Day 28 Nashville

Up and out early again to check with the front reception area to see if they would honor our Hop On-Hop Off passes to access the free shuttle back from town. Because Grumpy Pants insisted out tickets yesterday be timed, we started at 11:00 and they are supposed to be good for 24 hours...technically we should be good until 11:00 today. That would get us in no problem but possibly not home because the first return shuttle doesn’t come back to Music Valley until 4:00. They assured us that wasn’t a problem so we were off. Another couple rode with us this morning. They are from Modesto, CA and are on a three month road trip. They are retired. He worked for a California winery all his life and we love California wine so clearly it was set to be a great match! They were in fact great travelling companions and we shared stories of life on the road and the places we’ve been. Before we knew it we were in downtown Nashville.

Sure he makes it sound so easy! But he's Bach!

Makes me wonder what Victor Hugo thought of Les Mis?

Nashville is not just about country music. This statue in front of the Symphony building is a thanks to Nashville for their love of all kinds of music.

We had no intention of using the trolley today, even until 11:00, except as a free ride into the city. We were confident now in knowing our way around so we set off on foot to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Our friends John and Julie had already alerted us to the need to also visit Studio B. This is affiliated with the Museum but in a different location so is booked separately but can only be booked in conjunction with the Hall of Fame. Again a timed thing (Nashville seems big on that!) and for us apparently 11:00 is the magic hour! We had time to get into the Museum, get the lay of the land, plan an attack that would allow us to see everything from Miranda Lambert’s water bottle (???) to Elvis’s Gold Caddie (!!!) and we were off to meet this bus and the tour guide who would bring us to see Studio B. Brenda, our tour guide, was an elementary teacher and clearly a great one. She was passionate, animated and knew her country music history. John and Julie were so right; this tour was a great idea!

We had driven by Studio B yesterday in our city tour. It is located in the heart of all of the other recording studios. The stop not only allowed a peek inside the building but also a trip back through time! Studio B ran from 1957 -1977 and was the place Elvis recorded all of his hits at the time. In fact 35,000 recordings were cut from Studio B, 1000 of them number one hits, and 262 belonged to Elvis. The RCA studio was built by Chet Atkins when he first tried to record Elvis in other area studios and couldn’t get the sound right. According to Atkins (and it now appears he certainly knew what he was talking about!), Elvis needed a chamber with echo to capture the essential qualities that made his voice so unique. In the days before Studio B was complete they even went so far as to bring Elvis into a stairwell to get the sound they were looking for! Studio B closed its doors August 17, 1977 in an interesting twist of fate, the day after Elvis “had left the building”! The closure had been scheduled a year earlier but so interesting that the studio was built for Elvis and closed the day after he died!

The tour led us through the studio rooms and walked us through the memorabilia all against the backdrop of music that had been recorded by the greats. We saw the spot where 19 year old Dolly Parton, in her hurry to get to her recording on time, backed her Buick into the wall. The repair marks are still clearly visible. Dolly apparently referred to it as her first big hit at Studio B! The most incredible part of the whole thing though was at the end when we were brought into the “big room” and led through the story of Are You Lonesome Tonight. Much of the story I knew, of how Elvis had a huge problem with insomnia and recorded at night. He would warm up by singing Gospel hymns. He loved the greasy little hamburgers served locally and would place an order for everyone in the studio and they would all eat before a session. Although a huge big deal, even at the time, Elvis had a reputation here in Nashville of having time for everyone and would make a personal connection with everyone in studio including the night cleaners, each night when he arrived. Rather than a list of events as I have given them, Brenda provided them in a rich narrative that invited us to imagine. She was setting the stage as she turned off the lights and we listened to the original recording of Are you Lonesome Tonight in the dark, as it was recorded! There were two mistakes in the recording right at the end but it was so amazing otherwise they kept it. Are You Lonesome Tonight in one take! It was turned over to Bill Porter who spliced the tape with scissors and cellophane to cut one mistake the back-up singers made in the final “tonight”, the second mistake was mostly cut. Recording in the dark, Elvis bumped his head on the mike at the end of the song. They produced it anyway – it was just that good! When you know to listen for it, at the end of the recording there is a distinct “click-click” of the head bump that didn’t get removed! We left Studio B to the strains of Elvis singing How Great Thou Art! Pure magic!

Roy Orbison

Charlie Pride ... this one is for Mom!

