Monday, October 24th-
This morning we headed over to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel for Silas to start the security conference. He started earlier that they were ready to check us into our room but they let me go up to the hotel gym while I waited. Within an hour our room was ready and we got our things settled in. I got right to work getting some family history work done. The old laptop is getting slow and Silas ended up not needing his laptop during the conference so by the afternoon I had both of them on and just went back and forth.
By lunch time I was feeling a little headachy so I went for a walk around the hotel. It is huge (3000 guest rooms and convention center) and amazing! There are several sections and they all have atriums, fountains, ponds, restaurants, stores, and more. I found a chicken salad sandwich at one of the cafes. They are my favorite and this one was SO GOOD!
Silas had a few breaks here and there so we got to see each other a little during the day.
After Silas was done for the day, we decided to go to the IMAX theater that is in the Opry Mills Mall, which is right by the hotel. The movie was super pricey but we enjoyed going out. We don't really go see movies much because we like to be able to have time to talk on our dates so even though it wasn't a very touristy thing, we had a good time.
For dinner we decided to stay at the hotel and try the Italian restaurant, Ravello. It was fancy and yummy. The waiter was from Egypt and very kind. We had to wait for about 30 minutes for a table so we walked around and took pictures.
One of the nice things about being on vacation and having hotel rooms with lots of TV channels is that we have watched a lot of college and professional football games. Super lazy and relaxing!
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| Getting settled |
This morning we headed over to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel for Silas to start the security conference. He started earlier that they were ready to check us into our room but they let me go up to the hotel gym while I waited. Within an hour our room was ready and we got our things settled in. I got right to work getting some family history work done. The old laptop is getting slow and Silas ended up not needing his laptop during the conference so by the afternoon I had both of them on and just went back and forth.
By lunch time I was feeling a little headachy so I went for a walk around the hotel. It is huge (3000 guest rooms and convention center) and amazing! There are several sections and they all have atriums, fountains, ponds, restaurants, stores, and more. I found a chicken salad sandwich at one of the cafes. They are my favorite and this one was SO GOOD!
Silas had a few breaks here and there so we got to see each other a little during the day.
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| Amazing hotel! |
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| Evening at the hotel |
One of the nice things about being on vacation and having hotel rooms with lots of TV channels is that we have watched a lot of college and professional football games. Super lazy and relaxing!
Tuesday, October 25th-
Today is Grant's 8th birthday!!! Before Silas and I headed out the door (Silas for the conference breakfast and me for the hotel gym) we gave him a call. Grandma is sufficiently spoiling him so he is doing fine.
Yesterday I ran 3 miles on the treadmill for my 10K training so today I just road a bike for an hour and read one of Annette's books. It was lovely. Then more family history for me! Again, Silas was in a couple of times to say hi between sessions. For lunch I just ate some leftovers from other meals, mostly because I wanted to stay in the room and do as much as I could. I am reserving a lot of temple work, so I'm happy about that.
When Silas was done we headed for downtown again. Today we visited a chocolate shop called Goo Goos. It is amazing chocolate and they had a cute store. We also went into the Johnny Cash Museum for a few minutes.
We were planning on headed out for some dinner and then to the temple but on the way back to the car Amber called me to tell me that Ryan Shakespear, a friend from the Valley View Ward, had passed away in a hiking accident. We were in shock. We love the Shakespears! In fact, Erin and I were recently talking about how we wish we could buy the house between them and the Aitken's that is for sale.
So instead of going out to eat, we went straight to the temple. It is outside Nashville so we had a very long and quiet drive. The temple is small and beautiful. We just missed the 6pm session so we were able to do initiatory for a while before the 7:30pm session. Besides us there were 5 other patrons, 3 of which were workers. It was small and different but as powerful and true as ever. The workers were kind. The message was the same but meant a little more. We are so grateful tonight for the Plan of Happiness!
Since it was late when we got out we had to stop at a sports bar that was still open. It was nice though and although it was loud because they were playing the first World Series baseball game, we had a good meal, enjoying one another and trying to be more grateful for each other.
