As I mentioned before, Sunday was a big day for us in Nashville. So big in fact that I have decided it would be best to split it into three posts. Sunday morning we spent some time walking around The Hermitage and you can read about that in this post.
Meanwhile, our friends had taken their kids to a business called Cooter's Place. It is a museum dedicated to the late TV show The Dukes of Hazzard and one of the stars of that TV show was going to be on site Sunday morning.
It was decided after they finished with the meet and greet and we finished with our tour of The Hermitage we would meet for lunch at The Gaylord Opryland Resort. Although my wife and I have been to the Grand Ole Opry several times, this was our first visit to the actual resort.
Fun fact... the resort is open to the public, but if you are not a guest at the resort, be prepared to pay a pretty hefty fee to park on the property. Somewhere between $40 and $50 USD to be exact. According to the sign if you take less than 20 minutes it is free, but honestly it could take you 20 minutes just to walk from the parking lot to the doors, so that isn't very reasonable.
The Opryland resort is a virtual city unto itself on the outskirts of Nashville. No seriously, it is rated as one of the 30 largest hotels in the world. It has 2888 rooms that are spread across four different sections or "neighborhoods".
This is actually an old map I think because they have since added a section in between the Garden Conservatory and The Cascades called Sound Waves which is an indoor water park.
We parked near the Cascades area and entered through those doors. We were immediately greeted with this amazing view of a beautiful waterfall. Hard to believe that all of this is indoors.
We had decided to meet our friends at a place called Fuse in the Magnolia District. This meant we had to walk through part of the Cascades as well as the Garden Conservatory. As you can see, it is hard to distinguish the indoors from the outdoors because this place is so massive. I would probably compare it to being inside a gigantic greenhouse. That is what it feels like.
While Fuse had a casual dress code, some of the other eating establishments on the property have a more strict policy regarding attire. In fact, some of the places only open for dinner after 4PM or 5PM if that gives you an idea of how fancy they are.
After quite a long hike through the two areas we finally found ourselves in the Magnolia District and before long we found our friends waiting for us at a table.
My friend David had already ordered himself an old fashioned and he said it was pretty good so I decided to follow suit and got myself one too. It was a little different from a traditional old fashioned and while I can't say it was the best one I have ever had, it was definitely enjoyable.
Fuse is a sports bar/night club and it is pretty large. When you add to the fact that it is just a small area inside a much larger space, you kind of get a feeling for how big the Opryland Resort is.
This is where I throw some food porn at you if you didn't gather from the opening photo. It didn't take much for my eyes to settle on the Carne Asada loaded fries on the menu. Since my wife doesn't care for beef, I knew that I would get them all to myself!
They were so amazing! If you can believe it, the pictures really don't do justice to how fantastic they were. The steak was tender and juicy with an amazing flavor from the marinade. The queso that you can barely see under all the toppings coated the fries so well and the sour cream, jalapenos, pico, guacamole, and scallions finished if off to perfection.
I struggled to finish the whole thing and I am a bit ashamed to admit I had to leave about a quarter of it uneaten.
We spent a good hour talking and catching up on all of the events that had taken place that morning. Our friends daughter is currently learning about the plantations and that era of history in school, so she was very interested in our visit to The Hermitage. We talked, laughed, and watched some of the Elite 8 basketball games that were on before we decided to pay our tab and head back to the hotel to get some rest.
Looking back now, that was probably a good idea. As you will see in a future post (probably next week), Sunday night ended up being a barn burner and we needed all the extra energy we could muster to push through.
This ended up being the second most expensive meal we got in Nashville. The first would have been on our first night at the Corner Pub which you can read about here. To be fair though, that was mostly beverages and clocked in at $120 USD. Fuse ended up setting us back just shy of $80 USD. The Opryland Resort is by no means cheap, but having everything at your fingertips is a convenience you pay a premium for.
It was either my wife or her friend that made the comment "you would never have to leave this place".
On the way out, I took some more photos of the Garden Conservatory. As my wife and I headed to our car, I prepared to give up my left kidney to pay for the parking fee that I knew was coming. Meanwhile, our friends decided to take their kids to the arcade and spend some time there. I guess if you are paying $45 for parking, you may as well milk your time as much as possible onsite right?
Here are some fun facts about the Opryland Resort to close our the post. While the property is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc., it is operated by the Marriott International family of hotels.
As I mentioned before, there are 2888 rooms on the property. I was trying to get a total acreage for the site, but I wasn't able to find that. I just know that when they added the "Delta" section, it clocked in at 4.5 acres, so if you multiply that by five to include the three other neighborhoods plus the convention center, you are likely looking at over 20 acres of total space.
Honestly, that feels a little small, so I would imagine it is even bigger than that. Apparently the "Delta" area has riverboats that you can ride along a river that flows through the establishment. Very similar to the Venetian resort in Vegas if you have ever visited there.
If you want more fun facts, you can read about it here the site is for kids but it actually has some good facts and figures included in it.
I don't know as though I would ever stay at the Opryland Resort, it is a bit too far away from Downtown Nashville and Broadway for my liking. If I had a family, I could see the draw. Likewise if my wife was the type who liked the "boutique shopping" experience, it has plenty of that in spades.
Thankfully (for our pocketbook), my wife and I are more beer folk than we are champagne, so while I am glad to have visited the Opryland Resort, I can't say as though I would ever return.
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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or