Our Trip to the Opryland Hotel
Brad was lucky enough to be able to take off almost the entire month of December to spend time at home with Melody and me during the holidays. We wanted to do some sort of small trip while he was off of work already. We had considered Disney World just the two of us, but then we hated to leave Melody at home. So we decided to go somewhere closer to home, but something that would still be lots of fun...Nashville.
We love the Opryland Hotel. We have been a few times. The last time I went was right before Christmas, and they were setting everything up. It was so pretty already, so I knew once it was fully decorated it would be gorgeous. At Christmas they also have a lot of events going on. Because of Melody's age, we didn't do some of them, but we still had a great time. Below is my trip report. I won't go into details of what all to bring for a baby since I already did a post about that. However, I will give you these two pointers. Make sure the hotel room provides you with a crib/pack and play. And don't skimp on things you know are necessary to keep you and your baby happy (toys, cleaning tools, etc.)
Our plans were to go to Nashville Wednesday-Friday. Our original plan was to get up early Wednesday and leave after Melody's 9 am bottle. That would get us to Nashville around lunch, and we could shop and eat at OpryMills before heading to check in. Well things didn't go as planned. I have found that after having a baby, plans are just that, plans. They aren't always going to be followed. You have to just adapt. So Melody woke up super sick. Constant runny nose, and an annoying cough that would cause Melody to throw up on occasion. We called our doctor since we knew we would be leaving town. She said unless she was running a fever or her snot wasn't clear, there wasn't much they could do. So we waited a little longer to see if anything would change. It didn't, so we took off for Nashville.
We decided to still attempt OpryMills. We made it there just in time for Melody's 1 pm bottle. We fed her in the car (she gets too easily distracted). After her feeding, we went in and did some shopping. We grabbed lunch on the way, so the first part of our visit at the mall was purely shopping. We didn't find a whole lot except at the Disney Store of course! We decided to have an early dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Neither of us had visited one in many years, so it sounded fun and different. Plus it always makes me think of Disney. We ate dinner around 4, then afterwards we fed Melody at the mall. We made one more stop at the Disney Store again, then headed to the hotel. For those who have never been, the hotel is literally within walking distance. We opted to drive with a baby in the cold, but you could walk it if you wanted.
Check in was a breeze since it was around 6:30. If you try and check in at the "normal" check in time, you can expect long, long lines. Melody, Brad, and I went to the room first to make sure we knew where it was at. Melody and I hung out in the room while Brad unloaded the car. Unfortunately the hotel will not let you use their luggage carts. Since they are a "full service" hotel, only the staff can use the luggage carts. Brad didn't want to deal with that, so he opted to make three trips. While he unloaded the car, I unpacked everything he brought up. I also wanted to be in the room for when the crib was delivered. Melody was acting better even with her super runny nose and cough.
Brad and I were getting hungry since we had such an early dinner. We brought some popcorn and cokes, but that wasn't cutting it. So I went and found some expensive snacks. We basically just snacked and hung out in our room for the rest of the night. We put Melody to bed at her usual time and we sat on our balcony and just talked and played on our computers. Below is Melody before bed.
This, my friends, was a horrible night. It was very similar to night two in the hospital after Melody was born. She was fine for about 2 hours. Then when Brad and I decided to go to bed, she started crying. She literally cried all night long. We tried just about everything we could think of to calm her. We stood in the bathroom letting the steam help her; we rocked her to sleep just to have her cough and wake herself up minutes later; it was crazy. Around 2 am, we started alternating who slept. One of us would hold her for a few hours and watch tv on mute while the other slept, then we would alternate. We felt awful for the people around us, but no one complained to us.
The next morning, we were exhausted, but we were not going to let that ruin our day. We ordered very expensive room service. In case you aren't picking up on it, all the food here is expensive. We didn't care too much since this was meant to be a relaxing trip. We both ordered the Eggs Benedict. It was really good thankfully. They serve it on a nice tray with a white tablecloth at least!
After breakfast, we got ready then decided to spend the day exploring the resort. In all of our stays here, we never really explored. We were usually in Nashville for an event or for another purpose, so we literally just slept here in the past. There was an arts and crafts festival going on, so we looked through it. Unfortunately there wasn't much I was interested in. We then went and had lunch at Stax Burgers. The menu is pretty bare. The only option you really have are toppings and if you want beef or turkey burger. You pay for most all of the toppings. After ordering, Melody and I went and found a table while Brad waited on the food. It was complete chaos because they were out of ketchup in their pumps. And they apparently didn't have packets. So everyone had to wait until they finally decided to refill the pumps. And you can't have fries without ketchup. Then the Pepsi wasn't coming out correctly, so I had to drink Mountain Dew. Not end of the world things, but they definitely need to work on these things. Check out some of the pics below.
After lunch, we did head up to the room to feed Melody. It is always easier to feed Melody away from crowds. We let her rest a bit and jump in her jumper some, then we went exploring again. We wanted to take a few pictures of her around the resort and do some shopping too.
Again, we headed back up for Melody's dinner bottle. We wanted her to eat there and take a small nap. She also jumped around some. Afterwards, we headed downstairs to eat at the pizza place. We have had dinner there before, and it is really good. We each had the combo that included a slice of pizza and a side salad.
After dinner, we were going to go on the boat ride since it was special for Christmas. However, the line was extremely long, and with Melody not feeling so great, we decided not to do that. Instead, we decided to take more pictures throughout the resort now that it was dark and everything was lit up.
We headed back to the room to just relax the rest of the night. Brad and I spent some time on the balcony and Melody jumped in her jumper. She was definitely feeling better. She slept like a champ! And Brad and I were actually able to get some sleep too!
The next morning, we got ready and had pastries on the balcony before leaving the resort. Overall we had a lot of fun. Sure, it would have been nicer if Melody wasn't sick, but that is now part of our life. It is super unpredictable nowadays, but we wouldn't have it any other way! If you ever get to go, I highly recommend the atrium view rooms. It is so nice having that balcony and overlooking everything.
