Ryman, Downtown Nashville (Wed.)

Today is our last day to explore Nashville, and we have a pretty busy agenda.  We headed back downtown to the Country Music Hall of Fame to get our tickets to Studio B, which John highly recommended that we see.  When we toured the Hall of Fame on Monday, it was too late to go to Studio B, but the tours left from the Museum, so that was our first stop.  We had to wait an hour for our tour bus, but it was well worth it.  Studio B, in its day, was one of only 2 recording studios in Nashville, and it was the one used by Elvis as well as many other big names.  It is still used today, although Nashville is inundated with recording studios now.  But the original tape recorders, and many of the instruments used back then, are still in place.

The black, grand piano that Elvis used is still there.  I have seen this in some of the videos of his taping sessions.  It was also used by lots of other famous singers.

There were several other pieces of original equipment still in place.  Our tour guide played several short pieces of hit records recorded here, and the sound was amazing.

There are colored lights in the ceiling, which Elvis had added, for ambience when he sang.  He like blue for love songs, red for the rockin' songs, and white for his religious recordings.  When he recorded "Are You Lonesome Tonight," they couldn't get the blue lights to work, and he tried the others but didn't like them, so he recorded that one totally in the dark, and in one take.

One of the funny stories they tell is than when Dolly Parton came for her very first recording session, she was running late and accidentally hit the side of the building.  They call that her "first hit" in Studio B.  You can still see where the concrete on the outside wall is a little different.

We concluded this tour and walked back downtown on Broadway for some lunch.  We could here live music coming from some of the restaurants, so we picked one out and sat down for a while.  We only got to hear this gal sing one song, but (at our request) it was Patsy Cline's "Walkin After Midnight."  She did a pretty good job, but nothing like Terri Clark last night.  There was a great wall-size picture of the Clydesdales on the wall here.

From there, it was a short walk to the Ryman Auditorium, the famous home of the Grand Ole Opry until 1974.  This building was originally a church, and the seats are still church pews. There are stained glass windows in the building, but they were not there originally.

We watched a short video and looked at the exhibits here.  Then we walked down to the stage.  Interestingly, the Monkees are performing here tonight.

Joe took some pictures from the balcony.  Looks like all the seats have pretty good views.  This building has wonderful acoustics, second only to the Mormon Tabernacle, even better than Carnegie Hall.

We had been on our feet for a long time by now, but we headed back down Broadway and walked into a few of the shops (mostly the boot stores).  You would think we were in Texas  from the size of some things, though.

I was glad to see that Elvis had gotten rid of the riff-raff from yesterday and was now mine alone.

We limped our way back to the car, but we had one more stop on our agenda -- the American Picker's store here, called Antique Archeology.  We found this in a big warehouse area, not the best neighborhood.

This place redefines "Junk."  I didn't see anything of any value here, although Joe was one miniature car that he thought he had watched the show where they "picked" it.  They had books about picking, and some new t-shirts, including ones that said "In Rust We Trust."  We didn't find anything here we needed.

This was an Indian motorcycle.

I thought this was probably in the best shape of anything in here.

Joe thought he remembered when they found this treasure on TV.

 Lots of stuff hanging from the ceiling.











Finally, we headed back to the RV and rested for a few hours.  We had decided to go to a restaurant with live music for dinner (I had a coupon), so we went to John A's, which was only about a mile down the road.  Our entertainer was singer/songwriter Dan Schafer, who has played backup for lots of big names including Shania Twain, George Jones, and Barbara Mandrell.  We weren't too impressed with him, and were happy to call it a day.

We enjoyed our time here in Nashville and would definitely recommend it as a vacation destination.   I really enjoyed the tour of Studio B and all the Elvis history.  Cowboy hats and boots are very popular here, with shorts or summer dresses for the gals.  There's lots to see and do here, and we hope to stop here again when we come back through this part of the country.  We would like to go to the Opry on a weekend to see if they have the old standard performances (comedians, short skits, etc.) that they didn't have on Tuesday night.

