Christmas Fun in Nashville

My parents had the wonderful idea of planning a fun-filled day to Nashville as our Christmas present. We are so blessed to have such a fun and loving family and truly enjoyed our day together.


We started off at the Grand Ole Opry with the Rockettes Christmas show. It was a neat experience to visit such a historic place and the show was wonderful. Man, those girls can dance and kick! The best part of the show was a live nativity scene at the end...no Rockettes in this scene!


We couldn't take pictures during the show so I snapped a few of the family and stage at least.

After the show, we grabbed lunch then headed to what's left of the Opry Mills Mall...Bass Pro. Sadly a flood last year ruined this wonderful mall and only Bass Pro has been able to open back up. Of course we LOVE Bass Pro but we normally visit the one in Indiana. I had forgotten how much smaller the Nashville store was and we were all a bit disappointed with how cramped it was with merchandise and people! I would definitely recommend the Indiana Bass Pro over the Nashville one anyday.

Later on our agenda was the Ice show at Opryland Hotel. Apparently parking at the hotel is pricey so we decided to park and walk. Not a good idea! We had no idea how far away we'd parked! We walked at least 20 minutes and this was with my pregnant sister in tow who already wasn't feeling well. I felt horrible that we made her walk but once we FINALLY got there I think we all enjoyed ourselves.

We really didn't know what to expect at this Ice show. We had just heard it was ice sculptures with lights. When we got there people were snaked around in a long line all dressed in these "lovely" blue parkas. We were informed that it would be 9 degrees inside and so everyone had to wear parkas. I have to admit, I think we all were quite taken a back by this but we sucked it up and put on the lovelies...

Josie was a trooper. No blue parka for her. We bundled her up in her jacket with a thick blanket they provided us with and she did fine.

The theme for the Ice show was "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." I was expecting sculptures of the normal Christmas characters...reindeer, elves, snowmen and the like. Shows what I know...it was actually based around an old claymation movie called "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" about Santa Claus being an orphan and raised by a family named the Kringles. Needless to say, I didn't completely understand most of the scenes but it was still very neat to see all this created from ice...

Papaw loves the movie "A Christmas Story" and wanted to be like the little boy who got his tongue stuck to a metal pole! Of course, he really didn't do it but got pretty close when my brother-in-law gave him a slight nudge. Dad's reaction was priceless!

This was a pretty neat little area. It was a castle completely made of ice. You could walk up steps of ice to a slide of ice and slide down on your lovely blue parka. Riley wouldn't do it but two other kids would...Phil and Uncle Craig!

The best part was, once again, saved for last. An ice nativity scene...it just made you stand in awe of its beauty, intricacy, and, of course, meaning-the TRUE reason for the season.

After turning in our lovely blue parkas, we headed for the Opryland Hotel. Most of us had never been inside so we had to check it out. It was HUGE, almost like it's own little city. It was beautifully decorated and had it's own waterway through the middle where you could take a boat ride.

We had heard that there were some Christmas activities for kids somewhere in the hotel. Finding anything in that massive place is a challenge. After another long walk, we finally found the activities. Much to my disappointment though...THEY WERE NOT FREE!!!! Ugh! $3 for a train ride, $5 for a story and cookies with Mrs. Claus, $7 to walk through a hall of trees! Warning...gonna get on a small soapbox...Christmas has become way too commercialized and it seems like it's all about making and spending money! What happened to the true meaning...telling others of Jesus' birth and giving of ourselves? I'm really hoping that we can instill that in our children so that they don't get a warped sense of what Christmas is! Sorry...I'll hop down now...

Back to the overpriced Christmas activities...Riley loved the train and since we'd walked this far, Mamaw paid for her to ride the train. Of course Mommy and Josie had to ride with her...

It was a packed day but we had so much fun. Riley couldn't stop telling Mamaw and Papaw, "Thank you for our trip...thank you for taking us to the "ho-tail" (that's how she says hotel...with a southern draw)...thank you for the Christmas show." We all had a blast and can't thank Mamaw and Papaw enough for such a wonderful Christmas present.