Sunday, February 28th I watched the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean from my little condo in Virginia Beach then headed west with my son, Daniel, who had just accepted an internship in Los Angeles.
With his clothes, key board and skateboard in the back of the Toyota 4-Runner and his Harley Sportster 883 on a rack, we took off with no clear plan except to reach the west coast in time to find him a place a stay and be on the job Monday morning, March 7th.
Thinking the southern route was safer this time of year, the first day was all well-known roads–264 to 64 west then 81 south down the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains to Interstate 40. Four hundred miles later, we were still in VA but about to cross into Tennessee. We decided to push on to Nashville for the first night making it about a 10-hour day driving. We picked up an hour due to the time change and arrived in time for dinner and music. 
Honky tonks with live music blasting and a variety of stores selling cowboy boots, hats and souvenirs line the strip. Most of the music is country but we found a cool place playing a mix of Tom Petty, Blake Shelton and Maroon 5. Some of the places had rooftop bars. Live music and alcohol is the common theme. Even our hotel had live music.
Kathryn Byler, blog 