Our next stop after St. Louis was good ol' Nashville. Home of country music and giant guitars on every corner.
We stayed in Nashville for two nights which gave us about a day and a quarter of exploration time. Frankly, with a baby, that's more than enough. It's not the most baby friendly city around, not that we were expecting much else, it was just a great halfway point for our last destination and we had never seen Nashville before, so why not!
That being said, pressuring my best friend to get married ASAP so we can have her bachelorette party in Nashville is top priority now.
As we entered the city, we first stopped at The Grand Ole Opry. Definitely cool to see, but not much going on unless there is a show. We took a stroll around, stretched our legs, and peaked into the gift shops.
It was getting late by the time we got there so we decided to eat nearby before heading to the hotel. We ate at Caney Fork, right across the street from the Opry. It's definitely a good place to take kids, especially after a long drive. There are bears and trucks throughout the restaurant and even a little pond with fish! And the food's not bad either, gator bites and many wild game options! Yum!
From there it was on to our hotel for the evening! We stayed at the Best Western Plus on Music Row. The hotel was clean and convenient and the service was great! It is located about a mile from the central strip and right off the major highways. I wouldn't suggest walking to the downtown area from there, however; there are not many sidewalks and lots of roads and highways. There is a bus stop a short walk away that comes about every 30 minutes, located in The Gulch, a less touristy area of Nashville (with great LOCAL food!). Oh yea, and the MTA is free and can take you pretty much anywhere downtown!
Once in downtown Nashville we poked around the various shops and venues. It's mostly bars on that strip that don't allow anyone under 21 at any time (not all of them, just some, be prepared to get a few dirty looks). We strolled into the Ryman for a few minutes and a bathroom break. Then headed over to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Honestly, without any planned activities, there is not much to do here with a toddler; the museum is not particularly Hamburger proofed, and we lucked out that he was ok sitting in his stroller for the majority of the time. I like my country music on occasion but am not a die hard fan... Seeing all the memorabilia and learning about the history was pretty cool but one such museum was more than enough for us! If you are a big fan though, there are plenty of iconic and historical places to see and tour! (And the buildings themselves are pretty amazing)
Grandma and Burger enjoying the Country Music Hall of Fame
From the Country Music Hall of Fame we hopped on the bus and headed towards Bicentennial Mall State Park. We passed the capitol building, up some steep hills, and ended up in this little park:
We just can't pass up an opportunity to get wet!
Right across the street from the park is the Nashville Farmers' Market... You can imagine my delight as we stumbled upon one of my favorite things! We bought some tasty peaches and strolled around for a bit, until sure enough, Hamburger fell asleep.
Hamburger and his little hitchhiker
As it turns out the MTA doesn't allow babies in strollers on their buses... You can have a baby and you can have a stroller, but not a sleeping baby in a stroller! I get it, rules are rules. We had to hike back to the main strip on foot. It's only about a mile away, but it's a hilly mile. Obviously we needed some beer when we were done.
Rock Bottom Brewery... "If you want it done right, you have to brew it yourself." Agreed :)
A word on boots...
I couldn't go to Nashville without giving in and buying a cowboy hat and some boots. But I'm cheap, and those cowboy boots were not! Most stores have big discounts in their basements and buy one get two free offers... It sounds good but you're still gonna end up paying $300. And I just won't wear my boots enough to justify that. BUT, they have kid sized boots for the same offer... And it just so happens that I have tiny feet! And their kid's sizes run large. So Hamburger got a pair of cowboy boots and momma got two pairs... For $60! Now I just need to find somewhere to wear them....
Other than our hotel bed
Happy boot wearing!
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