2011 COUNTRY MUSIC HALF MARATHON

Driving from South Florida to Tennessee using I-95 and I-26 can be a huge bore. That is up until you switch from I-26 to I-40 in the Asheville, North Carolina area. Only then does the boring, sleepy drive improve to AH’s, OH’s and an occasional “Isn’t that awesome?”

But the long, tiring drive was every bit worth the fifteen hours sitting behind the wheel of a new 2011 rental car. Double and triple those miles would have been worth seeing and visiting my youngest daughter and granddaughter who live in Sevierville, Tennessee, the western gateway to the Smoky Mountains.

Additionally, I would have traveled twice that distance to temporarily leave the land of Bongos and Castanets for the land of Fiddles, Banjoes and Guitars. Or is that pronounced “Gee Tars?” Listen, I’ve nothing against the bongo and castanet sound or its culture, it’s just that I prefer mountain music over Latino musica.

Anyway, a one day and two night stopover in Sevierville, which included a tour through the Smoky Mountain Glades shopping area and a tour of Sevierville’s main library, preceded our five hour drive to the host city of the Country Music Marathon, beautiful Nashville, TN.

The “music city” is where we ran and walked the Country Music Half Marathon on a gorgeous spring Saturday morning. It was there that my oldest daughter, Lynda, was sold on running events in general. She had a blast, and so did my wife and I.

From the hollows of downtown Nashville to the outlying rolling hills in the residential areas, the entire 13.1 mile course had it all. The crowd support was superb and the bands and cheerleaders at every mile were entertaining. Never did we feel detached from the vibrant city that welcomes each and every runner and their families with open arms every April.

And what can we say about a post-marathon concert headlining Montgomery Gentry? Sensational, that’s what! “Her and King’s County” opened the festivities and “Montgomery Gentry” closed it out, with the marathon awards ceremony taking place in between both phenomenal acts.

Sunday morning found us driving back to Sevierville for another short overnight stay with Diane and Cyndie. Time constraints and Disney World reservations prevented us from staying longer. Besides, it was back to work Monday morning for my youngest and granddaughter.

If you’ve never visited Walt Disney World’s Epcot during the spring International Flower and Garden Festival, you simply must make plans to do so in the future. If there is a heaven on earth, Epcot is it during the festival. Our visit to Epcot on the 3rd day of May was our third visit this year.

They say that all good things eventually come to an end and that memories are forever. Isn’t that the truth! One day after we returned to South Florida, Lynda had to leave for home.

But first, driving through Florida would not be complete without stopping at Tina's home in South Central Florida.  Thank you, Tina, for hosting we three and laying out a delicious spread of food.  You are the best!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3UBtSBFnOw