The Opryland Hotel has long been a favorite of ours both for their amazing Christmas light displays and for the general wonder one feels when wandering through the gardens, or taking the boat ride through the Delta.  When we heard they were opening an indoor/outdoor waterpark, we were delighted and this past week we finally got to take a staycation and check it out!  SoundWaves made a huge splash in our opinion!

To access the waterpark you either have to book a room night and choose the waterpark package, OR you can rent out a party room that includes wristbands.  We took advantage of the Davidson County Resident discount and spend the night so we could have two days of water fun!  (They also have a TN resident package discount if. you live elsewhere in the state.). We timed our adventure well as kiddos here are already back in school but the summer weather is still going strong.  The hotel and park were both virtually empty [one lifeguard said they had only sold 158 passes for the days we were there!] and we felt totally comfortable with the COVID measures in place in the hotel - all the staff were masked and occupancy was so low we barely saw any other guests and it was easy to social distance.

The park itself is immaculately clean, well-laid out and boasts incredible attractions like a wave pool, tons of water slides, a Flowrider surfing/knee board simulator, lazy river and lots of splash pad areas for littles.  Stretchy wristbands make it simple to access the park and never loose your ticket and there are lockers and cabanas available to rent to keep your valuables safe if you don't want to leave them in the room.  

Our favorite attractions were the "Record Launch" centrifuge tube slide, and the Up Tempo Rapids River.  We highly recommend wearing a life jacket in the Rapids so you can pick your feet up and just float along!  We probably spent half our time there just floating this thing in circles as our daughter loved it so much!  They also have an adults only area with an infinity pool and other relaxing spaces that we didn't get to check out on this trip.

Overall, we give this 5 out of 5 stars and while we definitely want you to stay at The Carriage House while you're in town, you might just want to add a night to your trip to make some waves before heading home!

A distance panorama of the wave pool.  They play fun music videos on that huge screen!

The park is so massive that it's impossible to get a photo of the whole thing - but this is the outdoor slide complex with the splashpad.  The building to the left is the indoor part of the park including enclosed slides that are open year round, and the giant wave pool is behind me!

Our niece was in town this week so we decided to day trip up to Kentucky and re-visit Mammoth Cave which has always been a favorite of ours.  We were super excited to find that they had made some upgrades since we'd last been there including improvements to their welcome center as well as the walkways and handrails in the actual cave itself.

​We have done the Historic Tour four times now just because we love the overview of the cave, the history and some of the fun parts like Fat Man's Misery, but plan on taking a different route next time to see other parts of the cave as well.  You can view all the available tours HERE. 

​You'll need a car to get to this attraction, and its about 1 hour and 30-45 minutes one way.  From the Carriage House, head north on I-65 (in the direction of Louisville, Kentucky) and you'll turn off a little bit after you travel through Bowling Green.

MAMMOUTH CAVE NATIONAL PARK

1 Mammoth Cave Parkway ~ Mammoth Cave, KY 42259
(270) 758-2180

​Distance: 99 miles ~ 1 hour, 36 minutes 
Admission:​ Tours range from $3 - $60 per person.
What’s Going On: Go underground and check out the sights and history on one of many amazing tours that range from quick and easy for everyone all the way up to more technical spelunking adventures.
Tips: Tours sell out quickly and CANNOT BE BOOKED DAY-OF, so we encourage you to plan early and book your tour online.  Our personal favorite is the historic tour (and yes! there are restrooms halfway through the cave!)

The Children's Gallery is a huge room decorated with amazing murals of Nashville, Tennessee wildlife, song lyrics, factoids or things to look for (like the one our racoon friend is sharing below.)  The floor is an incredible mural as well; a giant map of the state of Tennessee with cities and landmarks.  At one end of the room is a set of bookshelves with favorite children's stories plus some blocks and a few toys for smaller kiddos.  At the other end is a table with crayons and colored pencils with coloring pages featuring current museum exhibits so you can " #ColorOurCollections " (see photo below).

Curator Matt was on hand the entire time if we had questions and very graciously let Clare carry around a clipboard featuring a scavenger hunt of objects and locations to find hidden among the murals and activities to do when you found them. The website recommends the children's gallery for ages 3-8 and I definitely think that we were a little young to get the full experience of reading the facts, doing the scavenger hunt and coloring the printouts.  However, Clare absolutely LOVED running around the map and stopping to point out various rivers and places and brightly colored animals.  We also colored and read several books that were new to her (and Mama!). The bluegrass music they had playing was also a hit, and she frequently stopped what she was doing for a dance break. 

All in all it was definitely a fun way to blow off some steam indoors on a chilly afternoon!  We didn't venture into the rest of the museum today, but it's absolutely worth visiting as well.  
Be sure to check out the "Know Before You Go" box below for info - we hope you enjoy your visit!