Music City U.S.A

Ok so we finally went on our first vacation! To be honest, I can't wait for our next one now. It was fun just to go away and see some stuff that both of us enjoyed. We started the trip at the Louisville Slugger Museum. We got to see Travis Hafner's bat being made! We also saw Jim Thome's and A-Rod's. We thought about getting a personalized bat made but decided that the souvenir ones that were free were good enough for now.

The next stop was Nashville. We started off by going to Bass Pro Shop and Barnes and Noble so right there made the trip well worth it. For dinner we decided to try an Italian restaurant named Demo's. When we arrived we realized that one of two things happened, either Day Light Savings Time or we were in a different time zone. Well it was the latter of the two and thankfully so. There was a pretty big wait at the restaurant with parties of 22 and 30 going in. I had the most amazing spaghetti ever! It was called Greek style and the sauce had a sweet taste to it. I am now determined to figure out how to make it. After dinner we headed to Ryman Auditorium to see the Grande Ole Opry. We got to see Mel Tillis, Marty Stuart, Ashton Sheppard and a lot of other acts. After that we called it a night.

The next morning we headed to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. We spent the majority of the day looking through all of the things there. We also got to go to Studio B where Elvis, Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Charlie Pride and a lot of others have recorded their music. It was pretty surreal to see the piano that Elvis used when he recorded all of his hits.

That night we ate in a restaurant called the Aquarium. Like it says you eat in the center of an aquarium. It was a neat atmosphere to eat in. Later we took Chase's advice and went to a little joint called Station Inn. I was a little leery at first because it was on the outside of a nice part of town in a little concrete building. Once we got in, it was a bunch of mismatched tables and chairs in a little room, but the music was really good. It was a bluegrass jam night so about 20 people were up front all playing together. By the time we left the place was packed with spectators as well.

On our way home we decided to stop at Jim Beam to break up the trip a little. The tour was free but it didn't have much. We watched a video about how the whiskey was made which was interesting and then saw where the wooden barrels used to be made and the Beam's house and that was it. It was nice to stop for a while and take a break from driving.

Overall the trip was great! We had a really good time and now are back to thinking up ideas for future trips that we probably won't take. Maybe now that we have taken one we will be more apt to take more!

Pictures!

I havn't put any pictures up for a while so I thought I would share some pictures from our Christmas vacation this year! Hope you enjoy!

Layton on his John Deere Buck

Getting ready to go to Christmas Dinner


Matty's hairstyle after Uncle Pat got a hold of him

Making Christmas Cookies

Oh and just to let everyone know, after two years of planning Pat and I are finally going on a trip. The first weekend we are back at school we have a 3 day weekend so we are headed South to Louisville, Kentucky to the Lusiville Slugger Museum then going on to Music City USA, Nashville!! We have to go because we booked hotels so there is no going back now! I will be sure to let everyone know how it goes!

HAPPY 2009

Because of a request, just kidding Katie!, I decided I would write a quick blog before heading to bed tonight. Christmas is now over! Pat and I exchanged gifts as soon as he arrived on Tuesday because if you don't know he is horrible about holding out on secrets. For my ornament I got a black bear, I also got a new pair of John Deere boots that I really didn't think I was going to get because Pat convinced me no one carried them in my size, as well as the new Nicholas Sparks book (I started it tonight) and a Bass Pro Shirt just like his. He didn't realize that part until after he bought it, oh well! He treats me pretty good, thank goodness! I ended up getting him some stuff for his bow, which is what he wanted. He already has his tree stand up and is headed out in the morning. Hopefully he will at least see something while he is out there.
New Year's was spent in Columbus with Katie, Mike, Brian and Andrea. We had a really good time and may be getting old because we went to bed around 12:30. So much for being crazy college kids! Tonight we had the traditional pork and sauerkraut family dinner and then went and played a couple games of bowling with Joe. I sadly did not even break 100 but the boys did a little better.
Now in just a week we will be headed back to school. I am ready to go back but not ready to start my last semester if that makes sense. Oh well I guess I am just going to have to suck it up and face it. Early morning wake up time here I come : ( .
I think that is really all I have for the night. Hope everyone had a great New Year's!! Oh and for one of my New Year's resolution, I have decided to try to write more often so if you see me slacking, help me out and let me know!