We had quite the week this past week! Finally took the opportunity to go visit Debbie in Nashville, and I took advantage of the remote working situation to be there all week and work from Central Time. It was just me and Sophie flying, which was terrifying and had me really nervous ever since I bought the ticket, but we did survive.
I will say that people were very kind and helpful to me as they could see I was traveling with a toddler alone, but of course once they see you're on their flight it changes!
Despite thinking that I was a genius for choosing a flight that would coincide with Sophie's nap time, we ended up having a delay that cause Sophie to crash in the airport while we were waiting, only to wake up while we were boarding and be on sensory overload and therefore not sleep a wink for the duration of the 4 hour flight.
She did okay for the first half. It was non-stop Cocomelon. I thought she would fall asleep watching it but she was too jazzed up. She's also just under 2 and pretty big to keep on my lap and she couldn't get comfortable (neither could I).
I would try to turn off Cocomelon but she would go nuts. Then she was just OVER the flight and screaming bloody murder. It really didn't help when there was enough turbulence for the seatbelt sign to be on so I had to keep her on my lap and hold her and she was screaming and thrashing around. It was awful. For the whole last hour and during the whole descent and deboarding, she was just screaming. She was even losing her mind in the stroller as we made our way to baggage claim (at that point she was clearly just tired and cranky and delirious from the day of travel and a mere 15 minute nap). But, once she saw grandma, she was able to be calmed, and meeting Jayna and Annika was new and she was very curious about and entertained by Annika, and they ended up being pretty cute friends for the next 48 hours, despite the age difference.
First thing we did the next morning after wrangling the troops together, Debbie gave us a tour of downtown Franklin, the cute, historic little suburb where she works. It was Labor Day, so there was a lot going on, including what looked like some form of a marathon, and Sophie and Annika even crossed the finish line!
We walked down over a quaint river to a park where the girls had a mostly great time. It was pretty humid and sticky, even if the regulars didn't seem to be bothered by it at all.
After that, we got lunch and went home for Sophie to take a nap. We put our feet up for a bit and then Jayna, Annika and I headed into the city and wandered around lower Broadway of Nashville proper. Boy howdy was that a sight! It's like a Vegas of the Appalachians (I just made that up) and I'm still sad I didn't get a drink to drink as we walked around, just because you can. Apparently the mark of a real country star is to have your own honky tonk in Nashville because we could barely count the amount of honky tonks and bars under some singer's name.
We had fun exploring and saw the Ryman Auditorium, Country Music Hall of Fame and Starwalk, the Bridgeport Arena, Nissan Stadium, riverfront, had a Three Stooges moment on a escalator at an outdoor mall, got Annika an authentic pair of Nashville boots and got Jeni's Ice Cream from the farmers market near the Tennessee State Capitol hill.
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| Mural of Rep. John Lewis |
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| State Capitol |
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| Annika is a little photog herself |
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| I don't have a crazy Dolly obsession or anything (but certainly respect her!) but I liked that she was inducted on November 8 |
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| It's a Kacey Musgraves thing |
Originally Jayna and I were planning on spending the night out in downtown Nashville ourselves, but after the day (and witnessing that circus) we knew we didn't have it in us to return. We still took up Debbie on her offer to watch the girls and went back to downtown Franklin for some Italian. We did get some cute pictures of the girls while we were away though!
The next morning it took even longer to wrangle the troops and we all headed out to the Grand Ole Opry! We decided to do the backstage tour, which Sophie decidedly did NOT want to do and Debbie ended up leaving with her halfway through, so that was frustrating, but it was cool to see otherwise. I knew nothing about it previously and they did a pretty good job explaining the significance of it in country music and the legendary nature of it and what an honor it is for country singers. And they let you all stand in the circle on the center which is flooring from the original Ryman Auditorium where it all started.
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| Annika never asked me to do her hair again LOL |
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| Annika the Photographer strikes again |
Roy Acuff's house was having a limited exhibition on the 90s, which I actually loved, because my one-time obsession with country music was in the 90s, so that was my time to shine! Those were all the stars I knew and remembered (and in my head, are still the stars of country music LOL).
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| Reba Styliez |
The Grande Ole Opry took up most of our morning and we went across the street to the Aquarium Restaurant for lunch (think Rainforest Cafe but underwater). After that it was time for Sophie's nap yet again (this poor kid is teething like crazy right now and has been quite fussy) and I was so dead tired, and Jayna and Annika's flight wasn't too much longer away, so we hung out at home until it was time to take them. Their turnaround time was too short! But I'm grateful for anytime to see them and was stoked that Sophie and Annika finally got to meet, and I love how it always feels like a quick unplanned surprise when Jayna and I get to see each other.
Sophie wasn't enjoying the car ride, so we decided to go check something out for a bit to get her out. We made it to the Hillsboro neighborhood which was so adorable! All the little cafes, restaurants, bars, shops, boutiques and painted murals. We found a little farmers market-type fair happening in a nearby park and got out there for a little and let Sophie play on the playground.
We passed by the Bluebird Cafe on the drive home and called it a night pretty soon after we got back.
The next day (today), we visited the Belle Meade Historical Site. I was a bit conflicted about it, but it is certainly a part of southern history, and was really beautiful. It was a nice walk around the grounds, including down the creek which was part of the Natchez Trace. The cabin of the enslaved people really hurt and made me feel icky. I got the same feelings from when I visited the Dachau concentration camp outside of Munich. I don't really know what to say about it, but it was emotional and frustrating and infuriating.
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| Watching grandma take the trash out |
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| Belle Meade mansion |
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| Back of the mansion (bad day to be here with the construction causing such an eyesore) |
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| The "Dollhouse" aka the kids' playhouse! |
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| Carriage House |
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| Original cabin |
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| "Slave Cabin" ugh |
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| A reminder of the evil inhumanity that happened before |
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| Down by the Natchez Trace |
After that it was naptime for everyone (Sophie has adjusted well to Tennessee time, waking up at 6:30a here which is still 4:30a my time UGH) and then I had a lot of work to do in the afternoon, so I stayed home and worked while Debbie and Sophie ran some errands and took some walks.
And that's where we are. It's Wednesday evening, I'm done with work, Sophie is napping and I am ready for some night-night time! I've been feeling bad for Sophie because it seems the rest of her teeth are all coming in at once (all 4 canines are bursting, and at this point I'm wondering if she's getting second year molars at this same time too, but can't confirm anything). Her speech has exploded, she learns new words every day, is putting sentences together and loves to point out over and over that she's at "grahma hous!"
It sure is peaceful and beautiful and lush here. I'm really enjoying it and so glad we got a chance to make it out here finally!
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