Tennessee - Day Five

Sunday was the day I had to say goodbye to Tennessee. My family stayed till Tuesday, but I had to be at work the next day. Leaving the hotel was sad because all of my family's stuff was still there, and I realized that I truly was becoming a grown up. It wasn't like I came out WITH my family... rather I left my own home, and my own life to meet them there.

We all went to breakfast at a place called Cracker Barrel. It was kinda strange because the front of the restaurant was a store. Katelyn and I HAD to get a picture with cowboy hats. Eating there was a fun experience though simply because of the environment, the way that the waitresses treated us and talked to us, and being there with Tim, Aunt Janet, my family, Grandma and Grandpa, the Tennessee air... haha

I thought this was an interesting bus to drive behind...

We drove to Aunt Ruth's house next. Ruth is Grandpa's aunt. She's the only living relative he has left (you know, besides Grandma, his kids, grandkids) She seemed to be doing really well for her age. We visited with her for quite awhile. She showed us a ton of old pictures and told us stories. She's been there for a really long time, and it was cool being on property that my great grandpa owned.

Passing some time. My brother is really strong.

Katelyn and I are not.haha

We drove up and down the road for a little bit and saw the house that grandpa grew up in, saw the farm that my mom remembers playing at as a kid. Most of the property has been sold (unfortunately by people not related to us.) I'm sure my mom enjoyed the experience, but to me it just kinda looked like a bunch of old houses. It's cool to say I've been there though!

My flight was at 2:30 and the airport wasn't too terribly far away, so it was nice I was able to play around with everyone all morning. Our last stop before they dropped me off was the cemetery where my grandpa's parents are buried.

The Knoxville airport is teeny tiny. I said goodbye to Aunt Janet, Grandma, Grandpa, Dad, Trevor... Mom and Katelyn walked with me inside the airport to check in my bag and walk with me to security. I hate airport goodbyes. I have a hard time keeping it together. And almost always as the plane takes off I have tears in my eyes because I'm so sad to be leaving people I care about and don't see as often as I wish.

While in the security line someone commented on my California drivers license, which I held in my hand. I'm sure I stuck out, especially with my BYU hoodie. It was at that moment I realized how far away Tennessee is from Utah and California. And it was at that moment I realized there is a good chance I'll never come back to Tennessee - it's not just a normal, any day type of trip. It's expensive, I don't have a TON of family there, I really don't have much too do (especially by myself), and it's not a practical trip. This broke my heart. I loved Tennessee SOOOO much. It is probably irrational how much I was obsessed with it.

I can't put into words exactly why I loved it so much. Is there such thing as a "spirit of Tennessee"? I just loved the accents, the way people talked to and treated each other, the religious undertones... I'm sure the more time I spend there I'd realize I magnified those things in my head (I'm sure it's just any ole place and not THAT different), but I still loved it. I miss it a lot and wish I could go back. It's been my favorite vacation I've ever been on. As much I love Disneyland or amusement parks, this was much better (in my opinion). We had talked about a family trip to Hawaii, and a family trip to Disney World. Although both of those trips would have been AWESOME, I'm glad neither worked out. Otherwise we wouldn't have gone to Tennessee (probably ever, to be quite honest.)

So that was my trip! I got into Salt Lake around 7 at night, and work started back up at 9 am the following day. Don't be surprised if down the road you find out that I've moved to Tennessee. It's a secret dream of mine. (Okay, maybe it's not so secret afterall!)

Tennessee - Day Four

So Saturday morning we got up and drove to Aunt Janet's house. I should have taken a picture of it because it was super nice! And she had the cutest little kitty name Abby. I wanted to take her home with me. But anyway, Aunt Janet gave us a little tour and then we got in our cars to drive out to her cabin near Maryville. I enjoyed the car rides because there were sooo many trees, it was just beautiful! However, I'm 98% sure that I fell asleep on the drive to the cabin...

