons.  (The things we do for those we love – lol!)  Interestingly, it was located directly across from the Ryman Auditorium, another “must see” in Nashville.  We saw, but just from the outside.  We skipped the tour:)  But I can now say, “I’ve been there!”   Old buildings with so much history – they are pretty cool, but afterwards we were fine to head back to the car.

Side note here.  The parking (at least everywhere we went) was in paid parking lots and was all cashless.  I’m old and, admittedly, struggle with these new-fangled concepts (ie, no real person to help you) but I obviously downloaded the app and played the game.  In our first parking lot (at breakfast), the first hour was free so we were keeping an eye on the clock.  We made it back to the car with a few minutes to spare.  But not according to them.  They said we were parked for 1 hour and 3 minutes (!!) and tacked on a full second hour of fare.  To say I was annoyed would be an understatement.  But who was I going to argue with??  Moving on.  That afternoon we went to a BBQ place that claimed to have the best banana pudding ever.  We were full from those biscuits but I had to try the banana pudding.  It was, indeed, pretty delicious.

At the table next to us, a guy came in, situated his dog under the table and then went back inside to order.  That dog was so well behaved.  Just sat there.  Sweet and cool and as cucumber.  I just wanted to document that dogs can actually do that.  Not our dog, mind you.  But some dogs.  LOL  Later that night, we had dinner back at the hotel.  Also, delicious.  Do you see a trend here?  So much eating!!

The following day, we headed out to Franklin, Tennessee.  Just such a lovely place.  We had another wonderful breakfast…at a place called Two Hands.  I tried an acai bowl for the first time.  I know so many that love them.  It was tasty but mine was frozen (are they all frozen??) and just did not seem like breakfast to me.  More like dessert.  I was a bit disappointed with my choice but would definitely eat here often if I lived in the area.  Not too big but just a nice place to relax and enjoy good food.  And maybe see a celebrity.  I would not know a “celebrity” if they sat down next me and started a conversation but, apparently, several music celebrities live in Franklin but we didn’t see them.  But, then again, maybe we did and I just didn’t know it!!

I will say they had some of the cutest shops.  This was definitely the place to wander and to look at all the cute things.  See the “Plant lady” mug?  I really thought I needed  it.  Who was watering my plants at home?  Oh my.  Why was I worried about my plants?  I did not get the mug but we did do our best to support the Franklin economy:)

Friday night, we went to the Grand Ole Opry!  Well, of course we did.  That was not only fun but funny.  Lots of good laughs and, well, just a lot of fun.  I’ve said it before here that I don’t laugh alot, but that evening was just what I needed.  I guess laughter really is good medicine.  There were about seven performers/acts.  Although they were, apparently, grammy award winners, very talented, etc., I had never heard of most of them.  However, the headliner was Vince Gill.  He’s as old as me!  I recognized his name…lol.  He was a crowd favorite.  Well, they all were.  The crowd loved it all and it was a lot of fun.  Did I mention that already??:)

I am very grateful to have had this chance to get away.  The chance to spend time with friends.  The chance to do some things and visit some places that I probably never will again….but, that’s okay.  We are already wondering where we can go next?? For the record, I survived the airports.  My flight home was probably one of the bumpiest I have ever experienced.  I was actually feeling a bit nauseous.  That’s never happened.  But we made it.  Thanks for indulging me as I recapped this.

Here’s to a good week ahead…and to catching up with my blog visiting.  I look forward to reading your posts.  Happy Monday.