Family Vaca Part I

As I mentioned earlier, we just returned from a wonderful family vacation. As I think back through the different trips I've taken in my life (before and after marriage, as well as before and after kids), this one is definitely a top pick. Perhaps even #1 in my book.

We rented a cabin in North Carolina, but before we could get to heaven on earth, we made a one-night stop in Nashville in order to break up the long drive. This put us in Music City on July 3rd, where the temp was a good 20-25 degrees cooler than home. That fact, in and of itself, put us all in great spirits.

After asking where we could go to eat and walk, we hit downtown Nashville and were immediately drawn to sounds of live blues musak at BB Kings. I'm perty sure we were the first white folk with brown younguns to ever set foot in BB Kings, but we were welcomed in and the wait staff fell in love with our boys. And our boys fell in love with the blues.
Garrett was fascinated with the drummer from the moment we walked in. He didn't take his eyes off of him during dinner. Once the band came off stage for a break, G wanted to meet the drummer. He walked up to the guy, tapped him on the leg, shook his hand, and praised him for his drumming. My once painfully shy baby is really coming out of his shell!

I believe G learned a valuable lesson in being friendly and outgoing that night. What happens when you're friendly to a drummer? He just might give you a set of drum sticks. Case in point:
The child was on cloud nine, and these drum sticks were never far from his hands for the next 9 days.

After chowing down on fried shrimp, we were ready to stroll. We walked down to Bicentennial Park, where we heard a familiar voice. It was one of those times when we could recognize the voice, but we couldn't quite put a name with the voice until we could see the face.

You know you're in Music City when you can walk up on Wynona Judd.
She and the Nashville Symphony were rehearsing for their July 4th concert. Why can't I live in a fun place like this?!

I'm not a Wynona fan, per se, but it was very enjoyable to sit on a grassy knoll and hear her with the symphony. She sang a variety of songs including "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" and "Love Can Build a Bridge". Even the boys enjoyed it.

Because we still had a day's drive ahead of us, we called it an early night and hit the hay.

Did I tell you that I had a great time? I'll be back soon to explain why I found NC to be heaven on earth.