All in all, Nashville was an Excellent Adventure.

Nashville (Mon.-Tues.)

We left Mike and Nancy's about 11:00 on Monday, after breakfasting on Mike's cinnamon rolls, watermelon and cantaloupe.  I got the inside ready to travel and Joe unplugged the electric cord (Mike was glad to see that!).  Mike led us down to the fuel stop (the kids rode with Joe in the RV and I drove separately), then Ashleigh and I went down to another gas station for sodas (they were out of Diet Coke where we fueled).  It rained a little as Joe was trying to put the awning up, and we hit some rain on the way to Nashville, but we got into our campground about 12:15 and got set up.  We are at Two Rivers Campground, a really nice RV park, which is less than 2 miles from the Grand Ole Opry, so we are in good shape here.  We thought we should get started on our sightseeing here, so we headed out on our own to get our tickets from tomorrow night's performance at the Grand Ole Opry, and then downtown to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  We only had a couple hours before it closed, and the parking attendant told us we needed to hurry back as soon as it closed because the Hall of Fame was hosting some private event with Vince Gill tonight.

Inside the museum we were greeted with a huge Carrie Underwood exhibit, "Carrie Underwood:  The Blown Away Tour,"  that is currently on display.  It closes November 10.  A lot of her costumes were in this exhibit.

Tiffany's favorite, Reba McIntyre, will be on display next month.  "Reba, All the Woman I Am," exhibit opens August 9.  Too bad we missed that.  Reba has had  "more than 50 top ten singles and more #1 country albums than any other female artist.  She ranks as the most successful female country performer of her generation.  This exhibit will explore her enduring career."

We wandered through 2 floors of exhibits, with several video performances of some of the old stars (yes, including Elvis).  It was all quite interesting.  The third floor contains the "ever-exchanging permanent exhibit tells the story of the music from its pre-commercial roots in the nineteenth century through the vibrant 1960s."  There was also a nice Lee Greenwood exhibit with some of his patriotic costumes.  He is known as the "God Bless the USA" artist.  The second floor "details country music's recent history, examining trends and emerging talent from the 1960s through today."  And of course the first floor has the box office, gift shop, Ford Theater which I don't think we saw, a grill, etc.

Next, we drove around downtown for a little while (kept getting lost, but it didn't matter since we didn't have a destination).  Nashville is an up and coming city, and there's some big money here.  We crossed one of the bridges a few times. The Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers come through here.  It was the Cumberland that flooded in May 2010, when almost 14 inches of rain fell in 2 days, and it flows right past the Grand Ole Opry area.  The Opry had to relocate its performances until they were able to get it back in shape.  There was a lot of concern that the famous "circle" would be destroyed by the flood, but they were able to restore it and it was in place when the Opry reopened on September 28, 2010.

Several times, we passed the Brookstone Arena (hockey) where the Nashville Predators play, and the football stadium where the Tennessee  Titans play.

We found Broadway, where most of the shops and bars are located, and Printers Alley.  Here is a bar with Elvis still hanging around.  And an awesome guitar on a corner.

We finally headed back to the campground.  Mike had recommended a restaurant just down the road from the campground, so we stopped there and had a nice meal.

When we got back to the RV, we picked out a city tour for tomorrow morning, meeting the tour bus at 8:30, so we tried to have an early night.

Tuesday -- we have baby news today.  Andrew is one month old today, and he had a doctor's appointment.  He is almost 10 lbs., and almost 22 inches long, so he seems to be absolutely thriving.  He certainly looks like he is filling out in his pictures.  Sure would like to hold him.






We were the first ones picked up, so we got front row seats.
 
 This was a drive-by tour, with a restroom stop at the Ryman Auditorium, so we did get to see inside it.  We will have to come back tomorrow for a tour here.  Our driver, Tommy, pointed out some of the significant buildings in downtown Nashville, these two are referred to as "R2D2" and the "batman building."

 

 Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl

Nashville has lots of statues, some evolving around its legendary music history, but other significant ones as well.  Here's Chet Atkins and Billy Graham.

