We had a great time in Tennessee! It was so fun to see a new state and enjoy some alone time with Nate.
The final verdict: WE LOVE IT!!
So here is our trip, from start to finish!
We left on Thursday morning. As we were taxi-ing to the runway in SLC, it started to downpour. We ended up being stuck on the tarmac for an hour. We only had a one-hour layover in Atlanta, so we knew we were going to miss our connecting flight. I was completely stressed out about it, because we didn't know how soon we could get to Nashville. When we finally took off, we went up through these awful, dark clouds and the turbulence was probably the worst I've ever experienced. I hate to admit that the tears came! I wish I wasn't so afraid of flying...it's not a fun phobia to have (is any phobia fun?), but Nate was good about letting me cut off circulation to his hand!! It was a long flight!
When we landed in Atlanta, we literally RAN through the monstrous airport to see if there was any way our Nashville flight was still boarding. It was long gone. But luckily, there was another flight to Nashville leaving just an hour later, and since it wasn't our fault that we'd missed our flight, they immediately booked us on that next flight. We were so relieved!! We didn't want to waste any time having to stay overnight in Atlanta. The flight to Nashville was a glorious 33 minutes long. Now, that's my kind of flight!! It was fun to see our first glimpses of Tennessee from the plane.
The humidity overwhelmed us when we first even stepped off the plane. But overall, it was completely fine. We were prepared to be miserable! But we weren't!! We spent most of our trip walking outdoors, and most of the time, we didn't even really notice it. We could handle it living there! Plus, on Sunday, I tried wearing my hair curly, and the humidity actually made the curls look better!
Tennessee is gorgeous. Rolling, green, tree-covered hills everywhere you look. Lots of lakes and rivers too. I couldn't get over how much I liked it there.
We got our car rental and took to the Tennessee highways to find our hotel. Thank heavens for Nate's phone having a navigation system...it completely saved us, and we used it the entire trip. When we got in the car, Nate said, "Ok, you're in charge of the music....find John." I turned on the radio, pushed a pre-set radio button and "Half of my Heart" blasted through the speakers. It was hilarious, we laughed for awhile about that one!!
We were pretty exhausted by the time we got to our hotel, so we did a quick Taco Bell run and called it a night. Busy day ahead!!
Happy to be on land and safely at the hotel.
The next morning, we headed to downtown Nashville. Today is the day I completely fell in love. I am so in love with this city.... I wasn't expecting to care much about Nashville...but it was love at first sight.
Our first glimpse of the city.
We parked downtown and spent 2 hours checking it all out.
Just the day before, there was some more flooding. It was barely starting to recede on Friday morning.
I can't even imagine how awful the flood was in May. I was happy to put a few dollars back into the Nashville downtown economy!
Walking up 1st Avenue
We stopped by this Dolly Parton gift shop to cool off. There were these autographed guitars for sale. It's a good thing there wasn't a John Mayer guitar in here....I can't say we wouldn't have bought it!! And because I'm a textbook nerdy tourist, I had to get some Nashville s&p shakers and a t-shirt!!
Then we went to the Charlie Daniels museum. I love jukeboxes!!
The "Batman Building" - I love this building!!
Then we walked up Broadway Street. So many cool shops & restaurants to check out.
Taking a rest in the shade overlooking the river.
We found this great place for lunch, called Diana's. I wanted to find somewhere local and charming, and this little place was absolutely perfect! GREAT food and a candy shop at the front.
After lunch, we headed back to our hotel (about 10 minutes from downtown). We had booked a Gray Line city tour at 1 pm, and the tour van picked us up there. So we headed back into Nashville! I knew I was in love when I was beyond thrilled to turn around go right back where we had just been. I could not get enough of this city. Our tour guide was awesome. He was an older man who had lived in TN his whole life. He had a classic Southern accent and was just the perfect tour guide. Lots of hilarious stories and facts about Nashville, we were with him for 4 hours, and I could have spent 4 days listening to him! Kind of like Dave Ramsey!! He was very good at his job. Can't wait for our kids to pick up TN accents!
