Opry-Land

What is Opry I'm not sure, and what it has to do with country music is also unknown. But apparently its a big deal to those in Tennessee. Last week the wife and I went to Nashville, TN to some teacher reading deal (National Reading First Conference). We stayed at the "gayest lord" or Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. It was pretty much a giant bird cage with many overly expensive restaurants. This picture was from inside one of the giant gardens. Honestly, this place was pretty impressive and huge. Notice, the glass ceiling in the background. This was 56 acres of fake rain forests and "Disneyland" like town squares (without the pirates). We never could have afforded this place on our own. Thanks school district!

While we were there while the wife was in meetings all day, I hung out in the giant bird cage and even escaped a few times and saw the Dark Knight at the IMAX theatre. If you have the chance and choice, go IMAX. We also went to a neat seafood restaurant in a giant aquarium. This lady was actually petting this fish (it was like a dog, following her around and rolling on its side). After we ate, we fed a pool of stingrays. The wife got a little more than she expected with this one...

We even went to the Grand Ole Opry one night. Check out our pirated video of some of the talent we saw. Among the 8 artists during the night we got to see Keith Anderson, Rodney Atkins, and Trace Adkins (no relation). The hub really liked the buckaroo song from Rodney Atkins. He'll get his own buckaroo or buckaroo'a' in a few months!

One night we rode on the biggest showboat in the world. I spit on the paddle wheel! We bought tickets for just the outer deck but halfway through the ride it started raining and so they invited us in to see the show. We got to see Tina Turner, Elvis, and Elton John up close and personal as there was an empty table in the front. Those are the smoke stacks in the back. Overall we had a really good time in Opryland. No pictures of this one, but on the plane ride home the wife got really sick and had to throw up in the barf bag. Those things work pretty good. Nice and roomy. I wanted to take a picture but she wouldn't have it. Poor Sweetie. (Yeah, poor sweetie). If anyone knows was opry means let us know! I thought it might be a kind of cheese but we did see any cheese in opryland.

The wife's Reading First soap box: For those of you out there interested in education (have children or will ever have children) we are encountering a critical point in reading instruction. Congress has already cut 60% of funding and will not renew the No Child Left Behind bill this year. I have been teaching in a reading first school and have seen the positive and remarkable difference this has made in the lives of so many of our students. Without this money, millions of our young children will be left without this great reading instruction. Write to your state officials telling them you support the Reading First initiative. If you have any questions let me know.