Tolsons' Discovery Travels: Fort Campbell & Nashville, TN

Fort Campbell, Clarksville, TN

This morning--a nice sunny warm day, Ralph unhooked his car and the 4 of us headed out to Fort Campbell. We drove all around the Post where Janice and Ralph reminisced about the time that they were stationed there. We even found the house Drennan Park that they had lived in and where Ralph's office was located. We were glad that they got to see all of the Post and "remember when" and check out what was new.

Then we headed out to our next destination--Nashville, TN.

Two Rivers Campground, Nashville

It was a nice short drive into Nashville and the sun was shining brightly and the weather was perfect for sightseeing. After we got settled in (Site 414 Tolsons and Site 413 Parsons), we drove a short distance over to the Grand Ole Opry to pick up our tickets for the show tonight. Well, the show is subject to change and we found out that the Del McCoury Band would not be there--bummer! They are one of our favorite bluegrass bands. Next we drove over to the Opryland Hotel--what a place. (The folks at the campground told us that if you park in section 6C of the Opry Mills Mall, you can walk across the street by the BIG rock and walk into the back of the hotel and not have to pay for parking!) You could spend days in there walking around and going to all of the shops and restaurants! They had maps posted everywhere so you could figure out where you were. After the hotel, we decided to head over to the General Jackson Showboat to see about getting show and dinner tickets for the next evening.

Gaylord Opryland Hotel

Wow, what a place! After walking around just part of the hotel, we decided to have an early dinner at Findley's Irish Pub. It was a good choice as their fish (deep sea cod) and chips was really good and we got to try a new beer - Shock Top. It is an Anheuser-Busch Belgian White ale. After lunch, we stopped in an Italian ice cream store and tried Gelato--different, but good. We walked thru the atrium areas of the hotel--all under glass--until our legs and feet were sore and it was time to go to the Grand Ole Opry show. Here's a few pictures of the many that I took:

Map of Hotel

There are 4 major areas of the hotel that are "under" glass: Delta, Cascades, Magnolia & Garden Conservatory.

Bird of Paradise Plant in Garden Conservatory--

just one of many, many plants and flowers that I took pictures of!

Garden Conservatory

Janice & Ralph Parsons at just one of the many fountains in the hotel

Jack Daniel's Restaurant inside Garden Conservatory Area

Canal in the Delta Area

Here's the Boat that you could take a ride on thru the Delta

Wasabi Restaurant in the Cascades Area

Grand Ole Opry & Museum

Next it was off to spend an hour in the Museum and then go to the Opry for tonights show. It was a great show with 8 diffferent performers: John Conlee - Rose Colored Glasses; Richie McDonald - he was a member of Lonestar, but is out on his own now; Charlie Louvin, Raul Malo - we really enjoyed this group with its sax and horn!; Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys (of past Jim & Jesse Bluegrass Group), Point of Grace - 3 very lively women singing gospel; The Time Jumpers - a western swing band; and a mystery gentleman cowboy that I don't rember his name who wasn't on the program (see pic of him below).