Nashville & Franklin, Tennesee

 Wednesday May 24, 2023

This morning (at a reasonable hour) we loaded into the car and headed north towards Nashville, Tennessee. We have rented a large country house about 25 miles south of Nashville, and we will be meeting up with nine of our old friends from Solon for four nights. 

We decided to take it easy on the road, so have booked the CHATTANOOGA CHO CHO hotel (in Chattanooga) for tonight, and that will leave us only a hundred miles or so for tomorrow. It was an easy drive and we had plenty of time to settle into the hotel followed by a stroll and dinner down by the Tennessee River.

The old railway station. It was impressive but a bit shabby (as was the hotel)

Lifting bridge - not too sure why it was needed

There was a Cardinal nest right outside the hotel window, with 2 chicks
Boy, were they hungry.

Thursday, May 25, 2023

We did a big shop before we headed out to the house to meet Wade, the manager. It was a large 6 bedroom house, with a huge Living room, Game room, Kitchen and decks. There was even a stage in the living room. I suspect the house was once built by a Nashville performer who practiced and entertained at home. All eleven of us were able to sit around the fireplace in the Living room.

The house was located alongside a small private lake and a couple of acres of mown grass. The house and the furniture was a bit shabby, but reasonably clean, and OK for 4 days.

That afternoon our friends started to roll in. Betty and Dick from Arizona, Mona and Darrell from California, Lynn, Susan and Nick from North Carolina, Lovie and Jay from our old street in Solon. A fun fact is that Susan is Nick's first wife and Lynn his second! 

We planned to eat out only one night (Saturday) in Nashville, followed by a visit to the Grand Ole Opry. Lovie and Deidre (helped by Jay and Lovie) were responsible for the first night's dinner.

The country house

The beaver dam

Friday May 26, 2023

We spent most of the next 3 days sleeping, eating, drinking, telling old stories and visiting a couple of the local towns - Franklin and Leiper's Fork - for some touristy shopping. But mostly eating, drinking and talking. 

All the guys have been friends since our days of living in Solon, Ohio - so about 42 years. Sadly, Nick has a bad case of cancer and is currently being treated with chemotherapy. In this photo we are all "showing respect" for his new hairdo. (We were all too vain to do it the real way!)

Nick and his two wives - Lynn and Susan

Mona and Darrell

Deidre and some old guy

Jay and Lovie

Dick and Betty

Saturday May 27, 2023

We all loaded into 3 cars at about 4 PM and headed to Nashville for dinner at the Gaylord Opryland Resort followed by a performance of the Grand Ole Opry. I was amazed at how big and busy the resort turned out to be. Dinner was expensive and OK. 

The GOO performance was just as expected, just like the TV show, but without Minnie Pearl. Quite entertaining.

Sunday May 28, 2023

More of the same fun. I am so lucky to have such good and steady friends. 

Cooking dinner

The ladies resting while the guys cleaned up

Monday May 29, 2023

Today is Memorial Day and "clean up, pack and depart" day. We were all out by 11 AM as required. 

Deidre and I headed over to Franklin, TN where will catch up with boating friends (Mike and Kathleen) and stay the night before heading to Ohio. We met them at the local common field where Memorial Day activities were underway.