Brenda in Studio B

We travelled back to the Country Music Hall of Fame and picked up where we left off with our exploring. I debated saying this because I don’t want to make it sound like I didn’t enjoy the museum part, because I very much did. However this blog is, primarily, our big souvenir of the trip that we can revisit at any time to relive our experience. It may be that it is because we have visited so many museums that we have developed a perspective on these things but, while we enjoyed the information and the experiences, the actual display was not really very good in our opinion. Jonathan, in his Knowledge Integration Faculty at Waterloo, had the opportunity to travel to Europe and study museum design. It wasn’t until that happened that I began to even realize I suppose the amount of planning and design that goes into creating an experience. We realized that we would have loved Jonathan to have been with us. As a music LOVER and an educated eye, we would have loved his opinion! I think my main discord (Anyone catch that? Music museum...discord? Wish I could say it was intentional!) was a consequence of the missed opportunity to make this a very moving display. The big joke in country music of course is the “oh woe is me” flavor that is often created. While that may have been true in certain eras of the music and not so much in others, there are some pretty compelling human stories attached to much of this music. This had the potential to be a WOW! museum display, but while the information was there, you had to dig a bit and find it. Speaking if digging, the write-ups for the displays were very often down at floor level which required much squatting and care not to trip over people who were reading. I know I’m old, but I noticed by the end that most folks were massaging the small of their back so I wasn’t the only one! I understand the need for specific lighting in a museum both for optimum presentation and preservation but when you combine that with print that is not appropriately bolded and sized (and did I mention at floor level), well these old eyes just were not up to the challenge! Once again as I watched people take glasses on and off repeatedly I realized I was not alone. The video displays were great but the air conditioning was set so low that my nose was running by the time I left...and I’m never cold. This is apparently a Tennessee thing though (more about that later)! The audio displays (and this was maybe the biggest shocked since it is a music museum!) were sometimes impossible to hear! The speakers were not well placed for the flow of traffic nor for their proximity to the next audio display with a different sound track. My ears were very confused! The worst part was that the bits I could hear were very interesting and I really did want to hear more! I’ll stop complaining now because really the day was great it was just surprising I guess that this very new and modern museum hadn’t done a better job at presentation.

I learned something I didn’t know before about museums in general. According to these folks any museum has only about 10% of their artifacts on display at any given time. I realized there was rotation but 10% really surprised me. In this case though there were occasional glimpses into back rooms and it is clearly true!

Back room stuff not on display.

The story of Bakersfield and how it became so influential in the country music scene – short version... Families leaving Tennessee and other nests of country and bluegrass during the Great Depression headed to California to find work. These communities of transplants, in an effort to preserve their heritage highlighted their music in local bars and other gathering spaces and Bakersfield began establishing itself as a chapter of music history. The day offered a glimpse into the outlaw branch of the family tree and how country music was the downfall of some and the salvation of others. The journey of the craft from its Gospel roots to its modern day new country flavor was told in conjunction with the media influences that delivered the sound to the world. I was never a big country fan. Until I met David I really didn’t like the stuff! But over the years as my taste in music expanded, it included an appreciation for some country then a significant like for the new country sound. Today my appreciation grew with my knowledge of the far reaches of what “country music” includes.

Trisha Yearwood worked at The Country Music Hall Fame while in college!

How most hits start!

By the time we had finished roaming through the three floors of the museum it was time for a swaller  ...and a holler! It really is a thing here! Sitting in any restaurant or bar with live music, and they ALL have live music, everything stops when the performers suddenly yell, “This calls for a holler and a swaller”! Everyone in the place stops what they’re doing, yells a big yee haw and everyone together takes a gulp of whatever they’re drinking!

Tootsies World Famous Orchid Lounge is a mandatory stop in Nashville. Sharing a back alley with Ryman Auditorium since 1960 it has hosted many rising stars on its stage (Taylor Swift in recent years!) and countless stars as regular patrons. And it’s a dive! Three floors each with its own stage and live entertainment from 10:00 am to the wee hours the sign at the front claims. The rooms are crowded, the floors are worn through, the tables, chairs and walls are made of plywood and every surface has been autographed by the famous and the not so famous. David loved the fact that the tables had obviously been given a recent coat of varnish but there is no sanding – just varnish over the signatures and graffiti!

