For our family vacation this summer, we travelled to Tennessee to meet Granddad and Grandmom (Richard's dad and stepmom from Baltimore) for a week. On the way to meet them, we drove through Shreveport and had lunch and enjoyed the Boardwalk. For something that is so close to home, I don't think we utilize the Shreveport Boardwalk enough. The kids had a great time window shopping and mom and dad got to eat at our favorite restaurant (Hooter's), yes, we take our kids there - we are those parents.
After Shreveport, we headed to Memphis and took the kids to pay homage to the king. Of course we stayed in the hotel with the guitar shaped pool. We spent the next day at Graceland and the evening on Bealle Street. I wish I had a video of Connor dancing to the music of the street musicians. I swear he fit in perfectly.
The next day we traveled the rest of the way to meet Dave and Pat. We stayed in a cabin on Center Hill Lake which is absolutely beautiful. It is about an hour outside Nashville
so we spent
one whole day in Nashville enjoying Opryland and attending a concert at the Grand Ole Opry. In my opinion, The Grand Ole Opry is one of the best tourist attractions we have ever visited. The prices are excellent and the atmosphere and performances can't be beat. We spent two hours just walking around the lobby of the Opryland Hotel which is a tourist attraction all by itself. The actual entertainers at the Opry were phenomenal. I am telling you right now, if you ever get a chance to see Little Jimmy Dickens in person, take it. It is an experience I don't think any of us will forget anytime soon.
For the rest of the week, we hung out at the lake and around the cabin just enjoying seeing Dave and Pat who we don't see or visit with nearly enough. We did take one very interesting side trip
to the Cumberland Gap Caverns - yes, you heard that right. I, Emily Meisel, the claustrophobia queen, went to caverns. And, yes, caverns are those caves that are dark and underground. It was the one thing in the area that Richard wanted to do, so I gave it a shot, and it was a disaster. We arrive at the caverns and put on the warm clothes we stopped and got at Wal-Mart because it is a lot colder underground. Then we strapped Reagan onto Richard's chest for the 2.5 mile hike through underground caves. When we
got into the caves, I was doing okay. The actual rooms in the caves were large and open and lit up fairly well, so I thought I was going to be okay but then one of the other tourist (an idiot in my humble opinion) asked how far we were underground and the tour guide said 225 feet. Yes, we had literally 225 feet of dirt above our heads. I took a few deep breathes, said some silent prayers, and kept going. About that time, Reagan started screaming every time the tour guide started explaining a stalactite or stalagmite or water pool. Once again, I took a few deep breathes, said a few prayers, and kept going. We then get to the bridge made of natural rock stairs that requires climbing 150 stairs to the top, descending 150 more stairs to a dark room on the other side, and the stairs are the only way in or out. I made it to the middle of the first stair case and started yelling for the tour guide to get me out. YES I did, and I am not embarrassed to admit it. It was only the second time in her 8 years of leading tour guides that she had to turn around and lead a tourist to the waiting area of this part of the tour and the other person had been an elderly lady who couldn't do the stairs. Thankfully, Pat's fear of heights had kicked in just as much and she stayed with me. It was an experience I will never forget - or repeat. Richard was a trooper and finished the entire tour with a screaming toddler strapped to his chest. Bet he will think twice before he asks me to visit caves with him again.
What we enjoyed most was spending time with each other and getting so much quality time with Granddad and Grandmom. Some of the best memories Richard and I both have of our childhoods are times spent with our grandparents and we want to make sure that our children have those same types of relationships. We are lucky that our kids live relatively close to most of their grandparents and that we have the resources to allow them to visit with those who don't live so close.
The final two came from Reagan who doesn't know what it means yet, but likes the way it sounds when her Bubbas say it and mimicks everything she likes. I even got an "Eemmilyyy" from Richard who exasperated by 7:20 but I thinking secretly enjoying every minute too. The kids aren't the only ones starting new schools today, I started at the Middle School today and loved it. After eight years of high school and high schoolers, the youthfulness and innocence of middle schoolers is refreshing. All in all, the first day was a success at the Meisel house. Hope everyone else had a great first day of school too.