We started the tour at the Parthenon. I was bummed we couldn't get out to take pics, because this building was so cool! Can't wait to take the kids next summer! ;)
A really bad shot of Vanderbilt (sorry!).
Taylor Swift lives in the Penthouse of this building...that's for you, Kari!!
Then we headed over to Music Row. This is where Elvis and many others recorded their hits.
Then we drove through downtown and the Riverfront, where Nate & I had spent the morning. Then we drove to the Ryman Auditorium, where they do the Grand Ole Opry. This building was so cool, they said it is the 2nd best place to play live music because of the acoustics...any guesses which building is the all-time best to play in? The Mormon Tabernacle, of course!!
We took the stage. John Mayer has stood here... :)
Then we headed up to the Bicentennial Park. Next to the Parthenon and the Riverwalk, this was probably my favorite area. What a view of downtown!! Once again, I wish we could have gotten out and wandered around....next time, right?!
Our next stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame. The building was designed to look like a piano!
Elvis Presley's Gold Cadillac
I love Carrie Underwood. I can't get enough of her song, "Undo It" since I heard it in July. She's got the most powerful voice I've ever heard. I've added a few of my favorite Carrie songs to my playlist.
We spent an hour at the Hall of Fame, and then headed back to Broadway Street to this honky-tonk! We were easily the only Mormons there, drinking our cokes! This dude was so good...he covered everything from Tim McGraw to Michael Jackson to Elvis.
After our tour, we were taken back to our hotel. We then headed about 45 minutes out of Nashville to the infamous Loveless Cafe. We were worried about driving so far and hoped it was worth our time.... Well, it definitely was! Best down home southern cookin' ever! It's famous for it's biscuits and homemade jam. We forgot our camera, sadly. But it was a fun evening....and we were so stuffed! I think I woke up the next morning still feeling full!! Come visit us when we move there....we'll take you to the Loveless Cafe!!
The next morning, we woke up and headed out about an hour to Clarksville. So here's the thing....I was sad to leave Nashville. We drove right past downtown, and I didn't want to keep going. Once again, I could tell my heart was stuck there and not going anywhere else!! We really liked our day in Clarksville, but overall, we aren't in love with it. We don't think it's where we want to move. We just want Nashville!!
That said...it was a gorgeous drive up to Clarksville.
It was so weird to enter the city limits. It was surreal actually being in the town that we'd idolized for 4 months!!
We headed to the Farmer's Market. We met some fabulous locals, I wish we could have supported their businesses, but what are we doing to do with a zucchini? Some people were selling homemade jam and BBQ sauce that tasted amazing, but nothing was under 3 oz, and we didn't want to have to check our luggage (they threw out my Ponds cold cream in SLC at the security check!). We met a lady here who was from south Nashville...Murfreesboro/Franklin area. I had heard good things about Murfreesboro, and the real estate is exciting there too. She said they are building a brand new high school there. She told us a lot of helpful things about that area, and we decided to go check it out the next morning.
Downtown Clarksville. It reminded me a lot of my hometown in Oregon. It's a gorgeous city. There is nothing wrong with it...we just didn't feel like it is home to us.
It was more humid/hot on Saturday, but we stuck it out and walked the Riverwalk. Gorgeous!!
Nate's a goofball in Tennessee!!
Then we headed back downtown for lunch.
We have been working with a realtor in Clarksville named Eric. He recommended this Blackhorse Pub for lunch. Once again, good eatin' in Tennessee!! It was fabulous!!
After lunch, we had some time to kill, so we headed up the highway about 5 minutes to the Kentucky border. Just to say we did it.
You know what was funny? Literally 1 mile into Kentucky, the landscape completely changed into this: We had not seen one ounce of tree-less area in Tennessee yet. But there it is! In Kentucky! We laughed pretty hard about it.
