The last weekend of September, Kristin, Mary and I went to Nashville! We had all been wanting to go to Lifeway's dotMom conference for awhile now, and finally planned this past spring to make it happen when it was in Nashville this fall. Kristin used to live in Nashville, I had never been, and Mary had only been on a trip in high school, so we were excited about having her show us around!
The conference was Friday to Saturday, so we planned to fly there on Thursday and home on Sunday. Because of the flights we chose (cheaper!) we actually had a lot of time on Thursday and Sunday to hang around and explore Nashville! We left Houston at 6 Thursday morning and got to Nashville by 8:30. So, our first stop was the Pancake Pantry! Apparently this is a really popular breakfast place and lots of famous people go there. We loved the food but didn't see anyone famous - bummer.
From there we drove through downtown Nashville, saw music row where all the bars are that lots of artists got their start in, and then went to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. It was so big and so pretty!
Then we went to the Grand Ole Opry! So cool to be somewhere so famous. We walked around a little but opted out of the expensive tour. Definitely got our picture by the massive guitar, though.
That afternoon we did a little shopping, checked in to our hotel, and then drove south to Franklin and walked around their downtown area. We ate at Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant and it was great food! Loved sitting outside in such beautiful weather enjoying good food together.
Friday morning, Kristin and Mary had a long run to get in, and I tagged along with them to walk. The guy at the front desk of our hotel told us about Radnor Lake, which was close by, and it was beautiful! There was a trail all the way around the lake and then lots of hiking trails that shot off up into the mountains. I walked the whole way around the lake while the girls ran, and we loved it so much we planned to come back later in the weekend. I saw deer, chipmunks, and lots of cool birds. Such a great place!
Friday the conference started at noon and we just really loved the whole thing. The emcees were two bloggers/authors I love, Christy Nockels led worship, and all the large group and breakout speakers were just awesome. We all came away very refreshed and challenged and just loved getting to be at the conference.
I am a huge fan of Melanie Shankle, who is from Texas, went to A&M, is a blogger, has written three books, and is just so funny. I told the girls my goal was to meet her and get my picture with her and we ran into her on the second day we were there! I asked her where her Aggie ring was, we talked about both being from A&M and now we're kind of best friends. :) She was very nice and just so funny.
After the conference was over, we put our red lips on and got ready to go find Taylor Swift. :)
Saturday night we ate dinner at a restaurant where I was able to watch the Aggie game, and then Sunday morning we woke up and went back to Radnor Lake. This time we all stayed together, hiked around the lake, and even hiked one of the "difficult" trails up and down the side of the mountain. We were worn out but loved being at the lake again and it was a great end to the weekend!
I was so thankful for the time away, for time with sweet friends, and for time at the conference. Randy took such great care of the girls, Gigi came down to help for most of the time, and they all had a blast! It was a great weekend!
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