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Yesterday (Sunday) was a very busy travel day so I didn’t get a chance to update the blog. As such, everyone gets a doubleheader blog post encompassing Day 6 in Nashville and Day 7 on the road and in Georgia!
We woke up on Saturday morning in our awesome Airbnb apartment on the outskirts of downtown Nashville. We had a corner apartment on the 5th floor and the views were incredible. We had purchased groceries the night before on our way in, so breakfast was en-suite as Heather scrambled up some eggs and made bacon and hash brown potatoes for all. Livy slept through and had her breakfast bowl later while Heather, Diego and I went to check out the pool situation.
The building has a rooftop pool on the 2nd floor of a six-story building. Basically the entire building has a cutout on one side so that all of the balconies on that side face the pool. We were the first ones there and had a fun float with Diego before the other residents and guests started to trickle in. We headed back upstairs and found that Livy was awake and enjoying her food with some coffee.
We got ourselves ready to go out exploring and the first stop was the Parthenon. Back in 1897, the city of Nashville was celebrating their centennial, and they did so with a grand exposition in the park. In addition to a recreation of the ancient Parthenon in Athens, the planners also built a pyramid, a Taj Mahal, and many other structures that were meant to just be temporary. After the expo was finished, the original Parthenon was left to stand which it did for about 20 years. As it was only built to last six months you can imagine the plaster and balsa wood had seen better days.
In 1923, a new permanent structure was built on the site of the original and it’s definitely something to see if you’re ever in the area. It features a pair of 7.5 ton (each!) bronze doors and a statue of Athena holding Nike inside. There is also an art museum and a photo exhibit of the centennial expo which I found really interesting.
After the Parthenon, we headed for Broadway and the famous honky tonks to grab some lunch. Diego was in charge of choosing between Kid Rock’s restaurant or
Jason Aldean’s place. He chose Rock (paper and scissors were not an option) and off we went. We found a table on the second floor where a band was just setting up to perform. Diego and I tried their spicy chicken sandwich (very tasty and great fries), Olivia had a cheesesteak and Heather had a Caesar salad. The band was pretty good, mostly familiar covers played well. We tipped the band (the only way they get paid in Nashville as there are no door charges) and moseyed on our way.
Next stop was the Grand Ole Opry which is situated at an absolutely gigantic mall. We hopped out and walked around a bit taking pictures, but security was in the middle of setting up for Saturday night at the Opry so we didn’t go inside. We decided to get out of the heat and the sun and head back to the apartment to relax the rest of the day. I found a cool sushi place called Rock and Roll Sushi (all of the menu options are named after famous rock bands) so I ordered a smorgasbord for all of us. We also cooked up a frozen pizza I had
ordered the night before. Snack dinner!
Finished out the night watching Avengers: Infinity War on Netflix before heading off to bed.
Saturday morning we woke up and started cleaning and packing up to head for Georgia! It was a long travel day ahead, ultimately about 12 hours between residences. We stopped a few times for bathroom and snack breaks along the way before pulling into the parking lot of one of the big adventures we had planned for the trip. Pine Mountain Animal Safari!
This place is so cool, we would all highly recommend it. We rented one of their big passenger vans and bought a 50 pound bag of animal chow so we would never have to turn anyone down. The next hour was a blur of all kinds of animals you never get to see in person, much less feed by hand and pet them.
We fed herds of zebras, American Bison and water buffalo, camels, all kids of deer in all sizes, lots of pigs (it’s so funny when they come running!) geese, even a raccoon came begging and we were happy to oblige him. It was such a great experience we would
recommend to anyone, the only downer was that it was too hot for the giraffes and they preferred the shade over any hand feeding or photo ops.
After the safari, it was off to Jeff and Rebecca’s house north of Atlanta to have a visit and meet baby Ellie! She’s absolutely adorable and it was so good to see JP and Beck. We had pizza and wings from Publix (great wings, especially the lemon pepper) and snacks. We spent some time talking and catching up, and took a tour of their beautiful home. The basement was just finished with a home theater, guest quarters and a bar with its own dishwasher!
The time flew by far too quickly, and it was 9pm before we knew it and way past Diego’s bedtime (which he was not shy about “mentioning”) 😊
We checked into our Atlanta hotel on Cobb Parkway and all were very pleased with our two-bedroom suite with living room and kitchen. Nice to have some space to sprawl out after about a week of close quarters. Everyone showered off the safari sweat (no A/C in that big old heap of a van...by far the sketchiest vehicle
I’ve ever driven but it was so fun!) and it was lights out by 10:30.
Two great days on the road, we’re having so much fun!!! Today we head to Hilton Head to visit Uncle Tom and KK 😊 Can’t wait!!!
States visited so far - Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia.
Total miles driven - 1810
First time to Georgia for everyone. We actually entered the state twice, you have to cross GA to get to Chattanooga on the highway we were using.
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MomCat
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Fabulous!
It’s almost like being there!