A Trip to Music City

Two years ago in August we started a Lucas-Bowes family tradition. We met up with Grammy Gayle in Chicago and took in the sights of the Windy City. At that time we decided to meet up in nearby cities every year and tour the places we have never been to before. Last year we were scheduled to go to Nashville, but the trip had to be postponed due to the serious flooding they experienced. So this August we were finally able to make it happen.

Our first capture finds the whole group in the wonderful world of the Opryland Hotel. It is quite an impressive display of the outdoors brought indoors. This hotel has 6-8 restaurants, dozens of shops, and a river with actual boat rides. You can only imagine how much there is to look at. Although it is costly, we hear it is pretty phenomenal at Christmas time.



In any case, when we saw these two horses, we knew we had found the perfect spot for a group photo. Although we don't have any photos from the experience, we also had a blast on the City Tour Trolley, where we learned all about Nashville and got to visit all of the hot spots, including the full scale replica of the Parthenon located at Centennial Park. And for you history buffs, the Bicentennial Park has a detailed chronology of important Tennessee history carved into the granite walls surrounding the park area. It is both beautiful and educational.

Of course we also had our share of fun back at the hotel, where we not only took advantage of the indoor pool, but also enjoyed just goofing around. Callie and Reese clearly had fun wearing their towels just like their Mommy. It's funny the little things that kids pick up from observing their parents.




Callie always enjoys playing with our cell phones, but this reaches a new level when Grammy's around. She knows that Grammy has downloaded a special game for her to play and she's also figured out a couple of the other functions, i.e. the camera. Here we see a self-photo of all the girls. We must admit it's a pretty good shot.



The trip was a quick one overall, and we headed back to Lexington on Sunday afternoon. Fortunately for us, Grammy came back with us so that she could spend a couple of days hanging out with just the girls. They all had a great time.

One of our last meals together took place at the PF Chang's in Lexington. Callie was excited to get a special pair of chop sticks and could not wait to try them out. She was pretty good and actually outlasted everyone at the table in the traditional transition from chopsticks to forks because I'm just too darn hungry and impatient to rely on anything other than a fork.

All in all, it was another successful trip. Now we just need to decide what city we will visit next. It could be Atlanta...it could be St. Louis...you just never know.