We made our way to the top floor which is literally a plywood garage built on the roof! The garage doors are open but in Nashville fashion the air conditioner hanging from the ceiling has me searching for a sweater despite the 30° heat! I can’t imagine the utility bills around here! The food is mediocre. The total effect is awesome! The band playing up here is an eclectic mix of all ages and styles leading me to wonder how they ever came to be but they are very good and we were quickly swallowed up in the party.

The clientele appears as varied at the band and watching them is the kind of entertainment you just can’t pay for! A young girl from Alabama makes her way onto the stage for an impromptu performance and as she is very good! Watching her boyfriend in the audience we begin to suspect this may have been an attempt to “break in” or “be discovered” on her part and when she finishes to a well deserved applause she comes dancing back down clearly please with herself. That was all the encouragement needed, well that and the significant amount of alcohol that had obviously been consumed, for an older woman from Chicago to join her on what was about to become a dance floor! The band was happy to support the efforts with the $20 encouragement from Chicago woman who (now shoeless and ready for a scuff) was now pledging undying love to the mountain man (picture overalls and a long flowing white beard) who was the band’s bass player. Enter now the young man with autism from the local Goodwill store. Still dressed in his uniform, he is clearly a regular and loves the fact that a dance has started! I tell you, you just couldn’t pay for such delightful entertainment! Who cares if lunch was mediocre? The beer was cold and it was time for a holler and a swaller!

 

The band.

Tootsies

Bustin' a move!

Hesitant to leave we rushed to catch our trolley back out to Music Valley. We had tickets tonight to the Grand Ole Opry and we certainly couldn’t miss that!

We just had time for a quick freshen up and we were off. This campground was ideally located just 5 minutes down the road so we drove ourselves down to Opryland. What a spot. The complex houses the Opryland Hotel, General Jackson Riverboat dock, the huge Opry Mills entertainment/shopping complex and of course The Grand Ole Opry. Heading into the grounds we were greeted time and again by folks welcoming us, wanting to know where we were from, asking if there was anything they could do to help us (they even offered a golf cart to drive us to the door from our car if we wanted – we didn’t!).  Honestly days later I still think Grumpy Pants is the only unfriendly person in the state! We took a few minutes for the requisite tourist pictures and then went to our front and centre (awesome!) seats! I was surprised at how excited I was. Truly nothing I ever would have thought to do. I knew David would like it though and that’s why I had gotten tickets! I LOVED it! I read our line up Janelle Arthur, Jim Ed Brown, The Henningsens, The Isaacs, The Whites, Jerrod Niemann, Randy Houser and Lee Brice and didn’t think I recognized a name? As they were preparing for the show to start, and remember this is a live radio show, there was much effort made to capture the audience...very successfully! The show started and I was blown away! Not only were the performances exceptional I recognized so much of the music. So many of the performers were also talented writers and as they sang their songs I knew them from being covered by other stars whose names I did recognize. Jim Ed Brown for example meant nothing to me on the program but when he opened with Pop A Top and followed with Three Bells I knew just who I was listening to! 80 years old but his voice was sure and strong. Mom may remember my grandmother asking me (countless times!) to sing Scarlet Ribbons to her, another Jim Ed Brown hit!

I think the thing I loved the most though was the intimacy that was created. I am not a big fan of concerts because they are so big. Most times I would prefer to sit home and listen to a concert in our home theatre where the sound is better and I can see so much more. Not here at the Opry. There is a very informal flavor to the performance, our awesome seats enhanced the intimacy and there was very much a sense that these people were enjoying the fact that they were performing at the Opry every bit as much as we were enjoying the show. That sense of awe and wonder that I missed at the museum display was very much felt here.

One other thing that was evident was the obvious deeply held spirituality of the people of Tennessee. Not a single performer left the stage with wishing us God’s blessing. We have noticed this here in restaurants, on busses, everywhere “God bless” is a standard part of a good-bye. Today on our trolley ride home we were talking with our California couple about how many beautiful things we had seen in our travels - buildings, museums, etc. I just happened to mention that God hadn’t done a bad job with the scenery either when Roy, our driver, interjected with a big, “Amen” and made a point of telling me, “That is very, very true right there, and we can never forget it.”  I used to think that the, “I want to thank God” heard throughout award shows was somewhat contrived. Having spent a week here I suspect I was unfair and their faith is both deep and very genuine. With 700 churches in the city, the community of believers is well supported!

