Nashville's temples

On Black Friday we drove down to Nashville to have a mini adventure and go to the temple. It's amazing how much having a child will impact the timing of mini adventures! It was the longest car trip Henry's been on, so we tried to time it so that it would include some of his normal nap times and make it easier for everyone. We...erm...mostly succeeded.

We stayed with some friends who were in our church here last year and then they moved there for their year 3 rotations. James got to see the hospital and talk to someone about rotations, which I think helped him solidify how it works.

We went to visit the Parthenon, which my grandfather says is worth it even if it's the only thing you do in Nashville, and I have to say - it was pretty impressive. Plopped right in the middle of Nashville you have a replica of a Greek temple for Athena (and there's an enormous statue of her inside). I loved it.

Athena's shield

Athena in all her golden glory

Right next to the Parthenon was another statue. We loved the benches surrounding it that had words on such as "integrity," "honesty," and "mechanical." Not all the words seemed to carry the same impact.


We were planning to stop by the Grand Ole Opry on our way back on Saturday but didn't because of...yarn. I needed another skein of yarn that only Joann's sells, so when we saw one off the freeway, we stopped so I could run in and buy it. It seems that at least at this Joann's, their Black Friday event was actually a Super Saturday event. I snagged my yarn and then stood in the long, bustling, holiday-cheery-and-crafty lines and that ate up all of our extra time. But once you've been in line for more than ten minutes, you're committed. I was getting that yarn, dang it. And woot woot, it was half off. Super Saturday! We opted for a local (and not that great) BBQ lunch and Joann's in lieu of the Opry. Next time!

We also wanted to visit Olan Rogers's store (The Soda Parlor) because we love his videos. But with it getting dark so early and such a long drive ahead of us with a Henry who hates driving in the dark, we had to forego that, too. Again, next time!

And that's pretty much all we had time for. On our way there we drove through several of the cities that are core rotation sites, so it was fun to see places we might be assigned to live for the next two years.