Nimbus Tour 2014 - Part 1
Hi Friends! I have so much to share with ya'll! It has been a crazy couple of weeks, but Jordan and I have had such a great vacation! We've spent the last 2 weeks on a super long trip with our friends, Mallory and Nathan! The length of our trip warrants two posts, so this will be part 1 of 2. What a task it was to sort through the pictures, but I narrowed it down as much as I could for ya'll.
I guess I should start by explaining our trip name and how our vacation came to be! The 4 of us have always talked about going to Florida to see Harry Potter world. It was always hypothetical conversation in passing; nothing any of us ever really took seriously. Over time, we would talk about things we wanted to see and various vacation ideas. The seed was planted! Later in the year, our friends asked us if we'd be interested in going to the CMAs (Country Music Awards). At the time, Jordan and I weren't sure exactly what we wanted to do. We'd just returned from other trips, and it's sort of a big deal to take a vacation with friends. I mean, when you spend such a long time with each other, I think the outcome could result in either, a damaged friendship or becoming super close! We gave it some serious thought and decided it would be a fun adventure! I'll save you the suspense and let you know we all got along great! Once we were all on board with the CMAs, we decided we might need to get together to discuss the other details of our trip. Planning a vacation for ourselves is one thing, but planning a trip for the 4 of us, would be trickier. When would we leave? How would we get there? Where should we stay? Etc. Of the 4 of us, I think I was the one with the most planning anxiety (I can tend to be a little type A - sometimes)... And with that, began our "planning sessions!"
I guess I should start by explaining our trip name and how our vacation came to be! The 4 of us have always talked about going to Florida to see Harry Potter world. It was always hypothetical conversation in passing; nothing any of us ever really took seriously. Over time, we would talk about things we wanted to see and various vacation ideas. The seed was planted! Later in the year, our friends asked us if we'd be interested in going to the CMAs (Country Music Awards). At the time, Jordan and I weren't sure exactly what we wanted to do. We'd just returned from other trips, and it's sort of a big deal to take a vacation with friends. I mean, when you spend such a long time with each other, I think the outcome could result in either, a damaged friendship or becoming super close! We gave it some serious thought and decided it would be a fun adventure! I'll save you the suspense and let you know we all got along great! Once we were all on board with the CMAs, we decided we might need to get together to discuss the other details of our trip. Planning a vacation for ourselves is one thing, but planning a trip for the 4 of us, would be trickier. When would we leave? How would we get there? Where should we stay? Etc. Of the 4 of us, I think I was the one with the most planning anxiety (I can tend to be a little type A - sometimes)... And with that, began our "planning sessions!"
The CMAs were in June in Nashville, TN so we had a date to work with and endless destinations! In the end, our trip would consist of Nashville/CMAs, Sawgrass in Jacksonville, Universal Studios in Florida, Disney World, and lastly, a lovely beach at Gulf Shores, AL. The CMA Festival might have triggered our trip, but Harry Potter World quickly became a secondary focus. Since we were all Harry Potter fans, Potter-isims quickly started to set in. In the books, Harry is given a Nimbus 2001 broom to swiftly take him from place to place. Thus the name of our trip was born, Nimbus Tour 2014.
You'll hear lots more about Harry Potter and our Potter-isims in part 2, but for now, I'll take you through the first half of our trip.
As I mentioned, our first stop was Nashville, TN. We left super early on a Wednesday morning and arrived in Nashville around 5pm. Nashville would be a nice place to live I think. There seems to be plenty to do, the weather isn't too bad, and the people seem very nice.
You'll hear lots more about Harry Potter and our Potter-isims in part 2, but for now, I'll take you through the first half of our trip.
As I mentioned, our first stop was Nashville, TN. We left super early on a Wednesday morning and arrived in Nashville around 5pm. Nashville would be a nice place to live I think. There seems to be plenty to do, the weather isn't too bad, and the people seem very nice.
One of our first stops in Nashville was Financial Peace Plaza where we got to meet Dave Ramsey! We arrived around 10:30/11am and checked out the little coffee shop, Martha's Place, in the entrance. The "real" Martha no longer runs the coffee shop, but there was a very kind lady working in the very real looking galley kitchen. They had free desserts, coffee, tea, and gourmet drinks for all visitors while we shopped through the Dave Ramsey book store! Dave's show didn't start until 1pm so we decided to get some lunch and come back later. We got back just in time to meet Dave during his first radio show break! Dave was very nice and signed all our paraphernalia. I had him sign my phone case and Jordan had him sign a book he had just purchased. We got some great pictures and watched a little bit of his show.
Right: Arrival in Memphis, TN! We had been in the car for 12 hours so we looked tired, but excited to stretch our legs! We are standing next to a statue of Elvis at the Tennessee welcome center.
Top Left: The 4 of us standing in front of Dave's studio!
Bottom Left: Jordan and I with Dave Ramsey!
After Financial Peace Plaza, we headed to downtown Nashville to check out the CMA Festival! I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the CMA Fest, but there were plenty of fun things to do during the day. The street was essentially full of vendors that gave out free items such as kuzies, sunglasses, sunscreen, beads, t-shirts, etc. There was a dunking booth, karaoke, nascar tire changing, free pizza, and lots of country music!
