This place (Gaylord Opryland) is very fancy, which I suppose is to be expected in a resort hotel. Or rather, it’s an interesting mix of fancy and not fancy? I mean, waterfalls in the lobby = fancy. Lots of restaurants including Starbucks and Cinnabon, mostly priced appropriate for families ($8 burgers and the like) = less fancy.
I think it must mostly cater to families on vacation; there are a ton of kid-friendly activities that almost make me wish I’d brought my kids with me. But that would definitely cut into the writing retreat time! Perhaps I’ll bring them someday.
But for now, I’m here early in the day, they let me check into my room at 11 and I’m set up here, and the conference check-in doesn’t open until 2:30, so I think I’m going to change into my swimsuit and take a book and have lunch by the pool. I had breakfast at 5:30 and left the house at 6, so I’m kind of starving. The trail mix is not cutting it.
One downside of traveling alone is that I don’t really feel like I can take my laptop with me if I’m going to be swimming off and on, alas — otherwise, I might just park myself poolside for the whole time. That’s all right — I’m sure they’ll have a nice quiet conference room for us to write in together….
