This past week Elise and I had the opportunity to spend some time in Nashville, TN. I (Jon) flew down early in the morning on Saturday, July 12th. After a weather delay in Chicago, I made it to Nashville just after noon. As my work conference (D2L Fusion) wasn’t starting until Monday, this gave me the opportunity to see the sites. Despite the intense heat and humidity, I walked the town visiting Broadway, the Public Plaza, and the government area. Along with a visit to the Tennessee State Museum, these sites gave me a pretty good background on the history of the area. On Sunday, I rented a bike and enjoyed a scenic tour of the Nashville Greenway, riding along the Cumberland river.
Needing to cool off, I hopped into the rooftop pool of the hotel.
Later that day, I met up with my old coworkers from Iowa for dinner and a chance to catch up. Monday through Wednesday were filled with conference sessions, meetings, and events. Overall, it was a very good opportunity to meet with individuals from different schools, but also to build ties with individuals from D2L.
Elise arrived in Nashville on Wednesday afternoon and after grabbing a late lunch, we set off to find our hotel. After checking in to the hotel, we gave ourselves a walking tour of Vanderbilt along with the Centennial Gardens. The Centennial Gardens were built to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the city and feature a full scale replica of the Greek Parthenon.
Thursday was spent exploring the town, starting off at Fort Negley where we learned about Nashville’s involvement in the Civil War. Afterward, we browsed the farmers market and ate some Cajun jumbo for lunch. We pedaled back to the hotel on bikes where we freshened up for a dinner at Jack’s BBQ followed by an amazing concert at the Ryman Auditorium: Dailey and Vincent. On Friday morning we pedaled around the northern side of the greenway, and enjoyed some great eats and live music in the evening. As I write, we are flying back to Minnesota, looking forward to being home and seeing the boys.
