We left the peaceful surroundings of Eight Gables Inn and the Great Smokey Mountains and headed to Music City. Our motel here was not a bit nice and quite a switch from what we just came from. May I just say never stay at the Super Eight at the airport in Nashville. Nashville was so much fun and there were so many places to go and things to see that we were busy every minute. We arrived in the late afternoon and realized that there was a cache nearby by so we all took a short hike and found our first Nashville cache. That evening we looked in the directory for a good place to eat and discovered a nearby Irish Pub called McNamara's. We made a wonderful choice and not only enjoyed fish and chips but we also got to listen to an authentic Irish band. We felt like we were back in Ireland.
On our first full day in Nashville we drove downtown, first stop being the Visitor's Center. We bought access passes for various things we wanted to see and do. (If you are going to Nashville, this is the way to go). We took the walk of fame to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Our visit there was over 2 hours and saw so many things and listened to some great music. I think a person could spend a whole day here and not see everything.
Lunch on this day was at Panera Bread in dowtown Nashville. To get there we had to walk past the Ryman Auditorium, the original building for the Grand Ole Opry. As we passed people were starting to congregate on the street and workers were getting the entrance ready with a red carpet, camera lighting and a camera crew. We soon learned that tonight they were having a country music award show. After lunch we walked back to the Ryman theatre and was informed that all tickets for tonight's performance were sold out. We did snap a picture but could not go inside the theatre because they were prepping everything for the awards show.
From here we went to Ernest Tubb's record shop and looked at all the posters, pictures of country stars, past and present, records and CD's that they have for sale. It was very interesting.
Our last big stop of the day was "Tootsies". This is a famous bar in that it is just behind the Ryman Auditorium. It's said that the woman who owned it used to let the budding artists build up a tab and once in awhile a star would come in and pick up the tabs. There was writing and pictures of country stars on all the walls and tables. They have live musicians in most of the bars and this one was no exception.
On Tuesday, we took the Red Neck Comedy Bus Tour, and believe me it was a hoot! We traveled through the city on a 2 hour bus tour while two young people entertained us with the sights and some redneck comedy. Did you know that if you wanted to use the word raisin in a sentence it would go something like this - "We are busy raisin us some yung-uns.". During the bus tour we stopped at the Whiskey Bent Saloon and heard a two young people playing some really awesome country music.
Our next stop was The Grand Ole Opry house. We wandered around the grounds for awhile and got our tickets for a back stage tour for the next morning. We were unable to buy tickets to Loretta Lynn's 50th anniversary party that night because they had been sold out for months. The grounds and landscaping here are beautiful. We stopped at the Opryland Hotel and ate a tasty afternoon meal.
Wednesday morning we were back to the Grand Ole Opry and went on a backstage tour. It was really interesting as we got to see a lot of the star's dressing rooms and stand on the stage where the performers had been the night before. We even talked Ronnie into singing a short number.
Our last stop in Nashville was the Hermitage - the home of our 7th president, Andrew Jackson. If you ever get to Nashville do not miss this attraction. It has so much historical value and the self guided tour is very enjoyable.
We are off to Memphis!!
Thanks for sharing all the pictures and narrative of your trip. I am enjoying "being with you" as you recap your travels.
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