Memorial Day Weekend Visit

My cousin Dave and his wife, Amie, decided to come down to Nashville this past weekend since it was Memorial Day. It's a quite a drive for them- 6 hours...but we're excited to have company....we haven't really made a lot of friends here in the  middle TN area. Besides, Spencer is always looking for an excuse for a well deserved break (ONLY TWO MONTHS TO GO SUCKAS 'til grad time!!!)

 

Can you tell I'm excited for him to graduate???? Oh gosh, I hate being a student....actually, no, I'll go ahead and say it...I.HATE. BEING. POOR. While I am what people call a "penny pincher", I hate the fact this is no longer a choice, but an actual requirement in my life....but that's another post for another day...

 

Anyways, the Clarks arrived around 3 pm Friday, but decided to hit the Museum of Country Music Hall of Fame here in Downtown Nashville. I've been wanting to go...but Dom doesn't really like museums (as I found out in Memphis' Elvis museum). So, we let them go ahead and enjoy the tour by themselves...nobody likes a screaming toddler. Then, we met for dinner around 5pm...I decided to bring pizza...Jet's pizza. Apparently, an instant hit. I think they may have St Louis locations for all the peeps out there. You have to get the turbo crust with it and the square deep dish to make it worth your while.....mmmmm....

 

They slept in Dom's room and Dom slept with us. I think those were the best days Dom slept to be honest with you, but I refuse to let him sleep with me...sorry, I need my space. Don't worry...I say the same thing to the hubs...haha.

Saturday morning, we hit the Farmers Market and the Parthenon (downtown)- a life size replica of the one in Greece....why in Nash? I don't know. But it's a museum and you can pay $6 to go in and see some art. I had no intention of going in with Dom, but the others were welcomed to.....BUT THEN....we spotted food trucks in the distance (probably for a memorial day celebration)....so we walked that way. They looked a  lot closer than they were...it was quite a walk and Dom refused to walk for some reason...so guess who had to carry the extra 25lbs around??? THIS GIRL. These days I have no energy...so I was running on empty...carrying a 25lb load...go figure.

Wandering the market

Taking a breather, to see if he'll sit in the stroller...story of my life

Made it to the Parthenon

We went over to look at the trucks but they weren't taking orders at the time, and we were starving so we headed over to The Pharmacy...which was highly recommended by Spencer's classmates. They sell burgers and beer. They actually had a line out the door when we arrived, believe it or not. AND they had the best tater tots I've had...I'll give them that. The boys ordered a burger with an egg and ham...but didn't really like it. The girls ordered cheese-y burgers. I could only finish half...it was too much cheese for me, believe it or not. But the burger was quite good. The bread looked like an English muffin (a big one) BUT it didn't taste like one...I don't know...it was interesting.

Getting hungry....

You know it's good when Guy Fieri stamps the truck
(food network)

 

Waiting for them to open

YUMMY

Then we came back and took a snoozer...again, I have no energy...and Dom needs to nap, otherwise he's cranky...and the Clarks napped too. I guess we wore them out haha. Afterwards, we went ahead and headed to the Grand Ole Opry and the Opryland Hotel....they are all connected by the Opry Mills (outlet mall just north of Downtown). If you haven't been...it's a good space to waste time. We drove by the Opry...tickets were sold out. But the Hotel has an atrium that you can walk around in, and they have shops, a river, restaurants, and sometimes shows available....plus it's a hotel.

The Grand Ole Opry sign

The Opryland Hotel Atrium



The fountains/restaurants at the Atrium
(you can see the hotel rooms in the distance)

We went for dinner at a Mexican Restaurant across the street from our complex. I started ordering in Spanish....and the waiter started talking in Spanish to Dave....that made his day. The waiter just assumed the Spencer and Amie were too white to speak Spanish, so he spoke to them in English....haha.

The Clarks were pooped....we made them walk too much that day. They went to bed early and then, left around 10am Sunday morning to start another week. Spencer was kind enough to make them egg/sausage breakfast sandwiches...his specialty.....once they packed up, they left with full tummies.

 

It's really nice to host visitors. I've forgotten what fun it was to be around family. Being all alone is kinda sucky. But it's only for a year, and like I said before, we only have two more months to go before boards...and then, we'll see where we go from here. Who knows???maybe fate would like us to stay here.....only if the job and salary are right though....