Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Third Leg of Trip- Nashville/Memphis

We arrived last night in Nashville, and had dinner in an Italian restaurant connected with the hotel.  I found it quite humorous that we recently ate in a German restaurant that served French food and last night we ate in an Italian restaurant that was housed in a French hotel.  The irony.  It was quite tasty.  Roger was so tired, his appetite was minimal.  I almost had to force him to eat.  But he did enjoy his meal.  We both collapsed once we returned to the room.


Today we did the Griswold tour of Nashville and Memphis.  Roger says he has spent more time touring cities while in the airport.  

This morning we first stopped at the Belmont Mansion which is on the Belmont Campus.



This sign informed us that Minnie Pearl went to this College.

A truly beautiful campus.

We saw the Nashville Parthenon.  It is a bit more put together than the one in Greece.  Roger says that it could be that it is a few years younger than the one in Greece.



As we were walking around this walkway back to the car, there was a walker with a dog. Roger and I, of course, got quite excited about the dog. We asked if we could pet the dog.  We gave it our usual luvin' of puppies.  When we walked away, Roger said, "I wonder if that guy was someone who was famous."  I said, "We wouldn't know, we don't know anyone in this business, I walked by Hank Williams, Jr and had no idea until you told me."

We then attempted to find a place to eat breakfast.  We tried to find what was recommended to us by our good friend, Joanne, but could not find what she told us.  I know it is because I never seem to get the whole information, so we were out of luck on that score.  Then we surfed the net for best eats and came up with a couple of great local possibilities.  We plugged our trusty Lola in (GPS) affectionately known as “Sugarbritches” to Roger depending on his mood, and away we went.  Well the top two on our list were closed.  One was closed, as in permanently, and the other did not open until 10:30am.  I do not know about you, but I prefer to eat my breakfast, you know, like at breakfast time, and 10:30 is just not it.
So we cruised around and just when we were about to give up, we see a sign in the sky…no not that one, it was actually made of wood and paint and all.  It was telling us about a breakfast place called Tin Cup.  How exciting!  So we turn our car in its direction, and speedily head towards the restaurant… and…boards on the door.  Frustration.  But you cannot keep us down, no.  We turn the other corner and see an OPEN cafe.  We get so excited that we pass it and have to tour the block just to come back to it.  It ended being quite tasty and just across from the Korean War Memorial which gave me a moment to honor my Uncle Paul.  


Also, we were able to see the courthouse.  It was quite beautiful.  What a lovely spot.




Before leaving Nashville, we of course had to go by the Grand Ole Opry.


All this was accomplished before 10:30am.  We then took off for Memphis.  We were horrified by a wreck we saw on the way to Memphis.  The horror cannot be described.  This shook us up for  pretty much the rest of the way to Memphis.
When in Memphis, we did the King tour.  Not our King, but these "Kings" did worship Him!
We found Elvis Presley Blvd and drove down to Graceland.



The Sun Studios where Elvis recorded his hits
Then we visited where Martin Luther King, Jr was shot.


It was quite eerie being here where Dr King was killed.  I teared up as I took in the whole experience.

We also stopped to snap pictures of the Mississippi River before entering Arkansas.

Tonight we have settled down in Forrest City, Arkansas.  So good night for tonight and God Bless!  We will be off for the State Park tomorrow, we don't know if there will be any internet contact so it may be a couple days before further posts! Blessings!




Monday, June 29, 2015

Forgot to add this for first leg of trip.  This is us sitting on the porch watching sunset.
Roger and I have just completed the first leg of our trip.  We spent the weekend celebrating Christmas with my sisters and their families.  There was no snow, however, we did get to wrap up in our blankets and there was a bit of snuggling because of the cold.  Even though it was cold in the morning w time did go into the river late in the morning.  We also walked the Helen streets and ate in the wonderful restaurants.  People watching was also quite a bit of fun.  But of course, the best was spending time together.  There is nothing like family.  I was so blessed that my two were able to break away from their busy schedules and spend time with us.  I am blessed!









Molly and Noah, my niece and nephew

Molly and Noah with their mother, my sister, Christy!

Me, basking in all my glory on the river in my tube:)



The Stephens, Christy's family, went to Anna Ruby Falls

Shahid enjoying the view while on the phone, what a multi-tasker.

Night outside our house.

A storm is a-brewing!



It's a mob selfie!


Our Christmas Elf!

They love their socks!

The aerial view

Our sunny view from our deck!


Now the sun sets





and it rises!




What beauty!



The lake near Uniquoi State Park

Second Leg of the trip- Nashville
We drove through Blairsville, GA, but did not check on the farm.  Then we drove on through Murphy, North Carolina on to Cleveland, TN.  Driving by the Ocoee Lake was absolutely wonderful.  It reminded us what a wonderful artist God is.  This trip is going to give us so many chances to appreciate this.  We have arrived in Nashville around 4pm our time.  Needed some downtime.  


Ocoee Lake