There’s magic in a father and son relationship, but when your interests are quite different, it presents a challenge to find a mutually rewarding trip together. My son is an avid fan of sports, country music and craft beers, while I am a devotee of museums, hiking and history. The solution was a four-day visit to Nashville.
Initially, I knew little about Nashville except for its country music fame. The more I learned about its surprisingly large variety of attractions and activities, the more I became convinced that this was the perfect place for my son, Blake, and I to bond.
Having flown out to Nashville a couple of days early to join some friends at a financial planning retreat, I was overjoyed to find the meeting site—Montgomery Bell State Park—was awash in a sea of fall foliage colors. Located only thirty minutes west of Nashville, I was able to see rural Tennessee towns with their ubiquitous churches, general stores and town halls set among rolling hills. My friends and I wanted to sample the local food, so we headed for the region’s most highly rated barbecue joint, Carl’s Perfect Pig, “Where a waist is a terrible thing to mind.” For around ten bucks, we had a mouth-watering meal of Bar-B- Que beef, baked beans and fried okra.
Doug Hansen is a travel writer and photographer in Carlsbad, CA. You can find more photos and articles at www.HansenTravel.org
