Friday morning we drove to Asheville, NC after dropping Wilma off at Pet Suites.
Bye-bye Baby Girl!
When we got into Asheville, NC we went straight to the Biltmore Estate. We toured the mansion, the winery and saw some of the grounds. The Estate is massive!!
Brian & I in front of the Mansion
After visiting the Biltmore Estate we drove to our hotel just outside of Asheville and checked in. Then we got some dinner (O'Charley's...we aren't fancy peeps) and got some much needed rest.
Saturday morning we woke up slightly sore from our incredibly firm bed at the hotel and drove to Lynchburg, TN. There we toured the Jack Daniel's Distillery and the small "town" of Historic Lynchburg. The Distillery was neat to see, the tour is free and actually walks you back stage through the entire process of making the whiskey. Downside, Lynchburg is still in a dry county and therefore...no samples or whiskey to buy. People were actually paying $30 for empty bottles! It was still fun to see the grounds of the Distillery. It was so gorgeous and peaceful.
Our tour group at the Jack Daniel's Distillery. We are on the left in front.
The grounds surrounding the working distillery. The creek is where the water is brought in for the whiskey and there are beautiful gardens surrounding all the buildings.
More of the gardens and a statue of good ol' Jack!
After leaving Lynchburg we drove into Nashville, TN and checked into our hotel. Then we went to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. It is this massive hotel/convention center with tons of shops, restaurants and a lake with fountains that you can actually take a boat around in. It would certainly be cool to stay there, but oh so expensive!
These fountains are set to music which was pretty cool, and above are the balconies for the rooms at the hotel. What a neat view that would be...!
Later that night we returned to our room with some Baskin Robbins (hey, a pregnant gal needs her dairy) and we crashed! Unfortunately our bed didn't get any softer from changing hotels. Seriously, the firmest mattress we've ever slept on. Brian got the good idea to get more pillows from the hotel staff (which wasn't an easy task- they were actually annoyed at our request) and he was able to sleep a little better the second night.
Anyhow, Sunday we toured the home of President Andrew Jackson, The Hermitage. It was interesting, especially since they have been able to keep everything in tact, just like he left it when he died so many years ago.
The Hermitage
Later we went to downtown Nashville. We walked up and down the "strip" and ate at the famous Jack's Bar-B-Q. We were in downtown Nashville in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday, but I could definitely see where this place is a hit for night life. Tons of bars and clubs! Then we drove out to Arrington, TN to tour a winery we read about in a brochure. Well, the winery ended up being a bust. Brian tasted some of their wines and didn't like any of them. The grounds were gorgeous, overlooking the Tennessee hills, but it was hot and expensive and we didn't stay long. Sunday night we went to this really awesome restaurant at the Opry Mills Mall. It was the Aquarium Restaurant and in the middle of the dining area is a huge aquarium tank! It was certainly a different dining experience.
The Aquarium Restaurant (view from our table)
Monday we woke, packed up and left Nashville. On the drive home we attempted a visit to the Lost Caverns in Bowling Green, KY (hi Sarah & Chris!), but we ended up just going home instead. There were a lot of people there, and we were more eager to just get home and relax.
Once we got home since it was a holiday we were Wilma-less for the night. We slept good and hard that night too. :)
Wilma is back home with us and we're back to the regular life with work and stuff. Man, the vacation away was much needed and much enjoyed!
1 comment:
You look so cute! You should have stopped by our house Monday... I was there until 2 and Chris was home all day. :) Glad to hear your vacation was great!
Sarah
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