Friday, May 1, 2009

Nashville

I just got back from a trip to Nashville. I went to the Opryland Hotel for a conference on Remote Deposit Capture (like you care?) Anyway, what a great time! We arrived on Sunday and since the conference didn't start until Monday, we headed out to Music Row on the "Honkytonk Express" The bus dropped us off in front of the Wild Horse Saloon and we were off to the races. At 3:00 pM on a Sunday afternoon, every bar was packed and had live country music. The music was outstanding. It was great to hear all these bands who were just trying to get their big break. We did the Tennessee pub crawl for about 4 hours and it was a complete hoot. Of course, being the old bags that we are (Bonnie and I) , we called it a night pretty early, not to say we didn't have a nice little buzz when we climbed back on the bus for the journey back to Opryland.
Monday was all business as we attended the sessions at the conference, but Monday night we went out with a group of new friends who were interested in gaining our business. (I love vendors). Dinner for 10 at the hotel restaurant and then off to the sports bar to watch the hockey game. It was a great group of people and we had a lot of laughs. At midnight, they called last call and kicked us out. Now, thinking back, we were all quite upset that the bar was closing "so early" and several folks were plotting how to continue to party. But alas, we all headed back to our rooms, quite well marinated. The next morning at breakfast, we all commented that we were so glad that the Hotel Bar had the good sense to close at midnight and send us back to our rooms before we got into any trouble or drank anymore. It's nice when the management has the good sense to do that.
Finally, on Tuesday night, Bonnie and I headed to the Grand Ole Opry. All I can say is wow, what an awesome time! It was like experiencing history. After the incredible show, we went back to the hotel for an planned early turn-in since we had to get up early for the trip home. But..........a quick stop at the hotel bar for a nightcap turned into a 2 hour laugh fest with some wonderful people at the bar, who happened to think I was Hilarious! You know how I love an audience, so suffice to say, we did not turn in early as planned. But as Bonnie and I sleepily boarded the shuttle to the airport, we both agreed that it was worth it. Sure, we were exhausted and I should probably schedule dialysis to get my kidneys functioning properly again, but what a great trip. And how was your week?

No comments: