This year we spent Easter a little different than most years. We decided to head down to Tennessee for a long weekend. From our house to Tennessee it is an 11 hour drive. We had contemplated driving straight through and getting there at an early hour, however we decided to drive 6 hours, sleep at hotel & then get back on the road to finish the drive the next morning. We left Thursday after the girls got out of school, drove down and stayed in St. Louis for the night.
Friday morning we had breakfast at the hotel, packed up the car & on the road we went. We stayed in Mt. Juliet, TN. (About 15 minutes outside of Nashville). We didn't get to hotel until closer to 3pm & decided to venture around the area. After a long while in the car, we took to foot and walked to dinner at Burger Republic, highly recommend! Great food, tasty shakes for dessert & walked back to the hotel. (2 mile roadtrip walk & the girls loved the weather, taking in the beautiful views).
Saturday we had breakfast at the hotel & then got ready to take on Nashville! I'm pretty sure I was the most excited of us all. I was totally that HYPE girl in the morning! We parked right off of Broadway & walked down Broadway, to The Gulch, and then back to Broadway for lunch. Between Broadway "normal" traffic, the NHL playoff game, Garth Brooks playing that evening, the amount of people was crazy busy!
We, of course, at to stop at Savannah's Candy Kitchen for some treats before lunch. We then decided to eat at Ole Red for lunch & what an awesome experience that was! We were seated right in front for the girls to enjoy the live music, such a cool experience for all. The KC John's band was playing, they had guest performers, one which was a 13 year old boy who ROCKED out on the guitar, even sang a song. It was the broadway experience I had hoped for all of us to see, the girls' eyes were glued to the stage. The crowds were getting large, so we decided to head back to the hotel for the girls to swim for a bit. (over 4 mile walk just downtown Nashville, and absolutely NO complaints from the girls, that is a huge mom win)!
After the pool we ventured the area to find a park to burn some energy and let the girls play. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, I believe it was 68-69 degrees, but the sun was intense and it was a great change from the blustery cold MN weather. (over 3 mile walk to the park and back, the complaints about tired legs started a bit, but who was I kidding, my legs, hips and feet were feeling it too).
It was an order in & eat kind of night for all of us. The girls chose Olive Garden & it was a perfect night in. Can you ever go wrong with Olive Garden? I don't think so.
Sunday morning, my husband took the older girls down for breakfast & a little swimming, while he let Lenny and I sleep in...because her sleeping on this trip was TERRIBLE! It was refreshing to get a little morning sleep, because you have to take what you can get! We packed up from the hotel and made our next trek to Kentucky! We went to visit friends in KY and hung out with them for the day/night! It was a breath of fresh air to be at their house and let the girls play with their kids, run around outside & simply just be free from the "confined hotel space". They loved seeing the horses, Lenny loved the chickens, Ro helped clean the horse stalls, which she was so excited about! Fin got to use their golf simulator & never wanted to quit. It was a great way to end our short roadtrip!
Side note...the Easter Bunny found the girls & left goodies for them in their seats in the car! When they opened the doors to get in for our drive, their eyes lit up & were full of smiles that the Easter Bunny didn't forget about them! It's the little things for the girls & it makes me so happy to see them light up over these simple gestures, they don't require a lot, they appreciate everything!
Happy Easter from TN
We made the drive back in one day, only stops for fuel, food & bathroom breaks. It was 10.5 hours from KY to our front door...It was a long day, but honestly it was better coming home than it was going to St. Louis! The girls took naps on and off, they played with their Easter bunny gifts, they wanted movies, played games, read books...but the best part, Lenny actually napped a couple of times! The last hour of the drive, Lenny started to get restless, easy to distract, but we were running thin on that line.
Prior to this roadtrip I honestly didn't know what to expect. I always prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. This was the longest period of time that the girls had been in a vehicle, traveling in general at one given time. Overall they did great! I asked them when we got back if they had fun, preparing for them to say they never wanted to go on a road-trip again, but to my surprise they both said they had so much fun and wished we didn't have to come home. Although we didn't see everything, we made the best of the 4 days that we had in a new territory for us.
As we were driving back yesterday, I thought about all the new cities that I/we had been to now, just on this trip alone! I love checking cities off the list, traveling is truly my passion, it fuels me.
New cities checked off the list on this trip:
-Nashville, TN
-Mt. Juliet, TN
-Murfreesboro, TN
-Clarksville, TN
-Lexington, KY
-Georgetown, KY
-Louisville, KY
-Indianapolis, IN
-Iowa City, IA
-Davenport, IA
It definitely wasn't a relaxing vacation, it definitely was an adventure! Traveling with a 2 year old, who hates sleep is exhausting. Our 9 yr old and our 6 yr old were absolute champs! Not only can it be boring driving for so long, they also are constantly accommodating/changing plans due to their sister who is 2, sassy, having meltdowns, overtired, screaming...trips like these really show just how strong, flexible & amazing kids are!
Happy to be home. Sad to be home. But my heart feels full. All of the feelings from returning home from a trip, it never fails!
That's all for now...
XO- KK
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