While we were camping at Cedars of Lebanon State Park we were so close to Nashville that we decided to hit up a few places while we were there. First and foremost, we stopped at the Grand Ole Opry. Now, who goes to Nashville and doesn't go to the Grand Ole Opry. :-) This was a must see on our list and we are glad we did, we definitely recommend the back stage tour, although, the photos ops are a bit expensive, but aren't they all. The place is beautiful and so full of country music history. Across the street was a mall so we decided to take the kids to the aquarium restaurant for snacks and dessert and we were not disappointed. The kids had so much fun looking at all the fish in the aquarium while we ate and the food and service was great. We parked and walked the pedestrian bridge, but didn't stay too long, since the truck is oversized and we take up a couple of spots, we really didn't want to make people upset, so we walked the bridge and left. There are also a ton of people on scooters and they fly past you, so either rent a scooter or deal with the people and keep the kids close!
We also decided to drive through the city of Nashville to check out the various places and things to do. While we did not do anything in the city (downtown) itself we did see a lot of interesting places. We stopped at the Bi-Centennial Capital Mall State Park and took a walk through the memorial they had there. On a separate day we met with the another full-time family at the Parthenon in the Centennial Park. Their kids and ours played on the playground while we talked and got to know each other as well as shared ideas and common interests. Nashville is a cool place to visit with a lot of different things to do when your visiting and a definite must see if your traveling through the area. The locals also recommended us to see the Country Music Hall of Fame and we really wanted to do the Trolley Tours, but for all of us was a bit expensive. They also have a night time Trolley Tour that would have been super cool as well. We also really wanted to do the Showboat while we were there, we heard it was absolutely wonderful, but again, for all of us to go was a bit expensive. Etch was a superb restaurant that was recommended to us, but again, a couples restaurant! This is a super neat city to visit as a couple, but for an entire family you would go broke in no time!
A few other things we recommend to do in Nashville would be Madame Tussaud's (world famous wax attraction), the Jack Daniels Distillery, Tennessee Brew Works and Music in Centennial Park (Fridays and Saturdays in May and June). Of course if you are interested in art there are plenty of tours to do, the most interesting being the Nashville Mural Tours. There is so much to do and so many restaurants we would need a month or more to visit everything. We can't wait to go back to continue our adventure!
