First stop: Music City, USA

We got on the road yesterday at 8, after Cassandra got to vote and I said goodbye to my family. I will miss you all!! (and already do)

It's a beautiful morning!
















This trip is full of "firsts" for Cassandra. Here is the first first:

A stop at the Bass Pro Shops!!



If I'm not allowed to enter the restrooms, how can I use them???? haha












I'd never been in the "Big Game" section. It was scary... What does she see??

















We found "cheap" gas in middle Kentucky, filled up, and headed to Nashville. I wanted to take Cassandra to this little taco place near Vanderbilt that I had been to several years ago. Fortunately, I had taken 2 campus tours and kinda knew my way around. But we parked on the other side of campus, and even though I was a little turned around, we still made it to the San Antonio Taco Co. Mmmmm, my first cup of Southern sweet tea! Cassandra did like the food (yay!) but I think she even more liked the sign that read (in really bad handwriting) "We ain't dialin' 911" and had a (fake) gun hanging from it. I know that SOUNDS weird, but believe me it was really pretty funny. So lunch was good, the tea was good, and the signage was good. The walk back to the car (which I had gotten to park next to another Prius, so of course I was happy) was good--a little round-about way of getting there--and we got to see the Vandy medical center on the way!



















Then, it was off to downtown Music City.

Welcome to country music central!!




















This is for you, Suzanne:
















I kept having to remember "This IS Nashville," especially as I heard country music blaring all across the city.... even from speakers in electrical boxes.
















She was happy!





















We walked all around to the Ryman, to Rocketown, to the Country Music Hall of Fame (still can't believe that the TWO OF US (who don't like country music) went there!), to the Gaylord Center, to the Nashborough Fort, and to the SA Taco Co. downtown.

We crossed the bridge over to where the Titans stadium is and got this neat skyline shot:
















Then, we headed back to the West End area and drove through music row. I have no aspirations at all of becoming a recording artist, but it was cool to drive through anyway! To see the buildings of all the recording companies that I've heard of was pretty sweet!

Across West End to the Centennial Park where we found some really cute geese and the Parthenon!!
















By now, it was almost evening so we headed down to Franklin to a historic site that I wanted to show Cassandra. We finally found the Carter house after missing a sign ("hmmm, no, I don't think the "Carter House" is where we want to go"), missed the right street, missed another street ("no, I don't think this looks like the right area..."), called Dad for the name of the site ("Okay, I guess the Carter House IS where we want to go!"), plugged the address into the gps in the Prius, followed her directions and missed the entrance to the parking lot, and then finally, finally made it there. The museum was closed but we still walked around a little bit and I called Dad for directions to a pizza place in Alabama while Cassandra was studious and read all the historical plaques and took pictures.
















After that it was a quick stop at Starbucks (and they need to fix their bathroom door) and then off to Alabama! There was a "huge, explosively awesome" surprise that I told her "could take her thoughts to far away places" coming up ahead. (Thanks Dad for this idea that the thing is a surprise for visitors :) ) She said I probably enjoyed taunting her with the "surprise" even though I kept giving her clues as to what it was. At the Alabama border there was a "Rest stop: 2 miles" sign and I said "ok, get ready... 2 miles til your suprise!!!" She surely hoped that this super exciting surprise wasn't a rest stop. But nope, it wasn't a rest stop, it was a........



ROCKET!!!!


















Now it's the next morning and we're off to catch some breakfast and get to Mississippi!!! yay! We should be there by at least 4 pm (central).

Lowest gas price of yesterday?? $3.35 in Columbia, Tennessee (too bad we didn't need gas then).

Signing off from Alabama!! Next stop? Camp in D'Iberville!! :)