Travel Diaries: Tennessee, Where Country Music Lives and Breathes

By Ana Carolina Marrero

This Christmas break my family decided to do something out of the ordinary, so we went to the states instead. And let me say that from the first time that I found out where I was travelling, I was excited. To be honest, I’ve never been further than New Orleans, and I was, like, five, so the memories on the trip are lost in me. We arrived at Fort. Lauderdale, Florida on December 22, and from there we took off to driving to my grandfather’s house in Kissimmee. On Christmas morning, we headed to our final destination: Fairfield Glade, Tennessee.

So for this Christmas, my parents decided to go to chase the snow–which by the way, I have yet to see–because I’ve never seen snow so I was like a little child on the inside. My parents decided to go to Tennessee, a state they had been to before because of the annual conference of the company my father used to work for. We decided to create a plan, and we decided that instead of travelling directly to Tennessee, we would do a roadtrip.Eight or so hours in a car didn’t seem appealing to my brother but, for me, it was the opportunity to see and explore, and most importantly to take photos. After ten and half hours in a car, we arrived to our destiny in Fairfield Glade. And to our surprise, there was not a single drop of snow in the ground or on the surrounding areas.

Fairfield Glade is a town that, if it were up to me, I would move to tomorrow. It was such a homey-friendly town. Everyone was courteous, friendly and most importantly, they made you feel like you belonged there. Not once did my family or I feel unappreciated or discriminated against. We went to this little park they had and it was beautiful. I’m not gonna lie, it was cold but not that cold. It had a lake and a nature around that it was so beautiful it made you want to sit in front of it and just stare at it for hours.

We took a few days to explore our surroundings and the town near where we were staying. But on December 29th, we went to Nashville. The heart of Country Music. Let me tell you, when I come to country music, put a cowboy hat and give me a guitar and will sing my heart out. Yes, I know, is a guilty pleasure. Not only for me but for my whole family. Through the whole trip, the only station we had on was country music. Anyway, back to Nashville. It was beautiful, so happy, awake and full of life. I went into the Grand Ole Opry, the stage where every country music singer has stood.

After that adventure, it was pretty much just looking around, and exploring. On January 1st, we spent another eight hours driving back to Ocala, Florida,  to visit some friends. Being the fangirl that I am, we went to John Travolta’s house, or rather his gate cause it’s a private property. After that, we went back to my grandfather’s house until it was time to come back to Puerto Rico.

In all honesty, it was fun and I loved it. If i could do it again I would in a heartbeat.

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