Music City

Ever since I became a country music fan, I have wanted to go to Nashville. I finally got my chance last weekend when Chad and I went for a quick trip with our best friends, Tony and Nicole.



As soon as I stepped off the plane, I saw my love. (Sorry for the quality, these were off of my iPhone)



Before I knew it, I fit right in and was mingling with the "laid back country folk." Can you pick me out? I know, I blend right in.

Right after our mini photo session with the stars, we heard about the "Pool-a-palooza" at the Opryland Hotel and changed our reservation to stay there instead. The joys of traveling without children...we flew by the seat of our pants. It was great.

Opryland was really nice, but so ginormous. It took 10 minutes to walk to the pool from our room, and that is only if we didn't take a wrong turn.

Once again, I was like one of the locals.



We hit all the hotspots along Broadway and 2nd Avenue. We were a huge hit at Cadillac Ranch -- Chad and I fulfilled our longtime dream of riding a mechanical bull. We spent two years living in Dallas and never once found a mechanical bull to ride. Who knew we had to travel all the way to Nashville to take on the challenge? It was well worth it.


iPhone - sorry



I was so nervous but I was even more excited to try to own this bull. It must be my competitive side of me. I rode for 59 seconds and I am still paying for it today. I used muscles that I never even knew existed. I lost a chunk of skin on my foot, skinned my ankle bone, bruised my knee cap and pulled a hammy. It was awesome. Yee haw!

Tootsies was my favorie bar that we went to. There are two stages and the back stage is the best. There is live music at every bar you walk by. It was right up my alley.

Tony and Nicole recently found out they are expecting their second baby, so it was nice to grab a couple of shots of them as they enjoyed some alone/quiet time. Things are about to get crazy at their house :)

Nicole is so smiley and outgoing, she had such a challenge not smiling for my camera. She is one of those happy people that are just fun to be around.

We did find a map to the stars homes and decided to take a drive to see the lay of the land. Of course, our first stop was Kenny's house. I know he wasn't home becase he had a show in San Diego this weekend. I should have brought my 70-200 papparazzi lense.

Kenny's mailbox.

The cool thing about country stars is that they are keeping it real. They make just as much money as any other recording artist, but they don't live in rediculous, oversized homes. They seem to be more in touch with reality than other famous people.

Dolly Parton's house is just down the street from Kenny's.

Trace Atkins live in the same neighborhood.

Tim & Faith's house is a little more secluded down a narrow dirt road with thick greenery. They had the biggest jungle gym I have ever seen.

This isn't anyone famous' house, but I thought it was a cool shot. It actually looked a little like the house in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." This tunnel was under some railroad tracks and was so narrow that we had to watch our side mirrors as we went through and prayed the no one was coming through from the other side.