If you missed part 1 of this trip report, you can read it by clicking here.
Day 2 of our weekend in Nashville started out bright and early as we headed for the Nashville Zoo, which was only about a 25 minute drive away. We got there right before it opened at 9:00 am and got front row parking. Score!
Instead of boring you by showing the photos of every animal that my 6 year old took, I am going to focus on things that seemed to be unique to this zoo and made it different than every other zoo we have visited.
The land that the zoo is on used to be a 300 acre farm owned by 5 generations of the Croft family. There are still some historic sights on the property like the original family home which was built in 1810:
There are also some smaller structures around it which have old carriages and farming equipment on display:
There was a small graveyard as well. Next to it was a map of the graves which told who was buried in each spot, but I forgot to take a picture. It was neat to experience the history of the land.
We walked past a huge sparkling rock that the girls though was cool.
Next it was time to try out the Soaring Eagle Zip Line. Here is the description from the zoo’s website:
“Nashville Zoo’s newest experience takes riders on a tree-top trek to see elephants, giraffes and more. Soaring Eagle is the newest design of zip line rides and the only zip line you ride BOTH ways and with a friend! Soaring Eagle lifts guests 110 ft high and several hundred yards back before releasing the seat for an exhilarating 28 mph ride back to earth.”
It was fun, not too scary, and a great way to see the zoo from above. I highly recommend it!
One thing that I had never experienced before was a kangaroo exhibit that lets you walk among the animals. There was a path that the people were required to stay on, but if a kangaroo was close enough to the path, then you could pet them. We were lucky and got to pet one as it was munching on a tree. These photos were taken by my 6 year old so the quality is not great but it gives you an idea of how close we were to the animals:
Another exhibit where we were able to mingle with the animals was “The Shell Station”, which features 10 Sulcata tortoises which range from 3 – 5 years old. The girls had a great time interacting with them. I think they also sold food and allowed you to feed them, but we didn’t.
Close-up shot courtesy of my 9 year old:
There was a bird show which was a great way to get some needed rest and shade. It was scheduled to be 20 minutes long, but ours was cut short when a hawk named Diego did not follow instructions and flew into some nearby trees. I think it was towards the end of the show, and as we left, the handlers were trying to lure Diego back with some mice. Here are some photos taken by one of my kids during the show. This was a turkey vulture:
And some type of owl:
After we saw all of the animal exhibits, the girls were anxious to hit up this awesome playground. It was HUGE and they had a great time exploring it. There was even a shaded area for the parents to sit and a water feature that let the kids get wet if they wanted to. I was very impressed..
After the zoo it was time to find some lunch and visit Centennial Park to see the Parthenon replica. My 11 year old is a huge Greek mythology fan so she was anxious to see this. After a quick stop at Subway, we arrived at the park which is very pretty.
Despite the beautiful scenery, it seemed that most people were only interested in one thing: Pokemon Go. SO many people here were playing.
Finally we reached the Parthenon replica:
There was a museum inside, but we opted to just walk around the outside and take a few pictures.
This replica was originally built out of plaster in 1897 at the site of the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition. It began to fall apart and was rebuilt in the 1920s out of concrete and steel. It is definitely worth a visit in my opinion.
After this we were all hot and tired so we returned to the Gaylord to rest a while before dinner. For dinner we walked next door to the Opry Mills mall again to eat at the Aquarium restaurant. I forgot to take pictures, but it is a neat place to take kids. There was an enormous aquarium in the middle of the restaurant which we all watched while we ate dinner. Here is a picture I found online:
The girls loved this place and even though it was a little pricey for what you get, I thought it was a good vacation splurge.
After dinner we were all pretty tired so we just hung out in the room until bedtime.
The next day my husband was busy at his conference all day, so the girls and I hit up the pool first thing in the morning. The Gaylord has two outdoor pools, and we went to the one that has a bar & grill next to it. It was smaller than I expected for a resort this size, but it was nicely laid out, clean, and had lifeguards. There were also wait staff walking around taking drink & food orders which is always a plus.
After a couple of hours we were hungry for lunch, so we decided to order some food. I thought the prices and selection were very reasonable for a resort pool.
The four of us shared 2 orders of the kids chicken tenders and it was the perfect amount of food for us. We all agreed that the quality was great. Here is one of the orders:
After a few hours we were ready to head back to the hotel room. We changed clothes and while the older two wanted to relax in the room, my youngest and I were in the mood to explore. We wandered around the hotel for a while and found the other outdoor pool. It seemed to be about the same size and also had lifeguards, but did not have as many chairs and did not have a bar & grill.
We walked through the Delta atrium and explored the shops and sights.
After Dad was done with work, we met up and ate dinner at a restaurant at the hotel. After dinner we caught the fountain show one last time, but this time from a different vantage point:
We turned in early that night because we were up at 6:00 the following morning to hit the road and drive home. Overall, we loved our time and the Gaylord and made lots of great memories. It was a great resort with lots to do, and I can definitely see us going back in the future.
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Great report! Glad to see you guys had a good time!
Both the Magnolia and Relache pools should have at least a bar. I think the somewhat larger Relache pool, next to the indoor pool, has food options. I’m guessing the Magnolua bar must’ve been closed.
Be sure to come back in a few years; a giant water park expansion has been announced for Gaylord Opryland and is currently being designed. Although specifics haven’t been revealed, the company that owns the Gaylord Hotels properties did say to expect something large on the scale of the water park at Atlantis in the Bahamas, but with indoor and outdoor attractions. The Gaylord Palms near Orlando (right across from I-4 from the Epcot exit) and the Gaylord Texan near Dallas both have large water features. The Gaylord Rockies under construction near Denver, will also have a large indoor/outdoor water park.
Gaylord Opryland had previously planned a giant water/snow park in conjunction with Dollywood. However, when the Gaylord Hotels brand was suddenly sold to Marriott, Dollywood’s management backed out.
BTW,, I don’t work for Gaylord Hotels (anymore), but I still follow the company and partner with them on several projects.
The Magnolia pool did have a bar, but it was small, geared more towards adults and was not right next to the pool. We preferred the bar at the Relache pool because it also had Icees and smoothies and was closer to the pool, as well as having food options. Thanks for the info on the water park, that sounds awesome! I look forward to checking it out once it is completed.