And the State Capitol Building was pretty impressive.  (This was through the window on the other side of the bus, so it's not too good.)

Next up on the tour was a drive-by of the rich and famous homes -- most of them were well hidden behind wonderful trees in the front, curving driveways, gates, etc., and I can't begin to remember who lived where, but some of them belonged to:  Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Lea Ann Rimes, and Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.  If I remember right, they just sold their place for $27 million and are building a new home.   Other wealthy people lived in this area as well, not just singers, songwriters and musicians.

We saw some wild turkeys on the golf course, and a few deer in the woodsy neighborhoods.  We finished the tour about noon, grabbed some lunch, then went back to the RV to rest up for our big night at the Grand Old Opry.  It is next to the Opry Mills shopping center, so there was plenty of parking, but it was a bit of a hike after I found a place (I had to drop Joe off because his feet are sore).

The Grand Ole Opry has a lot of history.  It moved to the Ryman Theater in 1943, and then moved to where it is now in1974.  They cut a big circle, approximately 5 feet in diameter, from the Ryman stage and incorporated it into the stage at the Ryman.  The "six-foot circle of dark, oak wood in the Opry House stage is shiny but clearly well worn. Cut from the stage of the Opry's famous former home, the Ryman Auditorium, this circle gives newcomers and veterans alike the opportunity to sing on the same spot that once supported Uncle Dave Macon, Ernest Tubb, Patsy Cline, and others."    I copied the following article about this famous circle and the flooding.


"The six-foot circle of oak was cut from the floor of the Ryman Auditorium and placed in the floor of the new Opry house in 1974, when the Opry moved to its present location. The lighter oak really shines amidst the dark teak that has been installed around it.

“I am honored to share this stage with Jimmy today. To be here, when the circle goes back in place, is wonderful,” Brad [Paisley] said. “It really was emotional to see that black sheet come off it. I had forgotten what it looks like. I thought it was more like a hardwood floor but looking at it now, it looks like many a pair of cowboy boots has walked across it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it that close up. With it up in the air, on its side and only inches away, it’s really something to see. It looks like it could tell a story of its own.”
After the piece was in place, Brad brought out his guitar and he and Jimmy [Dickens] sang a verse and chorus of ‘Will The Circle Be Unbroken.’ “I thought of that last night, that I should bring a guitar,” the singer explained. “I didn’t think this piece should sit here silently for the next month, waiting for the Opry to come back here.”



 We had dinner at the Opry Mills Mall right next to the Opry, then headed over  A young Minnie Pearl was outside greeting people, then we went in and found our seats.

Minnie Pearl was also the first one on stage too.  It wasn't as big an auditorium as I expected, and the seats were padded benches instead of individual seats.  It wasn't full but they had a pretty good crowd for a Tuesday night.  This show is a live radio show -- the longest running live radio show in the world.

Between performances and during the intermission, they broadcast live commercials.

Performers tonight were as follows:

 Keith Anderson

 Connie Smith, a real oldie but she did a great job, still has a beautiful voice.

 Terri Clark, my favorite of the night.  She did Patsy Cline proud with her rendition of "Walkin After Midnight."  She is the only Canadian member of the Grand Ole Opry. 

 Bellamy Brothers.

 The 2 sons of one of the Bellamy Brothers also performed one song, and did a good job.

 A real oldie -- Bill Anderson.  He sang the Unicorn song and it was wonderful.  He got a standing ovation when he completed his song, "Too Country,"  and it brought tears to his eyes.  He said when he took the songs he had written to his producers, they told him they were "too country," so he went home and wrote a song about it.

 Dailey & Vincent.  They did one acapello act and one of the group has a REALLY LOW voice.

 Maggie Rose

 Phil Vassar.  He plays a really wicked piano.

It was all very good.  I was probably the only one in the audience who is not a fan of country music, but I did enjoy this, especially when they sang a song I recognized.  It was definitely an Excellent Adventure.