At the end of the show Jerrod, Randy and Lee, who are all apparently very good friends, realized a life-long dream and came out to sing together at the Opry. They certainly made it appear impromptu and it may well have been since it put the concert over by 45 minutes. No complaints here!

Jim Ed Brown

The White sisters

The boys playing together.

What a day! Not sure how we can top this one!

Day 27 Nashville

Well we had a plan and all of that changed early this morning when we stopped at the KOA office to have a chat with the GrayLine representative. We were considering taking the Hop On-Hop Off Trolley Tour as we have had such great experience with them in other cities for giving us an overview and inside tips. We really just went in to confirm our best place for parking and by the time we left for town David had parked the truck back at the campsite, we had a ride on a free (mostly private, but more about that later) return trolley into town, we had arranged transportation to the Grand Ol’ Opry for tomorrow night and made tentative plans for The General Jackson Showboat Dinner Theater Show later in the week...and it wasn’t even 9:00 am!!!!

We looked through all of the new information we had been given while we waited for the trolley to arrive. Shortly after 9:00 am Roy drove up in an empty trolley car and offered a, “Howdy! Welcome y’all to Nashville!” He drove around Music Valley (who knew that’s where we were, but it was important to remember for the trolley ride back!) apologizing for the delay in getting us downtown but he had to check his other stops to see if anyone else needed a ride. Honestly, apologizing – the riding around must have taken all of ten minutes! Our introduction tour of Nashville started as soon as we met Roy. He told us so much about the area where we were including great places to eat near the campground that we might never have noticed! Roy is a fisherman and was very excited when he learned we were from Canada. He has dreams of going there to fish! As I said, a mostly private ride, but a couple of people got on at the last stop and then we headed straight to the Trolley Station on the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville.

Instead of going into the station straight away we set off in search of the Nashville Visitors Center. We had decided we would buy the Music City Total Access Attraction Pass that would allow us entry to four area attractions, entrance to the Parthenon (I know, sounds cheesy, we thought so too, but just wait) and, among other discounts, 25% off the GrayLine Hop On-Hop Off Trolley Tour! Looking at the map and with assurances from Roy we felt the city was very walkable and easy to navigate – so true! We passed so many things we had heard about – Honky Tonk Row, Tootsies, Wild Horse Saloon, Ernest Tubbs Music Shop, and even though in was still barely 9:00 in the morning we could hear the strains of tuning instruments through the doors of the bars! Clearly this was going to be an easy place to find things. With our City Passes around our necks we set out for the nearest Trolley stop to buy our tickets. The lady manning that booth was cranky but honestly she is the only cranky person in Nashville – maybe in the entire state of Tennessee  – so we just got our tickets and moved on to find the happy people. We learned (from Cranky Pants so we weren’t sure it was accurate) that trolley tickets here are timed and we were told to be in front of Ryman Auditorium at 11:00. Not sure how a timed trolley works in a Hop On-Hop Off system but we did as we were told since taking time to wander around and rubber neck in Nashville is a pleasure all its own. For example I was standing on a street corner looking at my map. David had wandered off toward the strains of guitar (remember here the emphasis is on the first syllable)! This young couple approached me and asked if I knew of a good place to eat. I explained my 30 minute relationship with Nashville and apologized when two young girls approached and asked if they could help. They actually couldn’t but apparently this was a ruse to connect with them since this guy was a lead singer for some hot band or other. A lively conversation ensued as these girls explained they were band photographers looking to move to Nashville and this band guy and his girlfriend were here for the first time because the band had a gig in town. They swapped stories about who they all knew giving me time to consult my maps and set them off in this direction of a row of restaurants – that was pretty much all I had to offer the conversation! Hey wait a minute! I just realized mine was the only useful contribution!! Anyway apparently I saw someone who was a big deal but by the time I got to blogging...I can’t even remember what the name was! I would make a hopeless autograph chaser!!

It may not be Memphis but no trouble to find The King in Nashville.

David seemed excited?

Street art in front of Ledgends and Tootsies.

Roadies (weird lookin' dudes!) unloading for Sarah McLachlan at Ryman.

Here comes our Trolley!

