Nashville Drive 2023

Albert and Binish are getting married in Nashville, and we decided to extend this to a big drive, visiting a part of the US that we really haven’t seen. Sandy isn’t as eager to spend that much time on the road, so will be flying home after the wedding. I will carry on solo. And do more disc golfing.

Quick Summary

I drove 8,874 km, about 5,500 miles. Looks like it cost about $Cdn 900, which is pretty close to my ballpark guess of $1 per 10 km. It was a good drive. The planning for it can be seen HERE.

  • 5 days of driving with Sandy (June 28 to July 2)
  • 2 days in Memphis (July 3,4)
  • 5 days in Nashville (July 5 to 9) and Sandy flies home on the 9th.
  • 8 days driving back to Saskatoon solo

Day by Day

June 28, Wednesday – Drive to Velva, ND

  • Moosejaw:
    • Army vehicle museum was unexpected and excellent.
    • Moosejaw Tunnels were fun, more campy than expected. No photos allowed. 😒
  • Giant drag line at work at coal mine
  • Crossed border at North Portal, super quick
  • LOTS of road construction in ND, lots of it flooded and mucky
  • Dinner in trendy part of downtown Minot, The Starving Rooster
  • Confusion getting to Velva Campground, nice campground, damp grass
  • Apparently we just missed the thunderstorms

Thursday 2023-06-29 Drive to Sioux Falls

  • Chatted with flag person overnighting in Velva campground, construction crews all delayed because of thunderstorms
  • Lots more highway construction
  • Fargo:
    • Lunch at the Wurst Bier Hall, Sandy got a bacon flight
    • Saw the Wood Chipper and Walk of Fame
  • Highway speeds up to 80 mph
  • Checked in to our KOA Cabin, and went in to town for dinner at Crave
  • Walked around City Sculptures
  • Walked around Falls Park as the sun set
  • Back to KOA Cabin in dark with a noisy, intermittent air conditioner.

Friday 2023-06-30 Drive to Kansas City

  • Little drizzle as I made coffee on picnic table, overcast day so far
  • During the day, realized that our 4-6pm check-in would conflict with our zoo visit, so we called and rescheduled for 8 pm.
  • Henry Doorly Zoo was awesome
  • Drive was long.
  • Big thunderstorm clouds ahead as we neared Kansas City
  • Our BNB, Secret Place was great. We were impressed and pleased.
  • Drove Downtown to eat (and drink) at Yard House. Also great. Had a Brookie for desert which made the meal excessively filling.

Saturday 2023-07-01 Explore Kansas City

  • Drove downtown to visit Arabie Steamboat Museum. Great.
  • Also wandered the City Market, which was right behind the museum.
  • Union Station was hyped by social media, but was only so-so.
  • World War 1 Museum was pretty good. We did the main gallery only.
  • Legends Outlets Mall was cool because of the outdoor walkway joining everything together. Also swelteringly hot.
  • Heavy downpour hit us as we opened the door to home.
  • Drove to Joe’s Kansas City BBQ and stood in line for an hour or so. Fun. Great experience. Excellent food. Sandy found the Burnt Ends too fatty.

Sunday 2023-07-02 Drive to St Louis

Took our time leaving in the morning, with only a 5 hour drive ahead of us, there was no rush. Periodic heavy rain showers as we drove.

Arrived an hour early to Cozy Stylish, but hadn’t gotten our lockbox code. After driving around a bit to pass the time (failed totally to drive to the arch because of construction and closed roads), we finally contacted the owner of Cozy, only to discover that we had booked for 2024, not 2023. In a panic, Warren booked La Quinta near the airport. We were sort of relieved to not stay in the downtown area anyways. We lucked into a free parking meter spot, walked down to the Arch, but it was all sold out for the day, and the next day too. We explored the Arch, and spied the riverboat tours. We lucked out again, and got the last 2 tickets. Hour long trip was excellent, with a continual commentary by the captain. Fake Steam Sternwheeler looked classic and was fun.

Drove out to La Quinta only to discover that I had also accidentally booked for 2024. Yeesh. They managed to switch us to 2023, for which I am eternally grateful. Sandy and I are blaming the Booking.Com reservation system. We contacted Mike Dubos and set things up to meet at his house in Ironton, and then went out for more BBQ, this time in St. Charles. Excellent little restaurant, and the whole town was out in force celebrating “River Days”.

Monday 2023-07-03 Drive to Memphis

Small rush to get out of the hotel by 8:45, which should not have been a problem. Ninety minutes later, we were in Ironton, being shown around his immensely challenging renovation of an 1872 house in the woods. Good to see Mike again after so many year. The house is going to be very impressive, but is also going to be a lot of work. A quick lunch at Thee Abbey with Mike, and we were back on the road.

Pulled into Memphis at 7 pm, and found our hotel instantly: the GenX. The GenX lobby wasn’t great to look at, but the room is perfect for us. We decided to visit the Blue Monkey for dinner, but it was closed. But in another stroke of luck, the Mexican restaurant, Molly’s Casita that had been also a potential candidate was right next door and packed with people. After a short wait we were in. Food was good, and the owner was a hoot.

Tuesday 2023-07-04 Explore Memphis – Graceland and more

Graceland was our primary objective and it was excellent and went to plan. But the rest of the day was affected by July 4. The Slave Haven Museum was closed. Many restaurants were closed. The drive to Mud Island was awkward, but the walk on the pedestrian bridge was scenic. Walking along the river bank on mud island was hot and humid.

