Last weekend we spent 3 nights at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville while my husband attended a conference. We had never been to Nashville before and although it was a short visit, we had such a great time!
The resort itself is beautiful and HUGE! According to Wikipedia it is the largest non-casino hotel in the continental US outside of Las Vegas. We had to carry a map with us at all times for the first 24 hours just to make it from point A to point B. After that we sort of remembered how to get around, but still had to reference the map occasionally. When we first arrived at the main lobby, we saw the first of 3 atriums. This is called the Cascades atrium:
The girls quickly noticed that there were lots of fish swimming around so we spent quite a bit of time doing this:
Here is a picture of some fish courtesy of my 6 year old:
We dropped off our stuff in the room before heading out to explore. The room was clean and very nice:
I loved that the bathroom had a sink area outside as well as inside the toilet/tub room. The outside sink:
And the inside sink:
Next we walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. There was a very nice walkway from the Gaylord to the Opry Mills Mall next door and it was nice to be able to walk and see the sights instead of drive. The hotel also offers a free shuttle to the mall as well, but we had been in the car most of the day and felt like walking. On the way, we walked right past the Grand Ole Opry House:
A show was getting ready to start so there were lots of people lined up to go in. The grounds in front of the building are beautifully landscaped so we enjoyed just wandering around for a few minutes and taking it all in.
We were very excited about dinner that night because we discovered this nearby:
Chuy’s was started in Austin, where my husband and I were born and raised so it was great to have a taste of home so far away. We don’t get to eat here very often so we were excited!
After a delicious dinner, we walked back to the Gaylord where we watched more fish:
We also discovered a fountain show in the largest atrium at the Gaylord, the Delta. It was sort of like a miniature version of the Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas:
We got some gelato and sat and watched the fountains while we ate.
By this time were ready to just relax in the room until bed, so we walked back and posed for a few photos on the way:
Up next: Part 2 of our Nashville trip which includes a visit to the Nashville Zoo!
As always, don’t forgot to like me on Facebook (click here) and follow me on Pinterest (click here) for all of the latest Disney Cruise Mom Blog updates!
Did you know that the former Opryland Themepark (where the Opry Mills outlet mall now stands) was the home to the first ride named “Rock ‘N Roller Coaster”? Disney also grabbed a few other names of former Opryland rides for their use. The “Grizzly River Rampage” was a water ride very similar to California Adventure’s “Grizzly River Run” and the “Barnstormer” at Opryland, while not a roller coaster featured flying planes very similar to “Goofy’s Barnstormer” at the Magic Kingdom
I read about the Rock ‘N Roller Coaster while we were there, but I had no idea about the others! Thanks for the interesting tidbits!