Our Trolley arrived right on time and although Grumpy Pants told us we couldn’t ride the whole circuit and Hop On/Off later (they were too busy, and this wasn’t like other cities, blah, blah, blah), that’s exactly what we did. Our driver and tour guide Mike was great and we didn’t want to miss anything he might have to share. We learned:

·         Honky Tonk Row on Broadway is the place for music but Church Street is the food district

·        Puckett’s Grocery Restaurant at the corner of Church and 5^th is a Cracker Barrel with live entertainment! That’s worth a check!

·        Tennessee State Museum is, like so many government run venues here in the US, free.

·        Chet Atkins gave Jimmy Hendrix guitar lessons when Jimmy was stationed here is the army.

·       Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park (again all free including parking) is a great place to come back to, maybe on the weekend when there are free concerts in the park. The park is divided into three sections for the three regions of Tennessee. The gardens, sculpture, displays, etc. all are designed to lead you through a tour of Tennessee in this one park. At the entrance 31 dancing fountains represent the 31 rivers that feed into Tennessee. Special displays like the Civil War Memorial with a piece of granite marked North-South and divided down the middle and a giant open air market with bike racks that resemble giant slices of tomato and ears of corn were all enticing enough in our drive by tour that we’ve decided a day here will be time well spent.

·       The Parthenon Centennial Park in the west end sounded sort of goofy to honest. When we arrived though Mike explained that when the World Fair was held in Nashville in 1854 various reproductions had been created. When the fair closed Nashville fought the dismantling of the Parthenon and asked that the  be left behind. A full scale replica down to the “no straight lines” detail it houses an art museum and certainly appears worth a second look – stay tuned.

·        Following the Civil War there was movement to offer education opportunities for freed slaves. Fist University was established but funding was an issue since it was envisioned to be free for freed black slaves. In an effort to raise funds they started a school choir called the Jubilee Singers!! Funny since that’s the name of the group I sing with in Dufferin-Peel! They travelled all over the world singing and at one time sang for Queen Victoria who apparently sent a letter back to the State of Tennessee praising their performance and stating that these singers clearly came from the music city in the USA. That was the beginnings of referring to Nashville as Music City USA!

·       We were surprised to learn that music was not the largest employer here though. 63% of employment is related to health care and they boast 113 health care facilities! We passed various hospitals and research centers. One of note was the Sarah Cannon Cancer Research Centre. A breast cancer survivor, she died (of a heart attack actually) without having had children and her husband had died before her so she left her sizable estate to the establishment of what is apparently the largest cancer research facility. Later we learned that Roy (our driver from this morning) had known her and spoke very highly of Sarah Cannon. The world knew her as Minnie Pearl!

·       David and I weren’t particularly interested in exploring further but they did point out the area around the Belle Meade Plantation. It was a Civil War Battlefield at the end of town but is now where all the stars live!

·       We did pick up interesting (pronounced inneresting here) star facts though as we passed by Adelicia Condos where Toby Keith, Tanya Tucker and Kelly Clarkson live. The top two floors are a glass penthouse that Taylor Swift calls home. We passed Toby Keith’s bar(s) beside one another called Winners and Losers! We saw recording studios for everyone who is anyone! Reba’s with her helicopter pad on top, the Sony Music Studio that is still being fought over in Michael Jackson’s estate, all the names in country music are on banners out front along the road.

·       Traffic here is surprisingly great! It may be because of their free transit system, who knows, but traffic is light and moves well. We asked Mike about this and he agreed this was usual except during the CMA awards! Seemed a bit of a sore point with the locals that construction slows the city down and decisions are made about city improvements to host the 50 million visitors that come for one week a year! They did admit though it was great for the economy and truthfully road work, construction and traffic was all a lot less trouble than in Pigeon Forge!!

·        Little Richard lives on the top floor of the Hilton Hotel. Apparently he comes down every day to chat to the concierge in the lobby and locals know that’s where they will find him! Again not being big star chasers we have decided to leave the poor man alone but we did have the sense that he does enjoy his retirement!

·        Rosanne Cash too can almost always be found leading folks through the Johnny Cash Museum. We were told the tour takes about an hour but better plan for 90 minutes if you get stuck talking to Rosanne!

These are all just glimpses from a trolley drive-by! Nashville has much to entertain it seems.

Bike rack at the farmers market.

US Capitol buildings always so pretty!

Reba's studio.