I want a cabin when I grow up and have a family and money. I've always wanted that, but after seeing Aunt Janet's cabin, I want one even more. Probably one in Tennessee. haha. It was such a beautiful view outside the cabin. It was right up against a river and the trees just added to the magical feel that I LOVE about the outdoors.

All of those pictures were taken probably ten steps from the back door to her cabin. So I kid you not, it was RIGHT UP AGAINST THE RIVER. It was pretty rainy that day, but I love the smell of rain so I was in love with this part of our trip.

We ate sandwiches and just hung out, talked, etc. And took lots of pictures.

My mom's cousins Tony and Tim (Janet's sons) came to the cabin with us. I LOVED THEIR ACCENTS. And they were both super nice. I especially enjoyed spending time with Tony; he'd give us a hug, treat us like we were old friends, call me and Katey "sweetie", and made me feel like I truly was in the south.

So we were at the cabin for quite awhile. Then we drove to see the Smoky Mountains. As we were driving through Pigeon Forge there were a lot of fun things to see.

Exhibit A: Upside Down House.We went inside, but the activities were intense - a virtual roller coaster, a ropes course, stuff that the older people wouldn't have a fun time with. So we didn't do anything there.

 Exhibit B: A castle with fun stuff to do inside. We did a mirror maze. I thought it was a lot of fun, but because my Aunt Janet has claustrophobia, I held her hand. And she held Grandma's hand. Who held grandpa's hand. Mom and Dad were linked as well. And my other hand was holding Katelyn's. Our chain was way too long and we found our way out very quickly because of it. I kind of regret that we linked up like that, but it was still fun!

 Exhibit C: The Titanic! I think it would have been cool to go inside - it was a history museum. It was very expensive though and so we didn't end up going.

 Exhibit D: We went to Smoky Mountain Opry. My grandma wanted to go and I was a little unsure about it at first, but I ended up loving it! It was a group of performers who sang classic as well as modern country songs, there were aerial performers, a magician, a juggler... it was like a well organized variety show that all transitioned together.

I thought this was pretty cool - he is spinning a garbage can lid, twirling a lasso, and balancing a grill on fire. ON HIS CHIN. Amazing.  

Oh my goodness, then I really felt the country spirit! I had been wanting to go to a Baptist church SOOO BADLY. But I got my fix when they sang this number. I found it very interesting that they were allowed to have such religious aspects to their performances. Everyone was up on their feet, clapping along. And when one of the performers sang "How Great Thou Art" people lifted up a hand towards heaven. I obviously did not grow up in such a culture, and it was moving to see how religious everyone was. The final number was a patriotic song, and I loved seeing everyone so patriotic too! I can't put it into words how much I loved watching that audience during those last 3 numbers. There was a slight part of me that felt embarrassed or felt like laughing just because I couldn't believe it was real life. But overall I was excited to be surrounded by that environment.

I didn't take a picture of it, but for dinner we went to a fast food place called Krystal. It was my grandpa's favorite place to eat while growing up. The sell little basic hamburgers that I guess are really popular. I wasn't blown away or anything, but it was fun being there because I thought about how many memories Grandpa has probably had. And I loved that he was happy.

It was fun because we all picked something we wanted to do. I picked the Country Music Museum, Trevor picked Hard Rock Cafe, Katelyn picked the Mirror Maze, Grandpa picked Krystal, Grandma picked the Opry, Dad picked the Parthenon, Mom picked the trip in general!

After our time in Pigeon Forge, we went back to Aunt Janet's house (I fell asleep AGAIN!) We were there for a few hours just lounging. I played a game of pool with Trevor and then a game with Katelyn. I watched Tim and Trevor play a game, and then Tim and Dad. It was fun. I'm horrible, but I still had fun. Then we all just sat around talking and I was taking in the Southern hospitality and thinking about how much I loved it there. Last summer I seriously considered moving to Tennessee and staying with Aunt Janet for a few months. And by "seriously considered" I mean that I seriously considered it for a solid 48 hours and then decided against it. After this trip I was really wishing that I had done it though....