The format of the CMA Fest is basically activities throughout the whole day and then a big concert in the evening at LP Field. Throughout the day you can stop in "Fan Fare X" (Nashville Convention Center) to meet up-and-coming artists, play games, and win free swag. Outside, the streets are full of fun stuff to do and interesting things to see.
Top Left: Mallory and I headed to LP Field to see Luke!
Top Right: Mallory and I in front of a picture of Luke. Luke Bryan, that is. We were excited to see all kinds of artists, but I think I was most excited about Luke.
Bottom Left: This is Cassadee Pope performing at an outdoor concert on the Chevy river-front stage.
Bottom Middle: CMA logo!!!
Bottom Right: This is "Love and Theft" performing as well. I'd never heard of these guys, but I thought their music was great! Something to check out on iTunes for sure.
We had fun just walking around the streets of Nashville checking out the area.
Top Left: Jordan and I in front of the Budweiser Clydesdale horses.
Top Right: Me and Billy Dawson. While we were walking through the convention center we met Billy because he spotted Jordan's double T hat! Apparently, Billy is a fellow Red Raider, and a pretty cool one at that. Billy let us take several pictures and he signed all our jazz for us. Since we were Red Raiders, he let us listen to an unreleased track on his personal cell phone. He was a really cool guy so we stopped in to see him a couple times while we were in Nashville.
Bottom Left: I met Luke Bryan!!!! Just kidding. This is a cardboard cut-out of Luke. But that's okay, Mallory and I both got pictures with cardboard Luke to pretend.
Bottom Right: This is downtown Nashville at twilight. I have to give photography credit to Nathan and Mallory. This is a beautiful shot!
Top Left: This is a picture of our whole gang with Branch and Dean! These guys were very cool. They took the time to visit with all of us, sign our stuff and take pictures. You'll notice Jordan had a bowling pin in this picture. He actually "won" the bowling pin from a giveaway booth that was promoting XBowling. They set up an indoor bowling alley and if you get a strike, they give you a t-shirt. Well, Jordan slipped and busted his butt, yet he still got a strike. Instead of a t-shirt, he negotiated for a bowling pin and they actually gave one to him! In Jordan's defense, the booties they made us wear (instead of bowling shoes) were really slippery. I think it should also be noted that both Mallory and I also got strikes and won t-shirts. :)
Bottom Left: Jordan got to meet Misty Loggins. I actually had never heard of her either before our trip but she was very sweet and took several pictures with our group. Jordan kept up the bowling pin theme and added her signature to the pin.
Right: This is a quick photo of Jordan and I while we were in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Very cool place to check out if you're ever in Nashville. Lots of interesting stuff from old and new artists.
Just before we arrived in Nashville, Jordan won tickets to meet Jamie O'Neal. To be honest, I wasn't sure that I even knew who she was until I googled some of her music. Jamie has several great songs out there and was a very nice person to meet!
Here are a few pictures from our meet and greet with Jamie!
This is a picture of Jordan and I with Billy Dawson! This was the 2nd day we went to see Billy so we snapped a picture with our guns up. Billy even played us a song on his guitar for us and the crowd. He played "Hot with her Hair Down". Check out my link for a video.
We were in Nashville for several nights and got to see so many great artists perform at LP Field! The above pictures are just a few of the many artists we saw. Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw with Faith Hill, The Band Perry, Jason Aldean, and Blake Shelton. Not pictured is Miranda Lambert who also gave an amazing show! Love her!
The crowd was pumped.up. after each evening concert and very organically broke into song as we walked across the bridge back to down town. You can catch a snip-it of the crowd singing HERE.
The CMAs were a lot of fun, but the timing did mean that we would miss George Strait's concert back home in the Dallas area. That's okay though, because we saw some cool George stuff at the Country Music Hall of Fame!
After Nashville, we drove to Jacksonville, FL. We were only in Jacksonville for a short day, but it was a nice break from the car as we made our way to Florida. The boys, in particular, loved Jacksonville because they got to see the Sawgrass golf course. They woke up early the day we were there and got a free tour of the entire course. I had never really given golf much of my attention, but even I must admit that this course was truly beautiful.
Top Left: Here, Jordan and Nathan, are getting ready to take the "floating challenge." There is one hole on the course that is in the middle of a pond. The idea is to hit a hole-in-one to the floating flag.
Bottom Left: Jordan and I in front of the resort water fall!
Here are a few pictures of the 4 of us taking a turn at the floating hole. I wasn't planning to take a shot, but there is something cool about saying that I've golfed at Sawgrass. Plus, I was able to entertain everyone by hitting a tree. At least I hit something other than water though! Burnnnnnn!
Jordan heard from the storyteller (tour guide) that they pull out over 100,000 golf balls from the water surrounding the 17th hole at Sawgrass. Pretty crazy, huh?
The boys got some amazing pictures touring the resort and golf course.
These are just a few pictures of Jordan and Nathan around the course, at the country club, and in front of the president's cup.
By now, our time at Jacksonville had expired. As much fun as we had, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter awaited us. We made a quick stop along the beach on our way out of town and someday we might venture back to Nashville and/or Jacksonville!
Top: Jordan and I at Jacksonville beach on our way out of town.
Bottom: Mallory and I by the ocean!
And that wraps up part 1 of this episode! Stay tuned for part 2 coming up in a few days!
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