In the center of the recording studios is this sculpture. Called the Sound of Music it caused a bit of a stir to local "tender" sensibilities when it first appeared. Locals now refer to it only as the naked statue

Back at the station we decided it was about time to have a bite to eat and asked Mike on our way out if he had a suggestion. Not only did he have a great lunch suggestion the tour was extended by 15 minutes (of his break time) and he told us about an event called Dancin’ in the District. On Thursday nights the River Front is transformed into a large outdoor concert venue and local food trucks move in and the wineries in the area provide refreshment as Nashville, literally, dances in the street. The whole thing is free and GrayLine provides a roundtrip ride from the campground directly to Margaritaville for $5! He says they run until 4:00 am. Not sure we will need that much time to carouse with the locals but you can be sure we’ll be there! Eek! Thursday was the night we were thinking about the dinner cruise, I’m gonna run out of time here!

Rippy’s was a great place for lunch. Like everywhere here there was live entertainment. All acts play for tips since there is so much talent the bar and restaurant owners don’t have to pay. From the musician side they all want to be discovered. We learned Keith Urban played in the Legends bar across the street for four years before his big break came. Next door in the world famous Tootsies Orchid Lounge Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynne and countless others got their start. Most of these spots have multiple floors and there is live music on each of the floors! The sound on the street is a cacophony but a step inside anyone of these honky tonks is a chance to listen to incredible talents and perhaps watch a star be born! Only one week how will we ever get to it all?

Supporting the local economy while waiting for lunch!

Our entertainment. This kid was only 17 but what a voice.

Quite the menu - feature drinks Charlie?

View from my window of the at&t building with the top designed to resemble the cradle of a rotary dial phone!

The guys in the yellow jackets on Segways are Nashville Ambassadors. They ride through the city looking for tourists to help!

After lunch we wandered and noticed so many things that hurrying to the next venue we would have missed. There is a strange combination of seedy and charming here. The hopefuls are here of course! The homeless are ever present, as they are and will continue to be until we truly remove the stigmas attached to mental health. The memory seekers are here commenting openly on the glory days of country music. The funky are here presenting an eclectic mix of fashion. The tourists are here being led by a platoon of service providers surprisingly invisible compared to our recent experiences in Gatlinburg but not difficult to find. And the local are here friendly, helpful and proud to share their city.

Honky Tonk Row



Walk of Fame stars are an eclectic mix of everyone from Little Jimmy Dickens to Peter Frampton! Didn't make much sense who was included and who wasn't??

LOVE architecture! Glass buildings on a cloudy day seem to disappear into the sky!

I know it's an insurance company but come on people think of a better name if you're going to put in on your building! Cool though are the many reclaimed buildings in downtown. The building across the street was a bank building repurposed as a Marriott. The teller wickets inside were your registration desks!

This waterfront sculpture that looks like a broken roller coaster is called Ghost Ballet was commissioned as a tribute to the railway. Seems locals reserve the right to call it like they see it though and this one, locally, is called "studip"!

More sidewalk art. My guys would love this!

By late afternoon we were tired and made our way back toward the trolley station. We were early for the return trip to Music Valley but met Roy once again! He was on his way out to do his last tour of the day and then he would be the one, he told us, driving us back to the campground. If we wanted, we were welcome to join him on the last tour. We wanted! Although the tour followed roughly the same route we had taken with Mike earlier, we learned that each driver has some different stories to share and their own unique tour flavor! We learned loads of Nashville and Tennessee trivia on this trip – we didn’t know that milk was the official drink of Tennessee (I guessed moonshine!) and that the state animal is a racoon! Just as much fun the second time around!

Roy was training a new driver and once we dropped the others people on the tour off at the station and we were on our way back to Music Valley the trainee started to talk, and do I mean talk! We learned about his tattoos, his wife, his Christian biking (?!!), the flood he was in a few years back, his carving and artistic pursuits, the jobs he has had, his parents, his fascination with dragons, and his born again experience. We saw pictures of his motorcycle and a body tour of his tattoos! As we arrived back at the campground Roy laughed and said, “They know you well now.” Before leaving David offered Roy a $10 Canadian bill as a tip for all he had done for us throughout the day. David mentioned the desire to come to Canada fishing and offered it as a start to his saving for the trip. He was clearly thrilled with the bill and fascinated by the pretty colour of our money! It was one of the new plastic bills so that was an added bonus! It was fun to watch him get so excited about it! He shook both of our hands, twice, and wished us a great time in Nashville! Such a cool part of the day and to think we would have missed it had we gone with our first thought to drive into the city!

