Florida Here We Come Again

During my last week of work in Nashville David spent his days packing up the apartment, getting the U-Haul we rented ready and making sure things were in order for our arrival in Florida. We spent part of January 7th packing the last of our stuff in the U-Haul and decided to drive a few hours that afternoon to get a start on our trip. We finished up the trip on that Friday and arrived in Pensacola mid afternoon. Our apartment was on the second floor this time and with age catching up to us, David decided to get some help with the unloading into the apartment. Evidently when you rent the U-Haul they offer a "moving" help service. Who knew?? He decided to give it a try. After our great experience I would highly recommend it to anyone. We had 2 very pleasant young men unload all our stuff in less than 1 hour. We found out during our conversations that this "moving" company was actually owned by one of them. They sure made our day much easier!

We lucked out on our apartment this time with another 2 bedroom. After our tiny place in Nashville we sure were going to enjoy the extra space. We even had a fireplace and wet bar in this one. So the next few days we will spend getting the apartment together, checking out our surroundings and finding our route to the hospital.

One of the random things we passed on our trip

Beautiful countryside

Welcome to Pensacola?!

West Florida Hospital

Until next time...

"Oh the things you can find, if you don’t stay behind!” ~~ Dr. Seuss


                                                                  Thanks for following our adventures!
                                                                                                     
                                                                                                     Lane

More than One Goodbye

As the Christmas 2015 holidays start to wind down we are looking for our next adventure. We have really enjoyed Nashville and I have enjoyed the hospital and staff. We still want to stay within a day driving distance from home since we are doing some remodeling things on our house. I would have stayed for another assignment here but the hospital could not get their stuff together for an extension offer in time. We decided to go back to the warmer weather and I accepted an offer at West Florida Hospital in Pensacola, Florida. We are happy to be heading back to the beach. The most negative thing about our Nashville assignment was getting our utility trailer stolen with some of our stuff still in it. The thought of it still makes me mad! So we will be heading back to the beach without all our beach stuff. 
As we say goodbye to Nashville we also say goodbye to new and some old friends. 

Marcia and Lane

Our hardest goodbye was to our dear sweet Piper. Age was catching up to her hips and she was having a difficult time with even the normal daily routine. We made the difficult decision to end her pain. So on New Year's Eve 2015 we said our final goodbye. We were not sure how Daisy was going to react since they had been raised together for 12 years and thought they were real blood sisters. 

They think they are twins!

Piper's favorite position waiting for you to pet her

Our fur family was now down to one who I am sure will be even more spoiled as time goes on. So on January 7th we finished packing up the truck and U-haul trailer and started our journey back to Florida. 

Excited about new adventure ahead

“You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So … get on your way!”
– Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Wonders from the Opryland Hotel

Since I am behind and just to make sure you don't get confused, we were in Nashville October 2015 to January 2016. I plan to get things up to date...one day.

The Opryland Hotel or as it is known today, The Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, is worth a visit. Many people over the years have told me if I ever made it to Nashville that going here was a must. After my first visit I certainly agree! The hotel was originally built in 1977 with 580 guest rooms and a ballroom. As the Grand Ole Opry became more and more popular, the hotel was soon busting at the seams. In 1984 they expanded adding 480 more guest rooms and facilities. This I guess was when the atrium's began. Two more additions were made, one in 1988 and 1996. Each addition included a large atrium with thousands of plants, restaurants, shops and even a river. May 2, 2010 was a terrible day for Nashville; a lot of the town was flooded including the hotel. In November of 2010 all the renovations were completed and the hotel reopened. Today it is comprised of 2,881 guest rooms, beautiful gardens, many restaurants, dozen of meeting rooms, and a convention center. It is only a 10 minute walk to the new Grand Ole Opry and the mall. Now that I have given a little history, enjoy the pictures from our first visit.

Can't even get the whole place in one picture from here

One very small section of the river

One of the many places to eat

Autumn makes my heart happy

We got to see the Autumn decorations and returned for the Christmas one. What an amazing site to see during Christmas. I love Christmas and walking around that place all decorated was fantastic. I was like a kid in a candy store!

One of the many trees donated by country music stars for a charity auction. You get the tree and all the decorations on it plus a vacation package or autographed guitar or some other type fancy stuff the stars donate.

Marcia and I

Tree by Little Big Town for charity

This is just a small sampling of all my pictures. I will not bore you with any more. If you ever find yourself in Nashville make plans to visit the hotel. Or if you can afford it, book a room for a few nights!

And as I said earlier, the Grand Ole Opry is a short walk away.

We had to prove we were really here!

Beautiful wooden door

2 wild and crazy people

We did not go on the tour of the inside of the Opry but I hear it is as pretty as the Ryman. We enjoyed walking around the outside and in the gift store. Unfortunately I didn't find Tim or Darius for sale in the store!!!

                                                               Back with ya soon,
                                                                                     
                                                                                           Lane

Tim McGraw, Hootie and Family

Nashville is a great place to visit even if you don't like country music. The city is alive all the time. All kinds of wonderful music can be heard while you stroll down the streets. And there is plenty of great food and drink to be found. 

Lovely views from the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge which runs crosses the Cumberland River and joins downtown with the football stadium area.

The "Bat" building

And EVERYBODY can find ELVIS!

Marcia and Elvis

We spent one evening at Tootsies Orchid Lounge. It is 3 floors of food, fun and music. We enjoyed some good drinks and several local singers/groups.

Found Taylor Swift on the wall at Tootsies

Sadly on this particular day I missed seeing Tim McGraw by an hour at his Big Machine records store. Guess my stalking instincts were off this day!

After a night at Tootsies we headed for some ice cream

 After ice cream we strolled around town some more. Beautiful white carriage and horse.

We walked over to another area called Printers Alley. It has some other bars and food places. By the time we got there it was not much going on.

Ryman Auditorium

One of the highlights of the entire Nashville assignment was getting to go see the Grand Ole Opry. And we got to go see the show at the Ryman! What a beautiful place inside and out. The show was amazing. I love Darius Rucker aka Hootie from Hootie and the Blow Fish. Everyone else on the show were great too.

Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl

Connie Smith

Craig Morgan

Lori Morgan

Darius Rucker

We were able to go to my daughter and son-in-law's house for Thanksgiving. Jen and Zac were gracious enough to open their new house to family for a great get together. So many of us don't get to see each other very often.

David and Kathryn

Trying to gather the troops for a picture...hard task

Family 

Our little clan
David, Lane, Jennifer and Kathryn

We had a great trip even though it was short. I think that was the first time in a long time we have had that many family members able to get together on short notice. Love my family and miss them!



Next up will be our trips to the Opryland Hotel; that place is amazing in its self.

                                                                                         Until we meet again ~~~
                                                                                                                                Lane