The best trip ever!

I find myself really needing a vacation lately.  My big wish is to go somewhere where the water is blue.  I love me some Myrtle Beach, but the water's a little murky.  However, murky ocean water is better than no ocean water at all, so I'm perfectly happy with it when I get there.  I would just like to see some gorgeous, clean, blue water in the not-too-distant future.  We'll see how that pans out.  Anyway, since I can't go on any vacations anytime soon, I will just have to relive an old one in my imagination...

I can't believe it's been over 2 years since I went to Nashville with Heather, Stephanie, and Jamie.  I have to say that particular trip was the best one I've ever been on.  Going to a really cool place with the greatest friends is just better than anything.  The whole thing started, oddly enough, with my love of all things Dixie Carter.  I happened to find out that she and Hal Holbrook were going to be doing a reading of "Tom Sawyer" at her namesake theater in Huntingdon, TN, her hometown.  I also happened to realize that it would probably be my best opportunity to get to see Miss Dixie (ended up being the only opportunity, unfortunately).  So I sent a feeler email to Heather, taking total advantage of the fact that she lived and worked in Nashville for 8 years, basically saying that it would be awesome if we could go to Nashville with a group of girls and she could show us around the cool spots in Nashville and, while we were in Tennessee, we could just swing by ol' Huntingdon (2 hours away) where, WHAT A COINCIDENCE, Dixie Carter is going to make an appearance!  In fact, we would be frickin' idiots if we didn't take this trip, right?  Well, lucky for me, Heather was totally up for it and I sent another email out to see if Stephanie might want to go as well.  She was game and she asked if Jamie could come too (at the time, we didn't know Jamie too well, though we had hung out and liked her a lot).  So in November 2008, we were going to Nashville for about 4 days for girl time...awesome!

Ok, I'm not going to break down the entire trip here because it would take a really long time, but I'll try to bring up the best parts.  First off, we got to stay with an old friend of Heather's for free.  And I was really grateful just to have a place to stay (because I'm all about free) but this townhouse we stayed in was ah-mazing!  And Amanda (our hostess) was so cool and sweet.

View from upstairs...I mean, seriously, isn't this place stunning?

We went to the Opryland Hotel, which had all its Christmas decorations up...very beautiful.  We went to some of Heather's old haunts, including Bosco's, The Stage on Broadway, and a little diner that I can't remember the name of but they had great milkshakes.

Great band playing at The Stage

At Bosco's

Heather, having worked in the country music industry, knew where some famous musicians lived in and around Nashville, so we drove by them, slowed down, and gawked.  We saw Dolly Parton's house and Alan Jackson's (where Stephanie went up to the gate and claimed her devotion to Alan through a speaker in the gate, even though she didn't even know how to spell his name).  Then on our last day, we took the 2-hour drive to Huntingdon to see Dixie and Hal.  I wish more than anything that I could have taken pictures during the show because Dixie and Hal were so adorable and she was gorgeous and sweet and all good things.  However, I did get to take a few pictures of the theater and its museum (that is, until my stupid camera battery went dead).

A poster from a play Dixie performed and some of her old costumes

Stephanie took this picture so my reflection in the mirror would make it look like I was actually part of the Dixie/Hal world

I was kinda upset afterward because I had expected to meet Dixie in person after the show but she wasn't able to do the usual meet-and-greet because she was going through chemotherapy.  But after talking to my Dixie friend Debbi, I felt better and realized I was pretty lucky just to see her at all (and from the second row yet!).
Sadly we had to head home the next day but it was such a wonderful trip.  I'm glad the beginning of the trip, with Jamie getting carsick and having to pull off to a rest stop in Rural Retreat, didn't jinx the rest of the excursion.  We got to know Jamie much better and see what a sweet and lovely person she is.  We got to see what a wonderful city Nashville is from the insider perspective.  We got to see the awesomeness that is Ms. Dixie Carter.  It was just about a perfect trip...I say "just about" because I'm sure there was something that maybe bugged me or went slightly wrong at the time, but I can't remember anything bad about it now. 

The 4 of us have talked about going back to Nashville sometime and I would love to, but I swear I don't see how it could live up to the incredible experience we had the first time.  Nevertheless, I'd still like to give it a chance.  Or we could go to one of those tropical, blue-water places...either one would be fine with me, I'm not choosy.  :)