Every wedding anniversary is special but this year The Crabby Old Guy surpassed previous anniversaries with a surprise celebration for our 32nd Anniversary.  It didn’t involve the children or friends it was just the two of us, just the way it was so many years ago.  The event was a surprise.  All “Crabby” would tell me before had was to “Pack a bag with enough clothes for three days”.  Well, three days didn’t sound like lunch at the Pyramids or a cruise on the Rhine or even a shopping spree in gay Paree’ but it certainly did pique my interest.

Within an hour after the big announcement the car was packed and we were on our way.  I knew better than to question where we were going since my darling Sicilian husband can be very tight lipped at times.  It wasn’t long before we pulled up in front of Gaylord’s Opryland Resort and Hotel (my favorite hotel in Nashville) and amazingly he stopped in front of valet parking, wow, the Royal

Treatment, I wouldn’t even have to drag my own luggage from the self-park this trip.   Gently he took my arm and escorted me to Celebrity Services and all I could think was this was definitely going to be an interesting stay.  The Celebrity Services staff couldn’t have been nicer as they registered us and gave us our itinerary for the next three days.  Hubby must have been busy planning this intriguing event well in advance.

Our room was lovely, with a balcony overlooking the Delta atrium. Within minutes our luggage was delivered to the room.  We decided to have an early dinner at Cascades Seafood Restaurant.  I tried the crab cakes (so good that I asked for the recipe and will share it with you all), fresh salad, seared scallops and a great variation on the loaded-baked-potato, a “loaded cream corn” dish.  I mentioned to the server that the vegetables and salad were so fresh.  No accident, she said, they always try to purchase locally and these vegetables came from Delvin Farms in College Grove, TN and gave me their card.  I was thrilled to find out that Delvin Farms sells at local farmers’ markets.  You can go to http://www.delvinfarms.com and find the closest one near you.

While waiting to be seated at Cascades we noticed people being seated at Wasabi's Sushi Bar. Yum, it looked so good we decided to put it on our list of to-dos during our stay. Ouch, this could turn out to be an eating marathon. Oh, well that's why we use the YMCA gym.

After dinner we took a Gaylord’s shuttle over to the Grand Ole Opry to see the Opry Country Classics show.  Larry Gatlin was the host and a more energetic person you will never see. The evening was filled with memories and songs such as “Crazy”, “I Will Always Love You”, “Hello Darlin’ ” and many more.  Charlie McCoy played his harmonica to the enjoyment of all.  At this performance it was announced that he was being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in a few days.  Christy Sutherland set the stage on fire with her performance and if you have a chance to hear her sing don’t miss it.

The next day was “Crabby’s” since he plans to come back as a rock guitarist in his next life.  He was so excited when he told me we were going to take advantage of the Gaylord-Gibson joint promotion called “Check-In, Rock Out!”  Okay, so off we went and to the front desk and checked out a very flashy and very expensive professional-grade Gibson guitar for the day.  Gaylord has a program whereby you can rent a guitar with a pocket pod and a hand held portable amplifier with headphones which allows you to Rock Out in your room without disturbing anyone.  Dang, I wish he had those headphones at home.  As we were walking back to our room with “Crabby’s” prize guitar we spotted Bill Cody the morning show host for WSM.  We stopped and talked to him for a few minutes and “Crabby” was thrilled at the chance of getting a photo with Bill.

In the afternoon we once again took the shuttle downtown and saw “Always…Patsy Cline” at the Ryman Auditorium.  Mandy Barnett was absolutely amazing as she brought Patsy Cline alive on the stage.  While Tere Myers who played Louise Seger, Patsy’s greatest fan and friend had the audience hysterical with laughter.  Patsy’s wonderful songs, “Crazy”, “I Fall to Pieces”, "“Seven Lonely Days” brought back memories of a time when music and song captured the hearts of all Patsy’s loyal fans.

After the show we wanted to get something to eat and since we had never been to the Wild Horse Saloon we decided to go there.  We had sampled some of Chef Laurie Potts cooking in the past and we were really looking forward to enjoying a wonderful barbecue dinner and even try to learn to line dance.  We were not disappointed with the meal however; the line dancing was a bit tricky at our age, LOL.

After a thoroughly enjoyable day we returned to our room to find a bottle of champagne on ice and an envelope addressed to me.  The anniversary card was lovely but inside was two tickets for an 18 day cruise to The Top of the World on the Tahitian Princess.  This anniversary couldn’t be better. 

The next morning we went to brunch at the Water’s Edge Marketplace Buffet.  The selection of food was wonderful and we sat and reminisced about all of our other anniversaries and decided this had to be one of our best.  We also decided to come back for a few days in August with our grandchildren since kids eat and stay free until Labor Day.  Later that day we stopped by the Jack Daniel's Saloon and guess what...I saw Toby Keith or was it a Toby Keith look-alike LOL. He wouldn't tell. As we walked around the hotel we decided to take a ride on the Delta Flatboat and learn a little about the history of the hotel on their indoor river. 

 What a great experience.  What a memorable and romantic time.  Gaylord’s Opryland Hotel is a very special place to spend a very special anniversary or memorable moment.  There are always special shows, venues and events in Nashville and coupled with Gaylord’s shuttle to downtown you can enjoy the best of worlds, a first class resort and a first class city.   Whether you live in or around Nashville or are planning a quick trip in the Southeast, you husbands out there might want to take a tip from The Crabby Old Guy.

As we were driving home I told the "Crabby Old Guy" that with all our visits to Gaylord's we still haven't had dinner at the Ristorante Volare. We both laughed and said "we will have to take the grandkids."

LOW COUNTRY CRAB CAKES

Recipe by: Chef Forrest Parker
Serving Size: 4

1 pound Jumbo Lump Crab (domestic preferred)
½ Cup Mayonnaise
2 Whole Eggs
1 sleeve Ritz Crackers (Crushed)
1 Tablespoon Old Bay Seafood Seasoning
1 Tablespoon Dry Mustard
Combine mayonnaise, eggs, Old Bay and dry mustard by whisking.  Add 1/2 of crab and mix well. Gently fold in remainder. 

Portion using a 2 ounce scoop and roll in the crushed Ritz crackers.  Deep fry crispy and brown and finish to temp in oven.