Since I couldn't go "home" I decided to try to find something fun and close by that we could do as a family. Just a short weekend trip, preferably SOUTH of Ohio. And wouldn't you know, I found the perfect thing. The RC Cola and Moonpie Festival in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. I looked up Bell Buckle and it is just south of Nashville. I have been to Nashville many a time since we moved to Ohio. I love Nashville and it's a fairly easy drive. This was just a little bit further and David would be with us so that would make it even easier. We looked up places to stay and since Bell Buckle only had B&B's, we looked at surrounding cities. We like Hampton Inns. The price isn't too bad and then there is that awesome free breakfast. There was a Hampton Inn in Murfreesboro which wasn't far away. But then when David went to book it he found a less expensive Hampton Inn in a smaller town called Manchester so we booked that one instead and we were set! The festival was on Saturday so we would leave here Friday morning, spend Saturday at the festival, spend one more night in the hotel and then head home on Sunday. No stress, no strict schedule, no huge expenses. I was able to get everything pretty much packed on Thursday night so Friday morning was pretty lazy. We ate breakfast, loaded the car and headed out. With plenty of time we had originally planned on stopping in Kentucky at Dinosaur World. However, wouldn't you know it, a freakish heat wave hit and it was 95 degrees. Dinosaur World is pretty much an outdoor thing and dragging 3 kids around in the heat to look at dinosaur statues did NOT sound like fun. So we decided to skip it. We ended up stopping at rest area and I always let the kids grab brochures to look at in the car. One of them mentioned all of these caves you could go tour and one happened to be just a few exits down the road. We pulled off, went in and asked about prices - they weren't too bad. We asked if a 3 year old could handle the tour - they said yes. So we bought our tickets and waited for the tour to start. In hind sight - 3 year olds do not do so well - it was a bit tense at times carrying her up and and down some pretty steep and narrow steps. And we also probably should have dug out the tennis shoes and made the kids put those on. I had planned on being in the car most of the day so the older two were in flip flops and Allison was in crocs. BUT - we all survived and the kids enjoyed the little side trip so it all worked out in the end.
When we got to our hotel in Manchester we were slightly disappointed. The rooms opened to an outside sidewalk, not an enclosed hallway, the carpet was dirty and the rooms was pretty small. The town didn't have much to offer in way of food either but we made do. It's not like you can expect a whole lot from a small town ya' know? The next morning we were deciding what to do about the hotel - stay one more night or check out and find a new place. The older two were doing jig saw puzzles with David while I flipped through the Tennessee Tourism guide. There were some cool things to see and do in Chattanooga, TN which was just a little further south but when we looked up the prices, we nixed those. In the end we decided to head to the festival and then head north. We'd stop in Murfreesboro for some touristy stuff and then head in to Nashville for dinner and then find a hotel.
The festival was fun. It was HOT but we still had a good time. We started off at an antique store and found a pretty cool old well pump which we ended up buying. Not sure where we'll put it yet but .... The "parade" was a hoot. We waited about 30 minutes to watch maybe 7 cars pass by in a total of perhaps 10 minutes. Then we went and checked out all the booths. David and I each had an RC Cola in a glass bottle and we each had a banana flavored Moonpie. The kids had some sips of our RC's but preferred their Sprites. Audrey and Allison don't like the Moonpies, Amy had some of mine. We didn't stay too long as the kids were starting to melt and I think Amy was probably on the verge of heat exhaustion (my poor yankee-fied kids!) The festival wasn't much but it was fun. We all had a good time and I'm glad we went!
In Murfreesboro we ended up at a Civil War battlefield and museum. Here I am thinking GOOD! Let's get Audrey indoctrinated! Let's get her to see that the war was not completely about slavery, that it was about "state's rights". Let's cram the Southern version of this part of history in her brain. Anything to get her stop calling the South "the bad buys"!!!! Imagine my surprise when I learn that Tennessee was split state - half was Union and half was Confederate. Gonna have to hit up some battle fields further south next time.
After touring the battlefield we headed into Nashville with hopes of eating at the famous Loveless Cafe. We had tried once before but the wait had been something like an hour and a half so we left. This time we figured we'd get there kind of early for dinner but maybe that way the wait wouldn't be so long and the kids would be hungry anyway since A) they didn't eat much lunch and B) their bodies were on eastern time. Even still - we waited about 45 minutes for a table. But we were finally seated and dinner was delish!
We ended up driving to Bowling Green Kentucky before we found a hotel room and then we ended up at a Hilton instead of Hampton. However, being a little nicer, the Hilton had a bar in the lobby and David went down twice and brought up drinks for us which was just what we needed after a day of traveling and sight seeing.
So the trip was great and everyone had a good time but now .... I am so homesick for the south. I miss the friendliness, I miss the hospitality, I even miss the accent! And OH how I miss the food. If you have never lived in the south you just don't get it. People here can't see how it could really be that different but it IS and I MISS IT!!!! The good thing is - David noticed and commented on the difference and there is that Dell facility outside of Nashville ..... Oh how I hope and pray he gets promoted to a position there. I may not make it back to Texas but maybe I could make it to Tennessee?
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