But, the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid was awesome. Beale street was neat, although hot and deserted. We did dinner at Huey’s, which was also just what we wanted, sharing a salad and a burger. Then a quick stroll along Beale street in the dark. Fireworks and probably gunshots echoed throughout the evening.

Wednesday 2023-07-05 Drive to Nashville

We had a walking tour booked for the morning. Kate was fun and different. Easy to squeeze this in when Nashville is only a 3 hour drive. The drive felt longer somehow. Just before Nashville, we ducked into a Cracker Barrel. That urge has now been satisfied for awhile.

A traffic jam awaited us in Nashville, first of the trip. The Alexis Inn is pleasant and will be a good hub for us to explore from. We drove into town and did a self guided audio tour around downtown. It was the usual stumbling about until you figure out how best to sync the audio, the map and the real world. Nashville is loud and busy.

Thursday 2023-07-06

Our first day in Nashville was packed with a Jack Daniel’s tour, Country Music Hall of Fame, Tootsies and Sam Bush at the Ryman theater. That took 12 1/2 hours. Good day.

Friday 2023-07-07 Wedding Day 1

A free morning so I went disc golfing at Seven Oaks. Had a great time in the trees.

This was the day for Albert and Binish’s Pakistani wedding. This took place at the Gaylord Springs Golf Links. It was hot in the outdoor pavillion. The Neekah ceremony was fun, everyone was relaxed and enjoying things. Things moved inside for the Mehndi Thali party.

Saturday 2023-07-08 Wedding Day 2

Another free morning, so I took the opportunity to get the oil changed on the Murano. Then we drove to Opry Mills Mall to wander the shops, and get quick look at the Grand Ole Opry, which pretty much shares a parking lot with the mall.

This was Albert and Binish’s American wedding day. Ceremony was good, with little bits of humor thrown in. The Gaylord Grand Ole Opry Resort is an impressive location for a wedding with its huge atriums. The many thunderstorms that rolled through were almost unnoticed inside.

The Wedding Reception was also in the Gaylord, but it took us a long time to find the correction location. That place is HUGE. And the party was excellent, again.

Sunday 2023-07-09 Sandy flies home

We packed up the car, checked out and drove to Belle Meade Plantation. The Jubilee Journey, the slave history tour was excellent, and we had the time and interest, so added in the Mansion Tour. Then we headed to the airport passing by Cracker Barrel for a snack. Sandy flew home and made it, in spite of WestJet blowing the bookings, having her fly in to Toronto, but out of Calgary. I headed south to Henry Horton.

Henry Horton has a gorgeous campsite, and also a disc golf course. I figured I would try it out, but right as I arrived, all the other players were scurrying away, as the thunderstorm arrived. I headed back to the campsite in the driving rain, and prepared for a night in the car. A short walk down to see the river, a nice shower, and then a pleasant night in the car, if a little warm and muggy.

Monday 2023-07-10 Henry Horton to Dubos

Up early after a rainy and stuffy night in the car. Went disc golfing at Henry Horton then headed south to visit the Huntsville Space Center. Great collection of stuff, even if 75% was more for space camp kids. The 3g centrifuge was an excellent experience: moving your head forward just a little bit made the world turn inside out and induced immediate nausea. Still had to do it several times.

Got a call from Mike Dubos who had discovered some more free time, so started the 6 1/2 hour drive back to Ironton. Pulled in around 9, we had pizza and chatted with Ben.

Tuesday 2023-07-11 Exploring with Dubos, drive to Tall Pines Campground

Mike and I were up early, so we grabbed coffee and headed out to Elephant Rocks. We got there too early and had to sit at the gate for 20 minutes. But, once we we let in, it was wonderful to explore without other people around. We clambered on and over and under the huge rocks. Then visited the pond and the engine house. Really cool place.

Next was Johnson’s Shut-Ins, yet another amazing place. Swam and waded up and down the amazing twisty little waterfalls, along with many other explorers. The drive also featured a classic pickup with a tree growing through it.

Our first attempt at lunch in Caledonia was a failure, closed, so we had ice cream and coffee and headed back to Ironton and Dubos’s mansion. Mexican food, a visit to the Pilot Knob Civil War Museum and then I left for the Tall Pines Campground, about 4 1/2 hours west. Arrived late, almost dark, and check-in was closed. Found my site by driving around, set up my tent, and went to sleep in the warm, muggy and eventually, cooler air.

Wednesday 2023-07-12 Driving West to Wichita

Up early at Tall Pines Campground. Still don’t have a code to showers and registration still closed, so packed up and left at 6:30. Way too early for anything to open. Drove by Talking Rocks Cavern, gates closed, headed for Cosmic Cavern. Gassed up in little hick town gas station. Waiting for 1 1/2 hours for Cosmic to open. Seems like a low key operation. All of the cave places seem to include mini-billboards advertising the other caves in the area.

Cosmic Cavern was awesome. Since I was the only one around for the first tour, I got a private tour. And even better, my guide was the owner, who has owned the place for 30+ years. Lots of knowledge, and stories about them exploring and expanding the cave.

Thursday 2023-07-13 Wichita to Hays Nebraska

Friday 2023-07-14 Hays to Smith Falls South Dakota

Saturday 2023-07-15 Smith Falls to Sage Creek Campground in Badlands

Sunday 2023-07-16 Badlands to Williston

Monday 2023-07-17 Williston to Saskatoon