A relatively boring evening of laundry but it must be done! Besides we need to rest up – who knows what tomorrow might bring...besides the Grand Ol’ Opry I mean.

Day 26 Nashville

The sun rose on a beautiful day. It was easy to believe that last night’s terror hadn’t happened except everyone was milling about the campground sharing their war stories! One couple who were standing by the river watching the torrent of water make the surrounding trees tremble mentioned that they lived close to water in New England and so subscribed to a National Weather Service update. An email had come in this morning based on their current location confirming that Little Pigeon River had risen by 8 feet of water!!  Truly this morning the storm seemed almost like a bad dream. The scary part of our night was in the potential unknown. In the end we were fine but the fear of what might happen, especially as those around us lost their homes, was quite terrifying!



This entire poor tree was quaking with the force of the current!

Not quite the little mountain stream of a day ago!

Today was planned as another travel day and life does go on so we were heading west on I40 by early morning. The roads through Tennessee are great and we were checking into our campground just minutes down the road from the Opryland in no time. Speaking of time, it took us a few minutes to figure that out. We gained an hour as Nashville operates on Central Standard Time. Took us a bit to work that out as some electronics (cell phone) switched automatically while others (tablet and GPS) did not. Left us discombobulated for a while but we are marching with the band now!

We have discovered that maps here are interesting. They are generally printed to highlight a specific area but we haven’t yet been able to find a map of the entire city! Thinking I was being smart I started to look for maps that overlapped and thought I could move back and forth as necessary. In a crazy twist folks here are not consistent in printing maps. Where one will display north at the top on the map (in the natural order of things!!), others choose different orientations. North can be top, bottom, left or right depending on the map and that creates a bit of a challenge in quickly moving back and forth between one and the other. Not to be foiled I did manage to figure out where we were in the bigger picture and we have (I hope!) worked out a route to downtown, parking and a rough idea of the first things we will do in this city that appears to offer a never ending slate of attractions to amuse and entertain. Tomorrow will tell. Stayed turned for tales from Nashville – Music City USA!

Day 25 Gatlinburg

Funny what happens on a day that you don’t think will account for much! David has had just about enough of the crazy traffic! It doesn’t matter what time of day, or in which direction you travel, there is crazy traffic! Once you get into the park it’s OK but getting to the park through the tacky tourist attractions is a nightmare. I think he would have been just as happy to spend a quiet day at the trailer. This was our last day here though and we have only seen a fraction of the park so it seemed a shame to waste it.

In an attempt to avoid the worst of the traffic on the main streets we set off to become horribly lost on back roads. Now anyone who has gotten lost on back roads knows that while it usually isn’t the most efficient travel route, it is rarely without its hidden charm. This morning it led us to the Art and Craft Community that we had visited on the trolley the other day. This is a funky back-woods community of creative people who are involved in everything from delicate glass blowing to chainsaw carving! Stopping at a few shops was interesting and various stops offered additional thrills...while leaning against the split rail fence to chat with the chainsaw carver I was startled but delighted at the bright blue lizards that ran along the posts. In front of the Dulcimer Shop we were startled by what sounded like a gunshot! Now I am well aware that my fanciful imagination could jump to “gunshot” at a loud bang in the backwoods of Tennessee. When a local shop keeper came running out to see about the “gunshot” well...let’s say it was time to finish with the shopping and move on!

Smoky Mountains National Park is so huge that not only does it have countless hiking trails it also has many auto tours. Many of these have been established as one way loops, and a mile or two will clearly establish the wisdom of that decision! There is a mountain stream that runs though a particular area and a narrow road is created to follow the stream – literally! As the steam twists and turns the roads twists and turns. You hug the mountain and tree branches occasionally intrude through the truck window – the road is just that narrow!

Beautiful but interesting driving!

The beauty of these auto routes though is the hiking opportunity. At every ½ mile or so on this eight mile route there are lay-bys. At each stop you have the choice of hikes ranging from a short stroll to a 4 mile climb through the mountains. This set up allows you to cover a lot of ground but expend your hiking energy wisely. Each time we pick a new area to explore we think it was nicer than the last. Today was no different. We tended to stay away from the most popular areas littered with other tourists and used the guide book from our “Starter Kit” to find less popular, thus less populated routes. I can’t imagine how great the trendy trails must be since the exploring we did on Roaring Forks was phenomenal!

