If You're Going To Break With Tradition...

After forty-eight years of Thanksgiving at my parents’ farm we decided to change things up this year.  My folks enjoy traveling but tinkering with Thanksgiving tradition - - that was a gutsy move.  Mike came up with the idea of a trip to Nashville, a fun spot within a reasonable distance.  We got my mom and dad hotel reservations at Gaylord Properties’ Inn and Suites.  This Thanksgiving would be the Rockettes in Music City instead of a hayride and card games at Hidden Valley. 

Thanksgiving week saw the Midwest in the grip of a cold wave with Nashville in the teens and twenties instead of the more typical 56 degrees.  I suggested to Mike that we opt for a hotel, too, instead of the RV but Mike is a diehard or an optimist (depending on my frame of mind) so we packed up, de-winterized, and headed south.  With Sophie, the little white dog, and her array of winter sweaters ensconced between mom and dad in the back seat, we took off on our Thanksgiving adventure.

Sophie, decked out for a holiday trip to Nashville

Our first night was spent at Duck Creek RV Park, a nice, friendly little family-owned RV park near the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky.  It was also mom and dad’s first night ever in an RV.  We had water on board and with the heated tanks thankfully didn’t have any issues with frozen lines.  We did enjoy having our little electric fireplace on board in addition to the propane furnace.  Despite an overnight low of 14 degrees, we stayed warm and I think they were pleasantly surprised, although I don’t believe we made converts of them.  The next day, Wednesday, was an easy drive into Nashville, check-in and setup at Two Rivers Campground on Music Valley Drive, and getting my folks checked into their hotel.  A reminder of the cold snap were the notices in the campground office that you could be liable for up to $200 if you left your water hooked up on a frigid night and the hose bib was damaged by freezing. 

That evening we moseyed through Opry Mills Mall, doing more window-shopping than buying, and had dinner at the Rainforest Café.  There is nothing like having an animated gorilla as your dinner companion to keep the evening interesting. 


Thanksgiving morning dawned bright and sunny, albeit brisk, after an overnight low of 11 degrees, but the weather-guessers promised moderating temperatures for the rest of the weekend.  In planning the trip, Mike had researched possible venues for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  He focused on the menu and restaurant reviews while I looked for the “cute factor.”   We selected a restaurant called Ellendale’s.  We were encouraged when both the campground manager and the desk clerk at mom and dad’s hotel told us we had made a great choice, and Ellendale’s did not disappoint in any category.  The variety and quality of the selections on their extensive buffet was outstanding.  And as for the “cute factor” – the turn-of-the-century two-story house was a fitting setting for our first not-at-the-farm Thanksgiving.



Mom and dad in front of Ellendale's, where we had Thanksgiving dinner

Ellendale's menu for their Thanksgiving buffet

Of course, in true Thanksgiving fashion we ate way too much.  We decided to take a leisurely walk through the atrium and indoor gardens of Opryland Hotel.  Always a lovely setting, the Christmas lights and holiday decorations added a festive touch.  Having the option to stroll through orchids and poinsettia trees made the cold snap outside irrelevant.  There were enough people to make it cheerful but not feel overly crowed.


The atrium of Opryland Hotel, decorated for Christmas



Another view of the hotel atrium



The water jets in the fountain "dance" to the beat of the music
- right now, Christmas carols for the holidays - and change colors

 

Dad, mom and Mike watching the dancing waters fountain



Mom and dad with their own version of the "March of the Toy Soldiers"

 

A Christmas tree made entirely out of live pointsettias



Of course, after a big meal on Thanksgiving, you have to take a nap in front of a football game

Black Friday!  The term evokes either excitement or trepidation.  Friday morning Mike and I decided to brave the mall while my folks choose the less hectic pace of a boat ride through the lush vegetation and old-world charm of Opryland Hotel. 

Friday evening found us at the Grand Ole Opry, enjoying a fantastic showcase of precision dancing at the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular.  Among the numbers they performed was the wonderfully choreographed “March of the Toy Soldiers.”  The glitz, the singing and the dancing were enhanced this season with a 3-D movie of Santa and his reindeer flying over New York City.  (Put on your 3-D glasses – it really was an amazing journey.)  A staple since the show’s initial production 80 years ago is the finale of the “Living Nativity” scene.  Seventy three million people have enjoyed the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular since their show debuted on December 21, 1933.

A visit to Ryman Auditorium, the long-time home of the Grand Ole Opry, is a must.  We spent Saturday in the historic district visiting the local shops.  Dinner Saturday evening was at one of our favorite Nashville eateries, Cock of the Walk Restaurant, for catfish and shrimp accompanied by pitchers of sweet tea.  (You can tell when you are in the South.  You don’t have to ask if the restaurant has sweet tea, and breakfast always includes grits.)  Evening entertainment means holiday lights.  Holiday lights include the massive outdoor display at Opryland Hotel and at Jellystone Park, the drive-through display at one of the three campgrounds along Music Valley Drive.


The entrance to Ryman Auditorium after a complete restoration / renovation of
the building in 1994.  The building was originally built as a church.

 

Sign outside of Ryman Auditorium

 

Store along Broadway in Nashville, in the historic district near Ryman Auditorium

 

Ernest Tubb Record Shop, in the historic district of Nashville

 

The name says it all.  Downtown Nashville historic district

 

Dinner Saturday night was at Cock of the Walk, one of our favorite Nashville eateries

 

Although we didn't go this trip, when we were in Nashville last April we visited Antique
Archeology, the Nashville store owned by and featured on the TV show "American Pickers" 

 


The Hermitage, the home and plantation of President Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson.  We visited The
Hermitage on our last trip to Nashville, but it was too cold to take the tour on this Thanksgiving trip.

 

Sunday morning, after collecting our passengers and their luggage at the hotel, we were back on the road.  On our return home we made an overnight stop in Sikeston, Missouri, checking in at Hinton RV Park.  For anyone who has the occasion to stay at this campground, one big plus is the shuttle service from Lambert’s Café, a.k.a. “The Home of Throwed Rolls”.   Their van picked us up at the campground.  The driver led us in the “exit” door and immediately seated us at a table (the wait time on this Sunday evening was about a half-hour, although waiting times of up to two hours are not uncommon during peak hours.)  When we finished our meal, our driver was right there, waiting to take us back to the campground. 

 This iconic and “homey” spot is a must for “country fixings” with an attitude.  Generous portions of “pass-arounds” and hot rolls are their hallmark.  Each day, they bake 520 dozen fresh rolls.  They are closed only three days each year – Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas.  Last year they baked a total of 2,246,400 (yep, more than two million) individual rolls - each of them hot and tasty and most of them “throwed” across the restaurant to a waiting customer.

On our return home on Monday afternoon, we lucked out and caught a sixty degree day to re-winterize the trailer.  Good thing – as I type this on Thursday evening, it is in the low 20’s, the wind is howling, and the snow is falling.

If you’re going to break with tradition, do it up right!  The four of us had a fun, if not traditional Thanksgiving in Nashville.  Or maybe, we’ve started another tradition.  In any case, we’ve added another episode of our Road Stories.