Spring Break: Nashville

I attended a school band trip with the boys over Spring Break. We needed to arrive at school by 5:30am in order to depart on our trip by 6am. It was a very early morning. Our first stop was Nashville, TN, so we settled in for a four-hour bus trip. Graydon fell asleep pretty quickly on the bus and one of the parents who was sitting nearby texted me a few pics of him. The kid has no problem sleeping anywhere.

Our first attraction when we arrived in Nashville was the National Museum of African American Music. I’m not a huge museum fan, but this one was pretty incredible. There were so many interactive exhibits and I could have spent even more time there. 

The boys got into a rap battle.

We got projected onto the screen with the choir. 

This was our whole group. 

Afterward, we separated into smaller groups for lunch and explored the downtown just a bit. 

Our next stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame.

I’m a big fan of country music and while I found this museum interesting, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first one. And the kids seemed to get bored somewhat quickly in this one. Of course, two museums in one day, especially after an early morning and travel might have had something to do with it. Everyone was probably just feeling a bit tired. 

Someone caught me taking that selfie with the boys. 

I thought the soap names in the gift shop were clever. I only took photos of a few. 

We went to dinner at Dave and Buster’s and then it was on to the Grand Ole Opry! This experience was AMAZING!!! Definitely a highlight of this trip for me and certainly a Bucket List item.  

We were there on March 11th. These were the performers we saw. 

My ticket wasn’t in the same group with either of the boys, but we were all sitting somewhat close to each other. 

First up: The Opry Square Dancers. They were entertaining. 

Craig Morgan

Jessie James Decker and Billy Currington. They sang their new duet together and then performed “Island in the Stream” which was SO fun!

This was Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top X-Press.

Ashley McBryde - I hadn’t heard of her before, but she is a great performer with a really powerful voice and fun personality. 

And finally, Vince Gill! He sang, “Whenever You Come Around” and “Go Rest High On That Mountain.” It was such a pleasure to hear those songs performed live.  

That first day felt like three days combined. With the early morning, time change (due to changing time zones), and then time change (due to daylight savings), we were all a little disoriented. 

Here are some of the kids entertaining themselves after breakfast the next morning before loading the bus. Throughout this whole trip, we stayed in four different hotels, so we all got really good and packing/unpacking and loading/unloading our suitcases. 

Our last visits in Nashville was the Roman Auditorium. This is where the Grand Ole Opry used to be. They still host concerts here, but we didn’t see one when we toured it. 

After that, it was back to the bus to travel to Atlanta, GA!