Nashville

9/01/2019 - Our first day in Nashville.  Today we  had a guided tour of the backstage of The Grand Ole' Opry. 

Bev, Trish, and Susan

Originally, the Grand Ole' Opry was in the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville.  The Ryman  took over from the Union Gospel Tabernacle Church building, and started  the whole country music thing in 1943.  It  is known as "The Mother of Country Music" even today. The Grand Ole Opry was moved in 1974 to Northeast Nashville (in Music Valley) from the Ryman .   Some of the decor and even the wood from The Ryman was brought to the new location.  Of greatest interest was the center stage circle of wood, where the performers stood.

Center Stage - the wood circle came from the Ryman

Here is our star.

And here is a peek at the theater.

The Grand Ole' Opry theater

It can hold 4400 people, seated and standing.  Although I am not a fan of country music, I appreciate that the Grand Ole' Opry is such an important part of our American history.

After the tour, we went through Opry Mills, which is a very big shopping mall next door.  Didn't find anything to buy, so headed back to the campground.  We arrived in time for a free BBQ put on by the campground and sponsored by Sante Fe Cattle Co. restaurant.  They served up hot dogs, baked beans and chips.  Also, there was beer on tap and wine from a box, and sodas and water.  At 6:00 a 4 piece band started up a show of country music.  It was a pleasurable evening, except for the awful heat and humidity.  

09/02/2019 - Today we are touring on the Trolley---Hop on/Hop Off.  We all thought it would be a great way to see the city and all it has to enjoy.  The Trolley had 16 stops listed, but we were only interested in 3 of them.  The rest of the ride, we listened to the driver tell us all about Nashville.  I noticed that there was loud music coming from many of the pubs downtown.  It reminded me alot of New Orleans in Mardi Gras time. 

A T & T Building, but the locals call it the "Bat Wing"

Downtown Nashville

The Merchants Hotel, where the performers stayed while at the Opry

Nissan Stadium

The only Woolworth store in the US that serves alcohol

The Hermitage Hotel
the only 5 star hotel in Nashville

State Capitol Building and 365 steps uphill

Our first stop was the Johhny Cash and Patsy Cline Museums (in the same building, but on different floors).  The three girls bought tickets to  the Johnny Cash Museum.  Tom and I are not fans, so we stayed in the coffee shop and had coffee and a bagel.  When the girls came out, Tom, Susan, and I bought tickets for the Patsy Cline Museum upstairs.  I really enjoyed the self-guided tour of pictures and memorabilia.  I knew that she was killed in a plane crash, but did not know that she was so young-only 31.  Such a loss!  Susan was especially impressed by the museum as this was her favorite country singer.

The second stop was the Marathon Motors factory.  They built cars from 1907 to 1915.  In 1914 they filed bankruptcy, when Henry Ford was able to build cars so much cheaper with his new assembly line factory.  I have a lot of pictures from this factory, as my dad is a fan of cars, and I thought he would really enjoy them. 

Tools from the factory

more tools
 Notice the cylinders on the right?

Woodworking machine

Don't know what this was for.
Maybe Dad can tell me

Drill Press

Marathon lineup

There are only 6 surviving cars.  Four of them are in this museum.  However, one of them is only a chassis, and one of them is only the upholstery.  These 2 are whole cars, an the last picture is the best of the four.

The best car of the 4 survivors in the museum

Our third stop was the Station Inn, where Tom and Dorothy told us that the food was good and the live music was great.  But, we could not stop because it was closed for Labor Day.  We got back on the Trolley and got off at the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch.  We had a great waiter, Boris.  He kept our drinks full and seemed to anticipate anything else we might need.  The food was good.  When we left, I told the manager of his excellent service.

Finally, it was close to our Trolley ride back home,  We waited in the shade.  It was so hot and humid all day, we all were spent.  As soon as we got back to the campground, Trish, Susan, and I were in the pool.  It felt heavenly.



09/03/2019 - A shopping day for the everyone.  Tom drove all of us to Franklin, TN to the Mephisto shoe outlet (this was Trish's favorite shoe).  We found out that this outlet was the only one in all of North America.  Trish was in heaven.  She actually bought 5 pair of shoes.  I also bought 2 pair.  Susan couldn't find anything in her size (she wears a size 5).

On to Staples, where Bev needed a tablet.  I used their computer and got all of my banking and credit card statements.  Now, finally, I can get my bookkeeping done for August.  Next stop was Trader Joe's.  The girls do not have a Trader Joes in Victoria.  I picked up ravioli and orange chicken for 2 dinners.  Susan was after a green hot sauce for her husband.   Lastly, we went to Costco for hot dog lunch and a few other items.  Every stop was a success!

Back to the campground, put everything, and had a short nap.  At 6:00 we all went out to dinner at Sante Fe Cattle Company, the sponsor of our BBQ at the campground.  It was OK, not exceptional.