January 14-17, 2010 - Nashville, Tennessee

I decided to go explore Nashville this weekend.  I was flying in from Toronto, and the weekend definitely got off to a bumpy start.  My flight was delayed 3 hours, which meant I should have missed my connection in Chicago, but thankfully when I got there it had also been delayed – so with a good run through the airport I made it with about 10 minutes before doors closed.  Unfortunately my luggage was no so lucky. I made it to Nashville late that night, slept and then grabbed my luggage from the airport the next morning.  

The only thing I had planned in Nashville was to see the Grand Ole Opry on my second night.  Other than that I just set out to see what I could explore on my own.  I walked through the Tennessee State Capital building, explored downtown - walked over the Shelby St. Bridge, Painter’s Alley, Fort Nashborough and the 2nd Ave Entertainment district.  That afternoon I drove out to the Parthenon, and then drove over to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and the Grand Ole Opry House.  

On day 2, I went to the Belle Meade Plantation and took the tour of the 1853 mansion.  Next I went to the Belmont Mansion and finally to the Hermitage.  That night I went to the Opry at the Ryman and had such a great time!  I got to see Jimmy Dickens, Del McCoury Band, Mike Snider, Dierks Bentley, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and Carrie Underwood.  What a fun experience!

On my last day I went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and then ate some great BBQ at Famous Dave’s.  I messed around the Opry Mills mall for a bit and finally caught my evening flight back to Toronto.     

Check out some more photos from this trip here - Nashville Photos