Labor Day in the South or Music City, USA

This last weekend, Darin and I went to Nashville, TN. We stayed with my uncle and his wife, and one of my aunts came down to see me too. It was so great! Darin did all the driving, which I didn't complain about one bit. There were some tense moments, but overall, I think we had a wonderful weekend. I really enjoyed seeing my family, getting to know Darin better, and enjoying the following activities:

Driving all night - facing torrential rain, crazy drivers, and a diner that closed 5 minutes before we arrived

Nashville Shores - fun water park, plus some excellent people watching

Southern BBQ - both homemade (at a friend of my uncle's) and Jack's BBQ (downtown Nashville)

Southern cooking in general - Darin even tried grits! He had a couple bites off my plate at the Waffle House, thought about it for a while, then came back and tried them again. I think he's still undecided.

Ryman Auditorium - Original home of the Grand Ole Opry

Jam session in my uncle's friend's garage - I love this kind of thing, and I'll never get tired of hearing my uncle play

Exploring downtown Nashville - Hooray for the BatBuilding!

Opryland Hotel and Opry Mills Outlet Mill - I didn't find anything worth buying, but it was a cool mall, and the outside of the hotel was beautiful. We decided it wasn't worth paying $12 for parking to see the inside

Seeing the homes of the stars - Darin bought a map off where the country music stars live, and we went exploring. LeAnn Rimes, Alan Jackson, Trace Adkins, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw/Faith Hill, etc. He as all the pictures, but I'll share as soon as I can. We felt a little silly and voyeuristic, but it was a fun adventure.

I'll share pictures eventually, but I figured the news was the most important news.

And, speaking of news, I found out that I was accepted into the Mormon Choir of Washington!

Back to the daily grind, but I'm very glad I had this last weekend.