Music and Whiskey- a winning combination!

Ah, Nashville…you stole a piece of our hearts, that’s for sure! I know I say this a lot, but seriously, we cannot wait to come back to this magical place!

But first, no visit to Tennessee would be complete without a visit to Lynchburg, home of Jack Daniels, so we were obliged to stop in and pay a visit on our way to Nashville!

It’s one of the few distilleries that are still doing large group tours. Many others are by appointment only, and/or are only on weekends. Jack Daniels is also unique in that it’s made in Lynchburg, TN, which is located in a DRY COUNTY! So all the tastings are purely for educational purposes, and the store can only sell “unique” bottles that are commemorative of something. Needless to say, that didn’t stop people from loading up on the unique bottles! The tasting at the end was truly the icing on the cake, and we joined our fellow tourists in picking up a bottle.

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Since David was heading back to Los Angeles this week, we decided to once again stay at a KOA so that I would have all the comforts of home while he was gone, and wouldn’t have to worry if something went wrong. It was a great decision, and as you can see, I made great use of the facilities! That pool is open 24/7, so in addition to lounging by the pool in the sunshine, I ventured into the spa at night a few times. Highly recommended!

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So I wouldn’t have to be alone the whole time, my friend Cheryl Ortiz came to hang out with me for a few days. We had a BLAST! I’m not much of a night owl, so we were thrilled to learn that there is live music available in just about every bar and restaurant on Broadway from opening to closing! We heard some really great bands and just had tons of fun! Obviously we went to a lot of distilleries once we cracked the code of which ones were open when. We didn’t get many tours, but we managed quite a few tastings! I think Belle Meade was my favorite.

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Once David came back and Cheryl left, we still didn’t slow down much, because Nashville is just such an awesome place to visit, and there’s so much to do! We checked out The Hermitage, which was Andrew Jackson’s home. It was just gorgeous, and provided some fascinating insight into the storied past of our 7th President. It’s amazing how many other historical American figures that we’ve already learned about on this trip also stayed there! Davey Crockett, for example, a Tennessean who died at the Alamo, and Sam Houston (who did not!). I guess the world wasn’t so big back then after all!

In our opinion, no visit to Nashville is complete without a stop at the Grand Ole Opry, and although there were no acts playing that night, we had fun just stopping by. We also went next door to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel to do some real sightseeing. What a gorgeous place. Waterfalls, fountains, a boat ride, and beautiful gardens, all under a glass roof! Made me want to come back and stay there sometime!

We finished out our time in Nashville with an evening trip to Broadway. It really is beautiful at night, and there are such quirky characters and activities! There’s just something special about listening to live music in Nashville, the Music City. I will ALWAYS be ready to come back here!

Farewell for now, Nashville. Until we meet again. (Very likely in the not-too-distant future!)

Up next: In search of the Bourbon Trail