[Un] Traditional Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving…it’s sort of a tradition [if you can call every so often a tradition] for my sisters and I [and friends too!] to plan a little trip over the long weekend. The rules:

1. Within driving distance

2. [Hopefully] somewhere we haven’t been.

3. Have fun!

Well, we hit all those rules with our trip this weekend, although rule #1 is questionable by at least two of the three of us.

After eating Thanksgiving dinner at our grandmothers, Linden, Meredith and I set out for Nashville, Tennessee!

After stuffing our bellies with turkey n’ taters we were ready to go!

Or as ready as one can ever be to spend 9 hours in very tight quarters with this crazed character friends and loved ones.

We did spot the most gawjuss rainbow on the way out there though!

[Not sure if this was before or after the 1.5 hour detour ‘round a rockslide on I-40!]

We arrived in Nashville at approximately 11:30 pm. This was after gaining an hour [Central Time!] and leaving at 3:15 from Charlotte. You do the math. It was a looooong time. Anyway, what else would one do after spending that much time in a car? Why drive around more obviously. After checking into our hotel, us cracked out cuckoos decided to cruise around and find a mall or something to hit up the next day.

We did.

Actually it was something MUCH better than a mall.

That’s right! WHOLE FOODS!

After marking the co-ordinates in our GPS so we could find our way back the next day we went back to the hotel for enough sleep to recharge our batteries. It was Black Friday after all!

After cruising the most glorious Anthro EVER + many other [out of our budget] stores, we headed to the Whole Foods to hit up the salad bar.

$8.11 worth of greens + $4.00 worth of glorious taters. I was in heaven.

And you know I didn’t leave with out making my own nut butter.

Or sampling the gelato.

Can you say Whole Paycheck? I did. Better yet, I spent it.

Also checked out this lovely, and dropped a few cents there. Mama D. loved the handmade soaps though, so it was well worth it.

We did eventually find a mall, and Express + Victoria’s Secret found our credit cards. Ouch.

I love Black Friday.

Friday night we did not do much. We glammed up.

We are such neat travelers. Hotel maids adore us.

Ha. I kid, obviously.

Then we hit up the downtown area.

So pretty!

We went onstage at the Opry.

 

Or at least pretended to.

Mere and Lin put on a fashion show.

ow ow.

The cowgirl in me wanted this jacket.

But it did not want me.

I’m still recovering from the sticker shock.

And since Linden is being a pain about turning 21 [would you just do it already!] we ended up at some joint called The Wildhorse Saloon to spend the rest of our evening. It was the tourist thing to do. It also cleared out by midnight, so we peaced out as well.

But not before I kissed Elvis in the street.

I’m such a groupie.

Also Harold and Kumar may have gone to White Castle at some point.

Saturday morning we awoke late. Cause we were on vacation like that.

If you were to ask me what we spent Saturday doing, I would be hard pressed to tell you. We just were seeing the sights and the countryside. I drove. I did not take pictures.

But Saturday night…

Well first we had the best barbecue.

Linden and I shared this dinner.

Monster fry.

Meredith ate this kid’s meal all by herself. Except for a few fries. I ate some of those. I’m a sucker for a shoestring fry.

After dinner, we figured we weren’t all dressed up for nothin’…

So we went to the OPRY!

 

 

Hands down, the cutest place EVER.

No kidding…this may have been the most fun thing I have ever done in my life. I always knew I was born a few years too late. 1940 is where I belong.

The show was really fun, and included some modern country stars [Brad Paisley, Jimmy Wayne, Lorrie Morgan] and some bluegrass stars [Cherryholmes] as well as a few Opry regulars. I didn’t know any of the performers other than the country stars, but I enjoyed it all. And I wanted to bring one of the hosts home with me in my pocket. He was precious. But sadly, I was wearing a dress.

Sunday was the day to go home. I kind of didn’t want to leave with out seeing a celebrity.

So we headed to Fido, ‘cause we had heard that some might be hanging out there.

Look who was there!

Heaby and Amanda!

I was so excited to meet these girls, but sad that Mandy couldn’t meet up as well. Her daughter was sick, so she had to cancel. Maybe next time, Mandy!

Anyway, I had a fabulous time meeting Heather and Amanda. We chatted like old friends, and it was fantastic. I love meeting bloggie friends! I could talk for hours about Whole Foods and peanut butter…but you already knew that!

After our coffee date we went back downtown ONE more time, so Linden could get a few more shots. And well…I just didn’t want to leave.

[I spy a real photographer and a fake photographer. Can you tell which is which? ]

I wanted to stay with this guitar.

I could tell Meredith and Linden did too.

But sadly, the pops would not wire us money so we could stay! What kind of parental love is that, might I ask?

Reluctantly we got in the car for our looooonnnngggg ride home.

Tennessee has a lot of mountains. Did you know that? Yes it does. A LOT.

But lucky for me, the wonderfully sweet Heather sent me muffins for the ride home!

Those are gone, but I’ve still got my sanity. [I think…]

The celebration started when we hit the NC state line.

TCBY all around!

But not to be celebrating too early. We still had 2.5 hours to go. I propped my feet up and tried not to think about it.

[Got to level 14 on Word Mole! I’m working towards 20…I’ll let ya know how that goes.]

Soon enough [10 games later] there was real reason for celebration.

I have never been so pleased to see that I was 31 minutes from home.

And 31 minutes later? Well I have never been so glad to see my bed. And my bed to see me. It was wondrously comfortable last night.

How was your Thanksgiving? Do you have an [untraditional] tradition you love?

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