Tennessee- Day Three

 The first half of day three was spent in Nashville. We got up fairly early and went to Centennial Park to see the Parthenon. It is the only full scale replica of the original Parthenon found in Athens. It was HUGE.

Inside of the Parthenon there were a lot of small artifacts, TONS of paintings and photographs, and plaques providing information about the Parthenon - the original as well as the replica. It was more or less just an art history museum. The upper level of the Parthenon had a giant statue of the Greek goddess, Athena (and it was at this point in our self guided tour that I started having flashbacks of studying Greek Mythology in 6th grade). There were two hallways along either side of Athena that contained sculptures from the pediments of the Parthenon. My sister was funny because as you are probably aware, it was not uncommon for the sculptures to be nude. My sister kept looking away and freaking out anytime there were "man parts". I'll admit I felt really awkward too, but that should be expected in a museum full on ancient art. 

Outside of the Parthenon in the park, we found a cute, "self-push" swing. There was a little pedal at the bottom for your feet and as you press on that and lean back, it would swing itself. I decided I want one. :)

After the Parthenon, we went to a science museum. I'll admit it wasn't the most impressive science museum (it was geared towards younger visitors), but we still had fun with it. At least, I did! My brother and I went inside of this wind tunnel that blows air at 75 mph. I think it was called a tornado wind tunnel. I was scared at first... but once we were inside it actually wasn't that bad at all. The worst part was having my hair whip me in the face and then having a million tangles afterwards. It was kinda fun though. Trev and I pretended to be be terrified and held on to each other for dear life.

I think the down side of going to the science museum was that it was a Friday near the end of a school year so there were a lot of field trips taking place. Some of my favorite parts of the museum though were the hall that showed all the small scale planets and their sizes in relationship to each other. I also really liked the scale that you could adjust to show you your weight on Saturn, or Mars, or Jupiter, etc. Oh! And there was this room that you could walk in that was totally pitch black except for thousands of little "stars." It was like Disneyland's Space Mountain meets the Iron Rod from the vision of the Tree of Life. The only way you knew how to get out was my holding onto the rail. 

My family's FAVORITE part of the museum was the thermal camera. We spent probably a half hour playing around with it. What I discovered about myself was that my nose and fingers are even colder than I thought (they were the darkest blue possible and it was ridiculous in comparison to everybody else's fingers and noses), and my neck is randomly a lot hotter than any part of anybody else. 

After our fun in Nashville we had about a 3 hour car ride to Knoxville, where some of my mom's family lives. Because our mini van fit all 7 of us (my family plus my grandparents), we rode together and my grandma told us several stories about her life - how she and grandpa met, first jobs, how they ended up in California, etc. It was really neat listening to her tell us all about her life. :) When we got to Knoxville, we went straight to Daddy Joe's house. Aunt Janet was there to greet us. I've met Aunt Janet before - she's been to California a few times. She's my grandma's sister.

Daddy Joe is my grandma's step dad. I will be honest - I had no idea I had any great grandparents still living on my mom's side. Daddy Joe is the sweetest, nicest man I think I've ever met. He was showing us around his house. He's a collector and has a ton of figurines of Normal Rockwell art work. He also showed us some dolls and ceramics that he and his wife (now deceased) made and painted. I was very impressed. But my FAVORITE part was he showed us his "printing press". It was a small little table with some little, blank, white cards; an ink pad; a heat gun; a stamp; and a few other things. He told us that he made little cards with a stamp that says "God loves you." and anytime he sees someone who is feeling down or alone, he gives them one of those cards and reminds them that God loves them. I thought that was just the cutest, sweetest thing.

On a random note, my grandpa found a 4 leaf clover in Daddy Joe's yard. He found it in less than 30 seconds. I was impressed. 

