Tuesday - Gaylord Opryland's Convention Center

Gaylord Opryland's Convention Center 

On Tuesday, we toured this magnificent complex that can best be described through photos. Located less than two miles from our campground, it made for a beautiful afternoon of sight seeing. There are sister Hotels, the Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee, FL and the Texan Gaylord in Grapevine, Texas.  Check their website  for details and see if you want to visit. Of the 47 acres which makes up the complex, 9 are given totally to gardens, two acres of which are within the Delta Atrium. Their spectacular professional photos below are followed by mine.

The Cascades American Café

A dining room

Over 750,000 sq ft of meeting space, 2,712 guest rooms, and 176 suites.

Valet parking. At the end of the day, it took us about 40 minutes to have them retrieve
it so we could be on our way back to the campground.

Huge lobby

The temperature is kept a constant 72º for the 8,000 tropical plants.

Catfish, Koi and other small fish occupy the crystal clear waters in the Atrium.

Over 3,000 huge panes of glass cover the Atrium.

I encountered some tourists from a nearby Care Facility who kindly posed for me. They were eager to speak with others and that's how I got to know their names.

L.toR. Stranger, Stranger, Mike, Chrissy, Walter, Fran, Stranger, Doreen, Tony

Flatboats were introduced in 1986 to carry guests along the enclosed Delta River, and past a water feature that included jets which were choreographed to music. When the expansion was christened, water samples from more than 1,700 rivers throughout the world (including every registered river in the United States) were poured into the Delta River. We boarded and enjoyed the quarter mile narrated indoor river trip.

Although the boat moved on its own power, we surmised it was the keel that fit into the underwater trough that allowed the tour guide to navigate the 'river.'

We were too early to witness the colored, choreographed lights of this fountain.

Approaching the first of three waterfalls...

...which are actually the outlet flow of recirculated...

...filtered water; the process for which...

...takes about three hours per cycle.

Third and final waterfall.

That evening, we visited The Santa Fe Cattle Company featuring steaks, ribs and fajitas.

At the head of the table, I was able to get our crowd in one shot.
From L.toR: Todd, Tony, Mike, Chrissy, Doreen, Beth and Todd's twin, Odd.

An added treat was having this little gal survey our table and...

...decided she liked Chrissy the best. 

Todd's 22 oz T-bone: A full-flavored strip on one side and a fork tender filet on the other.

As you guessed, mine was a 6 oz. Fork Tender Filet Center-cut tenderloin.
The salted potato as well as the veggie medley were done to perfection.

That meal was the perfect ending to a terrific sight-seeing day. Tomorrow, Wednesday, our next adventure will be the Nashville's Music City Trolley Tour. See you then. Take care.

Tennessee - Getting to Nashville

Welcome back

I've finished the month of April at Croton Point's RV park, the blog for which may appear someday. There was so much to share...someday. I accomplished a lot; met fellow campers who was there one day and gone the next and had enjoyable times dining with friends and family. I won't get into the weather, you know what that was like if you live in the Northeast. I'm now eager to begin the 2022 Summer season..."Summer" an exciting concept if it ever arrives. I left for my Winter trip cross-country  January 6th and returned March 30th. Heat in the camper was the order of the day and night for the entire experience. If you glance at the map to the right, you'll see eleven states I haven't yet visited (slept) in white. Guaranteed if I ever attempt it, it'll be in the summer. 

The Hudson Islanders have chosen Nashville and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, as our first outing of the season. 10 RVs and 18 members will be in attendance. Excellent numbers for this time of the year. The eagerness to get out and about must be paramount in most people's minds even though we had to make the reservations last year. I've broken the 14½ hour, 928 mile trip into two stops. The first night I'll be in Mt. Jackson, Virginia, the second, in Greeneville, Tennessee. Winnie has six brand new tires and has had the 30,000 mile service (early at 24,000) including inspection, so you would think that worrisome aspect of traveling is off the board. I don't, but ya neva know; I continue to work on getting rid of the "what-ifs" and "supposing" mindset.

Finally, color through the windshield along I-81

I left Croton at 9:15am with the temperature a chilly 45° and arrived 365 miles later at 3:30 pm with the temp in the high 60's. With one stop for fuel ($5.71/gallon), the trip was long but traffic light with two slowdowns for on-going construction. Noteworthy was the change of season as I traveled south. Buds, Blossoms and Color. Vibrant green was everywhere to be seen. The farmlands of the Amish in PA and VA were already sprouting thick green carpets of vegetation. It was so refreshing to see.

With a delivered dinner from a nearby Italian restaurant, there was little to prepare or clean up for this overnight stay. A half mile away is the Shenandoah Caverns. I'm here, so why not? I made the 9:30 tour with Parker and his three trainees. We were a small party of four.

Site P-8

After a short wait 130' below the surface, we were joined by another group and became a group of nine. 

The original owner built a hotel over the cavern entrance,
site of the present day gift shop and dining facility.

The interesting history of how these Caverns came to be, can be found HERE.

I chose the elevator vs 176 stairs.

This will mark the fourth cavern I've visited and blogged about this year. Each one more fascinating and beautiful than the last. If you missed any of the previous blogs containing photos of caverns, they can be visited by clicking any of the following links: Cave of the Winds, Grand Canyon Caverns, and Indian Echo Caverns. I hope to capture photos of their acclaimed "Bacon Formations," "Rainbow Lake," "Grotto of the Gods," "Capitol Dome," "Diamond Cascade," and the "Long View Hall" during the one mile tour where the ambient temperature is a constant 56°. They also brag about being the only Caverns in Virginia offering elevator service. Some photo of the tour follow:

Parker, our tour guide

"Cave Bacon"

To create the bacon formations, the water runs down the sloped surface of the rock above,
leaving a long, thin strip of minerals behind.

"Long View Hall"

"Diamond Cascade." Not only breathtaking in its beauty, but difficult to
comprehend knowing these formations grow at only cubic inch every 100-125 years!

"Capitol Dome" (That's the back of a human head in the lower right)

"Grotto of the Gods"

With the amount of time I spent gawking at the expansive beauty of these caverns, realizing that it took Mother Nature 300-400 million years to create and that it's an ongoing process, had me voting this Cavern the best I've seen to date.

From here, I continued another 4½ hours to Greeneville, Tennessee and the Baileyton KOA for my second overnight stay. 

I enjoyed another beautiful day of driving along I-81 and marveled at the beautiful scenic
landscape in Virginia. What a beautiful state. The traffic was light, the idiot drivers encountered
were as common as anywhere else: driving slowly in the passing lane, cutting too close in front of you after passing, not knowing what the directional signals are used for and more than no doubt, you've encountered as well.

Thanks for joining me once again on this first leg of my trip to Nashville. From Baileyton, TN to Nashville, it'll be another four hours. See you there.