Places/Travel
November 13, 2016
My friend Nader and I both had nothing to do with our Sunday. We wanted to get out of town for a while so we decided to head north for Amicalola Falls. Over the past few weeks smoke has been drifting into north Georgia from the wildfires in Tennessee, North and South Carolina. The smoke from the wildfires made for some hazy shots, which I love, and the falls itself was a gorgeous sight. It was well worth a tread up the 604 steps to see. lol
On June 11th I took a solo trip to Nashville to see Stephen King at the Ryman Auditorium. Back in March I found out he would be doing a tour to promote his new book "End of Watch", and making a stop in Nashville. I'm a MASSIVE King fan, so going to see him was a must, especially since he was so close. I patiently waited on the Ticket Master App for the tickets to be released because I knew they'd be sold out in minutes. Luckily I made it and got my seat before they did!
The drive to Nashville is about 3 1/2 to 4 hours from Atlanta. Took I-75, to I-24, into I-40, a very scenic ride passing through the mountains of Georgia and Tennessee. I kept myself occupied listening to podcasts and signing along to Rihanna's "Anti" album, as well as taking some snapshots along the way.
When I arrived I stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall vegetarian restaurant called, Sunflower Cafe, and got myself a veggie burger with a side of fruit and quinoa/rice (way more than I needed, so much food). The food was delicious and the staff was so nice. Definitely recommend eating here if ever in Nashville.
Once I ate I had about an hour and a half to spare before entering the auditorium. I didn't realize that in Nashville they are behind an hour so I unintentionally over estimated my arrival time. To my luck it was CMA Weekend so there were tons of tourists, and events going on within a block of the Ryman and it took me about 30 minutes just to park. Once I finally found a place to leave my car, I had a little less than an hours left and the line outside the venue had already started and was growing by the second.
After waiting in line for about 45 minutes it was time to finally see Stephen. The line slowly pushed forward as we all staggered our way inside. If seeing Stephen wasn't enough for me, being inside the Ryman was such an amazing experience. There is so much history within it's walls being the oldest and most monumental venue in Nashville with many of music's greatest legends having served on it's stage, such as Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash. I took my seat and after yet another hour of anticipation, finally he had appeared on stage. Honestly, I have never been so star struck in my life. He was as perfect as I could imagine. (I couldn't take any photographs because we were under intense watch as we were not allowed to).
Once he was done speaking, and I could breathe again, we all pilled our way out the door where we received out copies of "End Of Watch". I then spent about an hour sigh seeing the strip still packed with CMA goers and purchased a few souvenirs before grabbing some gas and taking the journey back home. It was such a great evening and my only regret is not getting to stay for longer than that night. Will definitely return for sure, hopefully very soon.
Tybee Island 6-9am
...Because sometimes you need a lil' getaway.
