Since we were all tired from traveling, we spent our first night checking out the local wineries and having a barbeque at the cabin. Tennessee is definitely not France or Napa Valley, nor is it trying to be. They like their wine sweet and fruity. All four of us generally like dry wines, so this was a challenge. Our first stop was at the Hillside Winery, where they are generous with the pour and completely up front about the style of wine they have. It is sweet and strong and seems like the kind of thing you'd get in the backwoods of Tennessee. Which is fine, because that's where we were!
Next we went to the Apple Barn in Pigeon Forge. We actually didn't have the wine there because the woman serving it was rude. But we did buy some apple turnovers for breakfast (and they were delicious).
The next day we got up early for some ziplining, which I blogged about before. But after that, we made a quick stop for lunch before heading off for some whitewater rafting with Smoky Mountain Outdoors. After the ziplining experience, I was a little nervous even though I'd been rafting a bunch before in high school. But our trusty guide, Big Steve, kept us afloat even over class 4 rapids. It was awesome, and again, smelled so delicious out in the fresh mountain air! That night we went into Gatlinburg for dinner.
The next morning, we had a leisurely breakfast, then headed off for Nashville. We mad a pit stop for lunch and to visit this pink elephant.
Since none of us had been to Nashville before, we decided going on a group tour would be a good idea. So we hopped on the camouflage bus and had a Redneck Tour of Nashville. It's definitely not a family-oriented tour, but we had some laughs and got a feel for the city and its history. Here we are with our guides, Tater and Merlene.
This was also most of our first time in the south, and we were curious to see what the plantations looked like. We went to Andrew Jackson's home, "the Hermitage" and to Belle Meade Plantation, where they bred racehorses (all Kentucky Derby racehorses can be traced to one horse at this plantation!). Both plantations had lots of slaves, and while it's nice in the old homes, walking through the pretty grounds is a little creepy, knowing that people were enslaved there. We were able to take a peek inside slave quarters, but none were set up with period furniture so it was a little hard to get a sense of what life was really like inside. Now they just look like rustic cabins.
One of my favorite sites was the Cheekwood gardens, which was the home of the Cheek Family, who built their fortune off their ownership of the Maxwell House coffee brand. Today the grounds are open to the public (for a fee). The house, at 33,000 square feet, has been partially converted to an art museum. There's even a Japanese garden, and several water features.
This little Italian style grotto is up by the house
Finally, at night, we enjoyed the Honky Tonks of Broadway. We had two favorites: The Stage and Layla's Bluegrass Inn. Layla's had some crazy rockabilly/bluegrass music and was a lot of fun! We saw Brandon Giles there, who was absolutely a phenomenal performer - like a Jerry Lee Lewis reincarnation. For more popular country and rock music, we enjoyed The Stage (recommended by my childhood friend's little sister). The best part is that it is free to go to any of these shows! If you like the music, you can tip the band however much you want - they'll have someone come around with a big tip jar. It's really a great way to see live music!
Here we are at the Stage. I was kind of surprised at how many country songs I know the lyrics to!
I am so glad we got to do this trip all together. It was just what we needed for a little getaway. We are really blessed to have such great friends!
