We just returned from a week long trip to Nashville. We decided to tag along with Steve as he was attending his Boy Scouts of America National Leadership Conference which was being held at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee. I was really skeptical about making the trek since it was about a 12 to 13 hour drive especially with 2 little ones, a 3 year old and 1 year old. So, yes, I complained about it before hand and much to my surprise, we really had a wonderful time. The boys did great on the drive to and from Nashville with little to no crying. It was a huge blessing.
Our adventure began leaving on Thursday evening and driving into Little Rock getting in at midnight. We slept the next morning till about 9am, ate breakfast at Mimi's Cafe (yum, yum) and then stopped at Walmart to buy a few things for the road. We arrived into Memphis around noonish and headed straight to the famous Peabody Hotel. It is a beautiful hotel located downtown in the heart of Memphis. The Peabody itself is also one of Memphis' most popular attractions.
The Peabody 
Ducks march to and from the Grand Lobby twice daily in a time-honored tradition dating back to the 1930s. At 11 AM and again at 5 PM, the red carpet is rolled out and The Peabody Ducks march to the tune of John Philip Sousa's “King Cotton March” before a crowd of amazed and delighted guests. Unfortunately we missed the march but we got to see the ducks wading in the hotel lobby pond and took a few photos. We ate lunch at TGIFriday's since it was Friday and then headed in to Nashville.
When we arrived to the
Gaylord Opryland, I was taken back by the size of this hotel or should I say resort. It really is gorgeous and breathtaking inside with all the gardens and waterfalls. Our room was in the conference area called the Magnolia. Much to my surprise the room was not as big as I had hoped but it really didn't matter because we were still able to fit two port-a-cribs one for Ethan and one for Roman. Hubby and I got the king size bed! We were busy throughout the next few days especially with Steve attending many of the seminars and workshops. I got to attend the opening night dinner where
Josh Turner was the featured music artist, the receptions the following night with three other perfomances and the spouses brunch where
Dr. Kevin Leman was the guest speaker. I was so blessed to be a part of that event. Dr. Leman is incredibly funny and is the author of the Birth Order Book and many, many more books. What was even better was that BSA made baby sitting services available so Ethan and Roman were well taken care of when Steve and I attended any of the events. While in Nashville, we also had a chance to worship at the
Oasis Worship Center on Sunday which was so awesome. The moment we walked in we were welcomed by so many friendly members. The boys went to the childcare area and had a great time. The worship and the message brought forth by Pastor Danny was great! We also had a chance to meet the Pastor and he prayed a blessing over us. Oh, and can't forgot a wonderful lunch we had at a little cafe in Brentwood called
Puffy Muffin. The lemon poppy sead bread was out of this world.
The BSA conference ended Tuesday night and so we decided to head back to Texas on Wednesday. We checked out of the Gaylord around noon and headed to Memphis. When we arrived we decided to take a tour of
Graceland since neither one of us had visited before. I am not an Elvis fan so I had never really kept up with his life. I am so glad we stayed for the tour because it was worth the hour and half we were there. We purchased the self-guided package using head sets that would play a narration about Graceland and Elvis. We were allowed to take many pictures. I never knew that the 2nd floor of Graceland was NOT opened to the public. From what I understand, it was Elvis' private area (his sanctuary) and since Graceland opened to the public, no one is allowed to tour that area of the house.
After Graceland, we left Memphis and headed back down to Little Rock where we stayed at the Doubletree Hotel for the night. We used
Priceline.com and got a really good deal on the hotel. Then on Thursday morning, we finally made our way back into Dallas and it was great to finally be home. We are so thankful that God kept us safe during our travels and that we were able to have an enjoyable time.
Isn't it amazing the words that come out of our little ones. The boys and I started our day with a few errands to run. Roman loves it when we run errands. I think he loves just saying the word "errands". It's so adorable when he says it. He'll ask me, "Mommy, are we going to run errands today?" Usually it's not but, today was the day, and he was so excited!
