Thursday:
A busy day for us in Nashville. We began with breakfast then sat in the lobby waiting for our tour bus which would take us on the Home of the Stars Tour.
The bus driver, Jerry, had been given the wrong Holiday Inn Express address for us. He did arrive to get us and "off we went!" He was running a little behind and wanted to make up the time.
Jerry, the bus driver and tour guide
View of downtown Nashville
On the bus after taking a break during the tour
WMS Radio tower which is really 2 towers put together
The Grand Ole Opry is broadcast over WSM.
Dolly Parton's home
A little chapel on her property
She had a replica of the chapel built where she and her husband were married.
Songwriter Hillary Scott's house
Our rest stop where many of the stars stop for coffee, gas, etc,
Little Jimmy Dickens home
The bottom of his mailbox is shaped like a guitar.
Brooks (of Brooks and Dunn)
Taylor Swift's Parents' home
Big Kenny's house
Home of Toby Keith
Taylor Swift occupies the entire top floor of this condo.
A few facts about Nashville: 1 million people live there. Healthcare is the number one industry with hospitality and tourism being second. Printing is third and banking fourth. It is known as "Athens of the World" because of its 17 universities.
Lunch at Steak n Shake was eaten, then we went to The Hermitage, plantation and home of Andrew Jackson.
The Hermitage
Purchasing our tickets
Greeters at The Hermitage
Burial site of Andrew and his wife, Rachel
The cemetery
Because of time, we toured the home and plantation area then decided we would browse the museum the next day. Our reservation for the General Jackson Showboat was for 7:00 p.m. with boarding at 6:15.
Tickets for the General Jackson Showboat
Greeters directing us to the photograph area
Our photograph
Joe, Margaret, Mel, Cathy and Jerry
Waiting to board
Time to board
The General Jackson
Entertainment before we set sail
Jerry visiting with Ellen who lived in Broken Arrow.
We were at Table 3 - right in front of the stage.
The entertainment on the Showboat
Jerry doing the "Funky Chicken" Dance
We enjoyed a busy fun day!
Friday:
The weather turned cold!! We had tickets to return to The Hermitage so we decided it would be a good time to look at the museum there. At least it would be warm in the museum!
After the museum The Country Music Hall of Fame downtown was where we visited. Parking downtown was basically in parking lots and/or parking garages. Here the question might be: "How many does it take to put money in a parking meter?" Not encountering these types of situations in our small rural area does make it a challenge sometimes.
The ticket successfully gotten and on the dash of the car
The Country Music Hall of Fame
We spent a good part of the day looking at the displays.
Inside the huge lobby deciding where to purchase our ticket
The ticket booths
A featured area devoted to Patsy Cline displayed many interesting items, videos, etc.
The Country Music Hall of Fame even had a display about the TV show, Nashville. Some of the costumes and guitars used in the show were there.
We walked downtown to see the sights and find a place for lunch.
The famous Tootsie's Bar where as the story goes, many of the country stars would slip out the back of the Ryman to spend some time there.
Lunch was at Merchants
Waiting for a table
The menu
Our waiter
Popcorn was served in the tin cups for an appetizer.
Fried green tomatoes
After most of the day spent downtown, it was time to go back to the hotel to leave for The Grand Ole Opry. The hotel provided a bus for us to and from the Opry, very nice so we would not have to worry about parking, etc.
Mike was our driver. He was quite a character. He labeled himself as a "want-to-be-star". He said he was one of thousands who come to Nashville seeking stardom. He performed at the Bluebird Cafe 2 times. One interesting fact about the Bluebird Cafe: It is featured on the TV show, Nashville; however, it is not the "real one" on the show because they would not allow it. The show built an exact replica on another location and that's what is used on the show.
The Grand Ole Opry
Hank Williams look-alike
Imitator of Minnie Pearl
The snack bar was the stop before going into the auditorium.
The famous Goo Goo bars
Yum! Yum!
What a wonderful line-up of stars the Opry had that night! John Conlee, The Whites, Jeannie Seely, Rocky Top X-Press, Diamond Rio, Charley Pride, Jim Ed Brown, Vince Gill, Darius Rucker
Charley Pride
John Conlee
Jim Ed Brown
Elizabeth Cook
Vince Gill
What a surprise and treat awaited us! Nashville, the TV show filmed 2 scenes, one of which will be used in their May 15th episode. Scarlett and Deacon made their appearances and performed. Wow!
One scene was during the actual Opry show and then at the end, one more was filmed "just to be sure" as they said. At the end they panned the audience to be on the May 15th show! Will we be shown on the show???? How we enjoyed this!
Scarlett
Scarlett, Deacon and Vince
Darius Rucker
I don't think a better line-up of stars could have made appearances as far as we were concerned. Of course, the filming of Nashville just "topped it off"!
Saturday:
We checked to see if they had any rooms for that night. All week they had been booked solid and this was true for Saturday night. The girl behind the desk was so helpful. We made reservations for Dickson, Tennessee, about an hour west of Nashville.
Downtown Nashville was our destination for today. We would tour the Ryman and see other sights there.
The AT&T building which is called the "Batman" building because of the spires located at each end
We went back downtown to tour the Ryman.
The Ryman is a national historic landmark and former home of The Grand Ole Opry.
We were the last group to take a guided tour backstage through the dressing rooms because a show was scheduled for that night and people needed to get things ready. The dressing rooms are dedicated to "stars of the past".
Waiting for the tour to begin
Our tour guide
Seating in the Ryman
We stood in the wings where famous performers stood awaiting their time in the spotlight.
Displays of the "Oldies" - Minnie Pearl, Johnny Cash and June Carter, Patsy Cline, etc.
Margaret looking at Patsy Cline's display - a favorite singer of hers
Downtown Nashville
We visited Ernest Tubb's Record Shop where almost any musical CD can be found.
Mel by the sign
Jerry browsing for what he wants
Margaret and Joe checking out the merchandise
Mel looking for Hank Williams CD
Margaret and Joe looking through the many CDs
We had read about the "Hop on - Hop off" bus which cost $20 apiece. After inquiring about buses, we found out that the green bus was free and took routes around the city. What a better deal!!
The bus station downtown where we changed buses
The bus depot
Waiting for our bus
Since we had time to wait, we checked out our treasures we had purchased.
Lunch today was at Rock Bottom
After lunch we rode the bus to the stop close to where our car was parked.
A fun and tiring day in downtown Nashville!
Dickson, Tennessee was our destination to spend the night there.
Checking-in
After checking-in we toured the city of Dickson, a neat little town. Wendy's seemed to be "our place" on this trip, where we would order "Frosty's". Somehow, each time we ordered, the worker had a difficult time getting our order correct. This became our joke for this trip.
Jerry attempting to get the order straighten out
Frosty's may have caused some confusion in ordering, but they were definitely worth it! Delicious!!
Time to reminiscence about our experiences for the week
A good many laughs we enjoyed on our trip - as Mel said, "It's just not fair for us to have this much fun!"
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