Bee Travel
Take a break from the 'gray days of winter'
CHRISTINE HICKS- USTA Travel
The gray days of winter toll against us. It won't be until that morning when we wake with warming rays of sun on our face and bright light streaming in the window that we sense the grip release. We travel to dispel, if just for a little time, that gray. That doesn't necessarily mean emptying your wallet at the door of an all-inclusive resort or expending all your vacations days, though too often that happens.

Resorts exist as self-contained units everywhere, and if large enough with sufficient amenities, are worthy alternatives to all-inclusive hotels - at least for a long weekend.

The average high February temperature in Nashville is 51 degrees. (In Buffalo: 33 degrees.) Step into the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, with its nine acres of indoor gardens featuring a 44-foot cascading waterfall and atriums filled with 50,000 growing plants. Here, it's always springtime on the Cumberland. Inside you'll find a Delta river town with 12 specialty shops, dining galore and flatboats. With four full-service restaurants, eat someplace new each night of a long weekend, and breakfast and lunch at the coffee house, café or buffet at the marketplace. Pamper yourself for an afternoon in a salon that even has children's services.

If you "saloon" more than you "salon," the Gaylord offers the Jack Daniel's Saloon, with music nightly. There's also Findley's Irish Pub and Rusty's Sports Bar and Grill to round out the night spots.

The resort offers complimentary transportation to the General Jackson Showboat, a lunch or dinner cruise aboard a paddle wheeler navigating the Cumberland River. Or take the free shuttle to the Grand Ole Opry for Friday, Saturday and Tuesday shows. The hotel also offers a huge children's resort - with childcare.

It's about an 11½-hour drive from Buffalo to Nashville. A quick check of flights reveals airfares in the $200 per person range (tax inclusive) for a February weekend. The airport is 10 minutes from the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Straight rates at the hotel start at $199 (double occupancy) in February. Packages are offered. For example, over Valentine's weekend for $169 per person, you get one night accommodation and a first-floor reserved section ticket to the Rick Springfield concert on Feb. 15 or 16 at the Wildhorse Saloon in downtown Nashville (including transportation).

Downtown, the Ryman Auditorium still hosts plenty of concerts. A quick check at www.nashvilleseats. com turns up upcoming performances by The Four Tops and The Temptations, Ani DiFranco and the Moody Blues. The Sommet Center will host Celtic Women, Michael Buble and Celine Dion, plus innumerable sporting events. While downtown, stroll Printers Alley, the "Bourbon Street" of Nashville, famous for its night-time entertainment.

Break away from the gray with a short stay at a full-service resort … someplace just a little warmer than here. The Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Music City is just one idea for your list of possibilities.

(Christine Hicks-Usta has enjoyed more than 30 years of globe-trotting as a member of the travel industry. Direct questions to her at Bee Group Newspapers, P.O. Box 150, Buffalo, NY 14231-0150.)