And then we turned and went back to our beloved tree-filled Tennessee!!
We spent a few hours driving through the neighborhoods, looking at houses. It's so fun to look at homes that you know you can afford!!
That evening, we got Subway and took it over to Beachaven Winery, there in Clarksville. Realtor Eric had recommended we go to Jazz on the Lawn, which they do twice a month in the summer. He was even kind enough to lend us his lawn chairs, which he had left behind the reception area. We opened the chairs and found he had also left a gift card and a note to "enjoy a bottle of wine on me". Now, obviously we don't drink wine, but we were absolutely touched by his kindness....a complete stranger so willing to help us out and be so generous. Instead of wine, we bought some beautiful wine glasses (engraved with the Beachaven logo) to remember Clarksville with when we drink our sparkling cider on holidays! And we got some amazing chocolate-covered caramel corn that I'm pretty sure tasted better than any alcohol!
Nice job with the photography, Honey!! I love this picture.
The music was (once again) awesome. This band covered all sorts of hits as well. We'd love to do this every month in the summers. We were the only ones not drinking wine, and it led us to have a long conversation about how when we move to TN, our standards will stand out. We will be noticed....we will be "different from the world". I loved being a full-time missionary, and even though I don't wear a name tag anymore, I want to continue to share what I know to be true with those around me. I have no doubts that moving to TN will open up so many opportunities to share the Gospel for Nate & I and our children.
On our way back to Nashville, we were pounded with the WORST rainstorm I have ever experienced. I could not believe the volume of water that was falling! It was pretty scary being on the road in that, and TN roads are scary because they aren't straight...and the trees are so dense that you are usually in darkness, except for other cars. It was a scary couple of miles! Then we turned the corner and suddenly the Nashville skyline was right in front of us, and the rain completely stopped. It was like a wall. So weird. Hello Nashville! I was giddy to be back!!
Sunday morning we slept in, packed up, checked out, and headed south. We drove a few miles down to Murfreesboro & Franklin to drive through the towns and look at homes again. We felt a complete 180 degree difference between Clarksville and these southern Nashville suburbs. We have no doubts that we want to live there. They felt like home. And I could go to Nashville every day if I wanted to!
Nater boy drivin' the Versa.
This is the drive from Murfreesboro over to Franklin. Gorgeous.
The LDS temple is in Franklin. There is also a church building next door to the temple, so we attended Church. The people were so welcoming and excited for us to be there. When we told them we were thinking of moving there, their faces lit up, and they gushed about how much they love it. One lady used to teach high school there, and had lots of helpful information for Nate.
The beautiful temple.
Driving into the parking lot, we immediately felt the familiar Spirit that can only be felt on temple grounds. I was once again overwhelmed with the joy of knowing that Christ's true church exists all over the world. It doesn't matter where you go. The Latter-day Saints are meeting on Sundays, renewing covenants, serving without pay, teaching each other, worshipping our Savior. We had spent the weekend in a new place, not knowing a single soul, using navigation to find places, asking people where to go, making wrong turns now and then. But at Church and at the temple, we weren't in new territory. It felt like we were with family. As comfortable as home. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. I can't wait to move to Tennessee, start a life there, strengthen our ward there, serve in a calling, do missionary work, attend the temple, and further the Lord's work in this beautiful area. We have promised the Lord that we will do just that....so now we sit back and wait to see what happens! We are praying in faith that things will fall into place for us there.
We flew home late Sunday night. Our kids were peacefully asleep in their beds when we got home, and I was so happy to kiss their squishy cheeks. No matter what happens next Summer or where our family ends up, home is always where Nate & my babies are!
"I see the road now, I know just what I need
To find my way back to Tennessee.
I'm going home now to Southern, it's so sweet
And find my way back to Tennessee."
-Billy Ray Cyrus
