Today was supposed to be about Nashville and country music. Seemed to be more about finding the real people in a tourist town. Not that the tourist aren't real....
We ran from the hotel we stayed at last night, despite a decent breakfast spread, and found new digs. An early check-in left us free for the day to explore Country Music Town. We started with a quick walk to the nearby Dukes of Hazzard and Willie Nelson Museums. Cooter's place was free except fees for pix in the cars. We didn't bite, but the was a booster seat in the General Lee for little ones.
Then to Willie Nelson's Museum. The eight dollar admission was enough to keep us out of the Museum portion, but the gift shop was free. I suggested my companion get a light colored ventilated hat.
On a recommendation from my singer we walked across the street from the Fiddler's Inn where we stayed to "walk through the lobby" of the Opryland Hotel.
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| What says country more than a John Deere and a giant flag? |
Intoxicated by the smell of Magnolias as we walked the grounds to the "lobby" started what was close to a two mile hike. After driving for three days, this was a welcome diversion.
Let me just say that Gaylord Opryland Hotel is an engineering and business marvel with nearly 3000 rooms, employing three or four thousand, and getting $20/day for parking and $200/night for a room.
But what rooms!
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| The plants are real. |
Here are the balconies, under glass, overlooking beautiful gardens complete with gift shops and restaurants. The immensity of the place really hits when the two story Plantation Mansion appears under glass.
To cover the mechanical noise of air conditioners and humidify the tropical plant waterfalls and cascades are strategically placed throughout the four atria.
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| Behind the scenes! |
Lilies, orchids, bromeliads and other plants are all real. If you want a good detailed tour, there is a riverboat tour that explains some of the details.
We met several workers in our two or three hour hike, and most seemed to marvel as much as myself at this giant amalgamation of business and engineering. A modern marvel indeed.
Once we found our motel we realized we were hungry and stopped at the Opry Backstage Grill. A slight bout o' gout prevented me from the good stuff, but the wings were spot on, as were the fried green tomatoes and the grits. I could only taste a light smoking on my chicken salad sandwich though. The singing servers were amusing, and they lent me a guitar to play while I waited for the appetizers. Touristy, but the Jumbo Takamine was one of the best set-up guitars I've borrowed in a long time, and it was nice to get my hand on a steel string in Nashville. No one minded, and the waiters seemed a tad impressed.
After a nap we agreed to have some drinks and took the shuttle to downtown (read tourist trap) Nashville. Dropped of right in front of the Margaritaville that was adjacent to the Hard Rock Cafe. Not my kind of place. Walking Broadway gave me Deja vu from Bourbon Street in NOLA. Cover bands doing pop - the best ones tailoring their playlist to the local history. We saw a fair country cover band in the Silver Dollar Saloon (with a great frontman), but I started realizing I don't care for country music today. So we slipped into the BB King Club and found Herchel Bailey. More soul than blues, but an exciting frontman. Tale told to me is that he is the grandson of DeFord Bailey, the first man to be introduced on WSM under the Grand Ole Opry moniker. This was told to me by the waitress assigned to us when we slipped away from the bar to a more comfortable table. Small talk of "where y'all from" led to the discovery that the waitress graduated from Plainfield High School with my daughter. I'm fairly certain I heard this lady singing the National Anthem from the football field neighboring my house.
The world is small place indeed.
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