Bud Ogle (first settler) Homestead. He built this home for his family then went back east to get them. He died on the way back so never got to live in it with them!

Cool "bridges". Halved logs thrown across the stream and a railing added on one side!

Beautiful, rugged trails.

Breathtakingly beautiful streams.

Occassional mountain views through the trees.

Ephraim and Minerva Bales raised nine children here!

My view for much of the day!

If this is my picture, imagine what David's looks like!



Alfred Reagan place. An entrepreneur in the early mountain community. Painted his house "all three colors that Sears and Roebuck had"!! Called a saddlebag house, it had a central chimney that heated a room on either side. The door led to a loft where their six children slept. The kitchen was out back (seen in the picture below) - very fancy!

Foundations were interesting, yet the houses are still standing - and sturdy!

One of Reagan's enterprises was this mill. The flume still carries water as it has for over a hundred years!

I was in the mood for a steak. That hardly ever happens so I thought I would give in to the urge and we planned a BBQ back at the trailer. Back to the outskirts of town we found a large grocery store. The man at the checkout in front of us asked, “D’y’all have a valued customer card for the store?” I have no idea how he could ever have know we weren’t from around here! Right! Our friends Donnie and Theresa are travelling in Wales and her blog was mentioning how they stood out with their accents. I don’t think it’s any less true here! Anyway I told him we didn’t and he offered his card which gave us over $5.00 in savings so that was very nice!

On the way down from the mountain we stopped at Ely's Mill for some boiled peanuts. A local delicacy you see them at road stands everywhere here. Boiled in pots of brine they are sold hot. The expression on my face should tell you what I thought of them. They are wet and slimy, and the nuts themselves are soggy and chewy! Yuck!

By the time dinner was cooked the sky was looking mighty angry. As we were cleaning up Shirley and Joe Ferguson from Kentucky came over. They had noticed our licence plates and weren’t sure how familiar we were with southern storms. They had been tracking one headed our way and we discussed safety measures, emergency shelters and escape routes! This storm had some serious potential! By the time the last of the dishes were done with the serenade of the local traffic station warning of impending doom in the form of tornados, floods, severe lightning and baseball size hail we were hopping in the truck and seeking shelter somewhere other than our tin can (though lovely tin can as it is) that is parked between two trees beside a ...remember that lovely river I was bragging about days ago? Not so happy with that at the moment!

As we were heading to the bathhouse with other folks (Shirley and Joe had been over to check it all out and recommended the men’s section since that was in the middle of the building between women’s and laundry) the man across the road was getting in his truck and (wisely) suggested that if trees came down we would be trapped without a way out of here and was moving his truck to higher ground away from trees. By this time I am a bit anxious – this was serious! The best spot it seemed for the truck was the parking lot by the registration office. By the time we parked the storm was in full lather and we were NOT walking back to a bathroom! It may have been best anyway since the registration office was quite large with staff who knew the area. We had a TV and internet to keep us informed. There was some furniture and the little tuck shop had food! What more could we want? With two dozen other campers and a dog we settled in for the next 2 ½ hours as the storm raged around us. We didn’t in the end see any tornado action or hail but we did watch reports from neighboring counties where homes were destroyed and trees uprooted. The hail damage was wide spread and the young guy who worked in the camp office ran out to throw rugs over his car! He has suffered hail damage before and now carries rugs in his trunk! Hail ranged from pea sized to one picture they showed of a woman holding a baseball and a piece of hail of the same size!!

After about 2 ½ hours the first line of storms passed through and we decided to go back to the trailer to check on any damage and maybe get some sleep as the second line of storms was due at midnight so it could be a long, sleepless stretch. By the time midnight came we were back into a storm so fierce that we couldn’t hear the TV reports! Although there was still a tornado watch, it was not thought to be likely. The bigger concern with this wave of nastiness was flooding and our county was the major target! Given our spot by the river we thought the best plan this time around was to stay and closely monitor both the reports and the evidence outside the window. It was a loooong night! The river came up to the top of its bank but didn’t go beyond that. The lightning was indeed severe and the storm raged on for hours before eventually going off to wherever worn out storms go! We are fine, our truck and trailer are fine but I was as scared as I have ever been by weather. By about 3:00 am I felt I was finally able to leave my post and get some much needed sleep!