Do Magan and I need a fancy getaway periodically? Probably not, but with our busy busy May and June, I think I was about to go crazy if we didn't get away soon. Magan just kept asking me..."When is it going to slow down?" and I kept telling her "I see it out there...it is on our calendar...but it will not be until July". And I think I was telling her that in March. And this could not have been a better time of rest and relaxation.
We dropped the kids at Marcias on a Monday morning, and headed off to what we will call our anniversary even though it was 2 months late. At the hotel, I found out that with my super Marriot Titanium elite power, they had upgraded us to a suite at the opryland hotel, but when I asked what atrium we had a view of, he replied that it was an exterior view. "Well, I need to get a downgrade to an atrium view, and let's get it in the Delta atrium, please". And so we were downgraded to an amazing room with a great view within the largest atrium. Also great because we were staying on points, as this hotel is freakishly expensive.
After an immediate afternoon nap, we went over to the spa to get ready for the evening. Arriving with only an hour before the closed, we hung out and pampered ourselves before hanging out in the relaxation lounge. Then we went over to dinner at the Macaroni Grill...we don't change things up very much, as this is our normal dinner on the first night in Nashville. Steak was not cooked enough, but we had plenty of our favorite fried cheese and alfredo noodles. And yes, maybe one day I will take Magan into Madame Tussauds wax museum, as Magan has a major fascination with wax celebrities, but not on this trip. After walking around the mall for a bit, we headed back to the hotel. We made it back just in time to watch the water show in the atrium, and enjoy some ice cream. Back in the room, we could watch whatever we want, so continued our current favorite "Only Murders in the Building".
I remember awaking the next morning refreshed and seeing light around the curtains, thinking to myself "This is amazing, we can just sleep until noon. Maybe we will just go straight to lunch on this day". Then I looked over at my phone completely awake for the day...It was 8:15am. Haha. I thought we had slept so long. Oh well, i dressed and went down to grab some coffees and breakfast for us. Magan is very hard to find food for, but at the Starbucks I picked out some really amazing looking pastries with our twin venti Caramel Macchiatos. Excited to bring her this selection of a chocolate croissant, rasberry pastry, and plain croissant...I told her I picked out many so she could select whatever she wanted. "You know I am not a big pastry fan, right?" she said. That's when I realized that I did know that...so I replied "I think it is me that is a big pastry fan". Oh well, I had no trouble eating all three pastries. After sitting on the balcony for awhile with our coffee, we decided that we needed another nap after breakfast.
After waking up, this time actually around noonish, we started watching more of our show, then decided for one more round at the spa before getting ready for our night at the Grand Ole Opry. Before going over to the Opry, we decided to eat some German food at the Bavarian House. And wow, it was sooo good. We had the jager schnitzel with brown gravy and mushrooms. We also tried the sausages wrapped in a light breading. And for dessert...Pretzel Bread Pudding...Can it get any better than this? We sat German style, so we did get to chat with an older couple at our table that lived in the Nashville area.
After our meal, we headed over to the Opry, where we had pretty good seats in the bottom section to the left of the stage. We sat next to a younger couple from the area that both served in the military, we found that when they both stood when prompted. When asked if they ever saw anyone famous around Nashville, they replied "Well, only Jelly Roll". Ok, had to google that later. Pretty cool video with Jelly Roll and Craig Morgan. The show was pretty great as always, but I must say, my favorite of the night was the bluegrass Del McCoury band. That guy just makes me smile, and the song "Nashville Cats" was my favorite of the night. We also saw Dylan Scott sing what is still going on in my head weeks later "New Truck". He made a joke about Tim McGraw coming up on stage with him, and the crowd went wild, so when it didn't happen, I thought it was a pretty funny joke, so did he...but there were some in the crowd which probably will always give him a bad mark for that joke. It was quite funny tho and performed really well. And Whispering Bill Anderson sang a song about a girl that he had broken up with, and a funny chorus that went "Wherever she is, I hope she stays there. Whoever she's with, He's welcome to my nightmare. It's sure nice, its paradise, without her in my hair. Wherever she is I hope she stays there". Good stuff. Jimmie Allen came off the stage and kissed a random grandma, that had NO IDEA what was going on, and Dustin Lynch, while probably the headliner of the night, just didn't seem to have much stage presence. Haha...Jeanie Seely told a funny story with a punchline of "Lord, he's done it again". So this is a test to see if later I can remember the joke, and a test to see if it was really that good. Maybe not the best, but that 82 year old lady can still sing and has no problem making a crowded room laugh. Ha, and we even got to see Henry Cho, who Magan and I saw first in Birmingham at the Comedy Stardome. Some of the same jokes that he has taken with him for years, but they still work, and I still retell the "Vasecta" joke frequently. Back at the hotel, we took one last stroll through the many lobbies, I got a pic coming down the stairs remembering both of my little girls one time on both arms. And after several visits to our room, magan still had no idea how to get to our room if I was not with her. hahaha...she is completely lost in this hotel.
I don't remember much of the Wednesday we had to leave, but it involved a similar morning of starbucks, breakfast in bed, some of our shows, then finally getting up and out of the hotel. We visited the Paula Deen restaurant for lunch, and got some pictures with the star herself. Then, because we could, went back to the hotel for another nap before heading back to the real world. A much needed break. Looking forward to next July maybe. Gotta build up some more points. Love that lady down below, and love every minute of this family we've made together. Also happy for these little moments just hanging out with my high school sweetheart.
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