You're the Only Ten-I-See!

I took my first trip to Tennessee and it was wonderful! David's mom is from Tennessee and some of her family is still living around the Nashville area in a town called Franklin. We had the joy of spending the last few days with Dave's grandad and he gave us the grand tour of Nashville! While some of the highlights of the trip could easily be the sweet potato fries at Puckett's Grocery and the caramel apple spice cider at Starbucks, none of it could compare to spending time with Dave's granddad. He is such an incredible man and it was the first time that I really got a chance to visit with him at length.

I had met him on 2 other occasions, but the first time was over dinner and the second time was during our wedding festivities...you can imagine that neither of those times provided long periods of quality communication. This time was just perfect because he was in his element and we were there to visit and spend time with him. He is 92 years old, gets up everyday and walks 2 miles (rain or shine! Rain he walks indoors...shine he walks outside), always has a smile on his face, never complains about a thing, and is just the type of person that makes you look at life a little differently. He has found joy in his journey.

I wish we could see him more often. I know Dave loved spending time with his grandad and I hope we get the opportunity to go back soon! For now, I'll leave you with a few snapshots of our visit! Some of which include, but are not limited to:

• Arrington Vineyards
• Nashville Farmer's Market
• Ryman Auditorium
• Nashville Public Library
• The old Union Station train station that is now a historic hotel
• The state Capitol and some of the surrounding landmarks
• Downtown Franklin
• The outside tour of the Grand Ole Opry ($18 to park and a flight 1.5 hours away we passed on the grand tour...)

Last but not least...I couldn't resist this picture. We went to this fabulous chocolate shop and these boots are made out of chocolate! They smelled amazing. :)