Today is Grant's 8th birthday!!! Before Silas and I headed out the door (Silas for the conference breakfast and me for the hotel gym) we gave him a call. Grandma is sufficiently spoiling him so he is doing fine.
Yesterday I ran 3 miles on the treadmill for my 10K training so today I just road a bike for an hour and read one of Annette's books. It was lovely. Then more family history for me! Again, Silas was in a couple of times to say hi between sessions. For lunch I just ate some leftovers from other meals, mostly because I wanted to stay in the room and do as much as I could. I am reserving a lot of temple work, so I'm happy about that.
When Silas was done we headed for downtown again. Today we visited a chocolate shop called Goo Goos. It is amazing chocolate and they had a cute store. We also went into the Johnny Cash Museum for a few minutes.
We were planning on headed out for some dinner and then to the temple but on the way back to the car Amber called me to tell me that Ryan Shakespear, a friend from the Valley View Ward, had passed away in a hiking accident. We were in shock. We love the Shakespears! In fact, Erin and I were recently talking about how we wish we could buy the house between them and the Aitken's that is for sale. 
So instead of going out to eat, we went straight to the temple. It is outside Nashville so we had a very long and quiet drive. The temple is small and beautiful. We just missed the 6pm session so we were able to do initiatory for a while before the 7:30pm session. Besides us there were 5 other patrons, 3 of which were workers. It was small and different but as powerful and true as ever. The workers were kind. The message was the same but meant a little more. We are so grateful tonight for the Plan of Happiness!
Since it was late when we got out we had to stop at a sports bar that was still open. It was nice though and although it was loud because they were playing the first World Series baseball game, we had a good meal, enjoying one another and trying to be more grateful for each other.
Wednesday, October 26th-
Last day in the beautiful Gaylord Opryland Hotel. In fact, we had to checkout by noon even though Silas was going to be in meetings until after 3pm. I ran my 2 miles as fast as I could and got some family history done before getting the luggage out to the car. Silas had a break and came to help me load the car.
While out we could see that there was smoke coming from somewhere on the roof but once we were inside no one seemed to know anything. Silas went to his next meeting and I hurried and got another delicious chicken salad sandwich and found a place to sit when someone told me that they were evacuating one of the sections. By the time we left we could see the fire engines outside but I don't think it took long to take care of it. It was interesting though because most people in the lobby area (where I was finally able to eat my lunch) and that section didn't know anything about it. There was no panicking either.
The fire did cut the conference short though, so Silas and I headed out for more sight-seeing. We first stopped at the Parthenon, a full-scale replica of the Parthenon in Greece. It was an amazing place and I sort of felt badly that we didn't have the kids with us. There was a small art gallery which we walked though as well as a lot of history on the Nashville Parthenon and the original Parthenon.
The next stop was Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream. Oh my, was it splendid! It was probably the best ice cream and the most unique flavors! I got a peanut butter ice cream that was amazing. Silas had several but his favorite was Fennel something, which tasted like black licorice. He was in Heaven!
The store was super cute and the two young employees were really nice and knew their ice cream! They were like little salesmen, but that you actually like!
Before heading out for dinner we checked in to our hotel, The Club Hotel. It was a nice hotel but nothing could compare to the Opryland. After settling there were went over to a Mexican restaurant, Chuy's, located in the Opry Mills Mall. They had some hilarious shirts and we decided to get one for each of the boys. The food was yummy too and the service was quick! This was a major plus because we didn't want to be late for the GRAND OLE OPRY!
Tonight was Silas's first live music concert and it was really special to have that at the Grand Ole Opry. Plus tonight they were doing a special show for the Battle Against Cancer so there were some emotional stories and songs. Martina McBride was the final performer which was a treat because we knew most of the songs she sang.We are sure loving every moment of this trip! (Well, maybe not EVERY moment because let's face it, life isn't always rosy. But we have really had a wonderful time.)
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