After we visiting with Daddy Joe, all of us went out to dinner at a place called Aubrey's I got fried chicken and it was in the shape of a heart. My meal was absolutely delicious, but I was SOOO full afterwards.

After dinner, some of us went to a nursing home to visit Aunt Jane. Jane married my grandpa's dad later on in life. She doesn't have very many people that she's close with, so I'm glad we stopped by. We visited with her for a really long time. I couldn't help but feel sad for her though because she kept mentioning how her only daughter shut her out of her life. It broke my heart. 

After that we just went back to the hotel and talked about plans for the next day. It had been a really long and busy day, but very fun and enjoyable!

More to come.

Tennessee - Day Two

We got a slow start Thursday. Partly because we were all so tired and wanted to sleep, and partly because my mom was trying to find a new hotel for us to stay at. I hadn't seen Tennessee in the daylight yet and I was blown away by how green and beautiful it was there. Below are some random pictures that we took in the parking lot while we waited to get checked out of the hotel.

I'm sure my sister will appreciate this one... ;)

We were so colorful!

Love them.

Once we got the hotel stuff  figured out we headed to what I'd like to think of as downtown Nashville, but I know absolutely nothing about Nashville so I probably am making that up. I had my first conversation with a cowboy. He walked by and said hello and asked how I was doing. His accent, his attire, the guitar slung over his shoulder...it was my first "real" encounter with life in Tennessee.

I'm not sure what this building is, but I thought it was pretty.

This is us strolling through what I considered to be downtown Nashville.

We passed by a lot of shops and bars and places to eat, but we stopped at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. I had been listening to country music nonstop to prepare for this trip, so I was excited and thrilled to go through this museum. My family, on the other hand, isn't that into country music so it probably wasn't as exciting for them. But I'm happy they let us go anyway! :)

There were a lot of exhibits that showed suits and dresses that famous country stars wore. A lot of their outfits were very unique and flashy. I was a fan of this music note one.

 Elvis Presley's gold piano. It was beautiful.

These were all over the place. They are called steel guitars. I've never even heard of them before, but I guess they were a popular instrument used by older musicians. 

I loved going into this room. It had a bunch of framed pieces of paper that looked like this. I know it seems silly and dumb, but I loved it because it's exactly what my notes look like when I'm working on writing new songs.

Taylor Swift's guitar. I had to get a picture of it.

Me and Trev with Elvis.

We wanted to sing along :)

We are such dorks. Oh well. I love us.

Check out that wall of records! That wasn't even half of it.

My brother makes for a fine cowboy.

After the museum we were all starving so we went to Hard Rock Cafe. That place in itself was like a museum. It was pretty cool. And our waiter was HILARIOUS. His name was Nixon and you could definitely tell he was from the south by the way he spoke. I LOVED IT!

Funny story about this picture. From where I was standing there was a giant tree branch blocking the top of this fountain. I thought it was pretty so I told Trev and  Katey to sit down so I could take a picture. My parents and grandparents walked ahead and got a look at the whole fountain and looked at me with the strangest look. My mom said, "why are you taking a picture of that?!" Apparently the top of the fountain had statues of naked people in a really awkward pose. haha I had no idea and I'm sure the people around me were wondering the same thing as my mom. You can't tell in my picture though.

My grandparents went to bed early and so the rest of us went to a nearby mall. It was the weirdest mall I've been to. It had a few of the "normal" mall stores. But then they had a giant Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and a full size Old Navy store, and a ton of legit restaurants like Rainforest Cafe. This picture was taken at the entrance of Rainforest Cafe. I put this ridiculous hat on, and as you might imagine I couldn't see a thing. My mom took this picture and then she and the rest of my family quietly walked away, leaving me standing there looking like this for a good solid minute or so. I was so embarrassed. I was wondering why it was taking her forever to take the picture!

To be continued....