We left McKinney State Park on the morning of April 5th, heading for our next destination, Seven Points Campground (our review) near Nashville about a 225 mile drive along I-75 and I-24. Pretty scenery and a relatively easy drive since we didn’t have to pass thru Atlanta.

We had stayed at Seven Points before in our Fleetwood Discovery back in 2012 and really liked the campground, as well as Nashville, so we were looking forward to a repeat stay here. After checking in for our three night stay, we made our way to our site – #41. Wow, what a great site, right on the J. Percy Priest Lake which was created when the J. Percy Priest Dam was completed in 1968 by the Army Corps of Engineers. Although it was a back in, the site was 120′ in length with a paved asphalt driveway and a concrete pad extension. At the end of the driveway and down six steps was a very big concrete patio area with a huge circular cast concrete table and benches terraced by a concrete wall. Beyond that was patch of grass and a very rocky beach on the lake. Doesn’t get much better than that!

Spent a quiet evening, just enjoying our site, taking a walk and enjoying a beautiful sunset.

Of course the next morning, breakfast was the first order of the day, revisiting the nearby First Watch Restaurant in Hermitage. We’ve eaten at several  different locations of this popular chain because the food, although pricey, as well as the service, has always been good. I had the Market Skillet Hash which was two eggs atop seasoned potatoes with house roasted Crimini mushrooms, zucchini, shallots, red peppers, baby spinach, mozzarella and goat cheese and served with fresh fruit for $9.79. Enjoyed my leftovers the next day. Rob had the Chickichanga which is a delicious combo of whipped eggs, spicy chicken, green chilies, cheddar, monterey jack, homemade chorizo sausage, onions and avocado in a flour tortilla with Vera Cruz sauce and served with fresh fruit and seasoned potatoes for $9.79. Yikes what a breakfast!

In 2012, we had done quite a bit of sightseeing visiting the Hermitage and other Nashville attractions so we didn’t feel a real need to dash around like a tourist. But once again the tourist bug bit us – we just couldn’t resist making a trip into the city before we left the area. After parking the car in a self pay lot on Thursday, we spent several hours walking around town and down Broadway, otherwise known as Honky Tonk Highway.

What a great place to visit! Even if you are not big country western fans (we aren’t), you’ll still enjoy listening to all the singers and bands performing on the streets, on top of roofs and in the restaurants and bars. It’s the country western version of Bourbon Street in New Orleans!

And even if the music isn’t your cup of tea, there’s always window shopping in the many cute shops. Ogle all the homemade sweets at the Savannah Candy Kitchen, you can gain 5 pounds just looking at all the yummies!

Or buy your honey (or yourself) a pair of cowboy boots – seems like there’s a store on every corner!

With so many restaurants to choose from for lunch, it was a tough decision on where to go. We considered going to Jack’s BBQ which had been recommended to us back in 2012 but it was busy and had only free-for-all seating.

Instead we ended up at Puckett’s Grocery and Market again since we liked it so much the first time we went there. Being noon, it was pretty busy with a 45 minute wait but it was well worth it! Their menu is a little different – you can have 1 meat which on this day was either pulled pork BBQ or meat loaf with 1, 2 or 3 sides. I had pulled pork (no bun but served with a Cajun Corn Cake) and Rob had beef brisket (both $7.79). We both had mac & cheese for our side which was a little disappointing, rather bland but fortunately the meat was delicious.

After lunch, we continued walking to the Government Plaza and the Capitol Building, home of the Tennessee legislature, the location of the governor’s office, and a National Historic Landmark.  Designed by architect William Strickland, the building is one of Nashville’s most prominent examples of Greek Revival architecture and is one of only twelve state capitols that does not have a dome (along with those of Alaska, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, and Virginia). President Jame Polk and his wife are buried on the grounds.

We didn’t dally here too long as it was getting to be mid-afternoon so we headed back to the campground, hoping to avoid rush hour. It was another quiet night.

Our three nights here seemed to pass quickly and it was time to say goodbye to Nashville. It would have been nice to spend more time here again so we could perhaps take a city tour, visit the Grand Ol’ Opry and visit the many other  attractions in the surrounding areas but we were on a schedule. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll be back!

Two more overnight stops on the agenda before arriving at Entegra in Middlebury, IN by the evening of April 10th. Our first stop was at Grandma’s RV Park in Shepherdsville, KY (our review) and the second at a KOA in Indianapolis, IN (our review). Not much to report along the way except that a cold front had moved in so the temps had plummeted from the low 60’s to the 40’s with night time temps in the high 20’s/low 30’s! BRRRR! A mere two weeks ago I was whining about the hot, humid temps in FL, perhaps someone was punishing me! Imagine our surprise on Sunday as we got closer to Middlebury – there was snow on the ground in a few spots! Yuck!

When we arrived at “Camp Entegra” outside the service area, we were greeted by our friends, Betsy and Nancy (RV-A-GoGo) who had scheduled their service appointment for the same week. More about our Entegra stay in our next post!