No, we didn’t see The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson’s home, even though it was just a few miles away. And, no, we didn’t go out to a Nashville nightclub because we were lucky(?) enough to be in Nashville for the one and only Thursday Night NFL game of the year hosted by the Titans. We knew that it would be a zoo downtown as the stadium is just a short walk from The District, the downtown club area. So last night we went to the Opry Mills Mall (huge – not as big as the Mall of America, but large enough to have a carousel in the food court), saw the (new) Grand Ole Opry (a disappointment as I didn’t know that it had moved to a *mall*) and dined at Johnny Rocket’s.
Opry Mills Entrance 3
The Opry Mills food court carousel
All of that was fun. And we did go into Nashville for 2 hours in the afternoon, to have a pulled pork sandwich and a beer at Rippy’s with all the obnoxious Steelers fans in town for the game. The sandwich was excellent. The Steelers fans got what they deserved when their team lost.
Rippy’s
Steelers fans before their loss
Our home for the last two nights was the RV park at Nashville Shores, a water park that is closed for the season. The setting was beautiful but the site was tight and too short to hold both Patience and the truck. But it was nearly empty, so I simply parked the truck in the adjacent site. Like everyone else.
Good things about Nashville Shores? First and foremost, the lake. When I took the dogs for a walk Thursday morning the sun was shining brightly (for the first time in a week), the air was cool and steam was rising from the lake. Absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn’t take the camera. You will have to trust me that it was a beautiful scene. I have included a couple of shots from this morning when it was drab and gray. Imagine the same scene with the sun shining.
The lake at Nashville Shores
Another view of the lake
Another good thing: the pooch park. They had a huge fenced-in dog run – probably as large as the one at Luray. The dogs loved it, of course.
Dog run at Nashville Shores
The other good thing: the staff was very helpful when the truck would not start (again!) this morning and was understanding when we were an hour late departing because I took the truck to NTB to have one of the batteries replaced. I noticed, when the truck wouldn’t start, that one of the batteries was warm and one was cold. The warm one was also making a slight buzzing sound. When I disconnected the battery it continued to buzz and stayed warm. Conclusion: the battery was draining itself.
Anyway, that’s my theory. NTB confirmed that the battery failed its test 2 out of 3 times (which might explain why it passed at Sears last Sunday – they tested it just once). The true test will come tomorrow morning when we see if the truck starts.
On to Memphis. The GTW is now more than 25% complete.
And two whole hops without a blowout!