Day 31 Nashville

Well today is a whopping  35° and that very much limits my options! We have decided we are going to head out tomorrow on our way back home. The truck has been a little cranky and though David thinks (hopes?!!) it will be fine to get us home, he thinks that shorter days with a little extra wiggle room is prudent since we have to be back for a wedding on Friday. Given all that though we didn’t want to waste our last day and although clearly there are a number of things to look forward to on our next trip we wanted to tour the Ryman and have a look at the city parks.

Given the heat we were hesitant to rely on someone else’s schedule so we chose to drive downtown. We have been many times now and are quite confident in David’s ability to drive and find parking and mine in getting us where we need to go. Our first stop was a tour of the Ryman Theater. We actually wondered if there really was anything more to learn about country music but as our friend Theresa who is on a tour of the British Isles at the moment mentioned in her blog yesterday, each new person and perspective adds another twist to the story. Our visit to the Ryman was certainly testament to that.

We knew for example that Ryman was home to the Grand Ole Opry in its middle years. What we didn’t know until today was, while it might be nicknamed the Mother Church of Country Music, there is so much more than country music to the story of the Ryman.

Way back in the 1880s famed traveling evangelist Sam Jones had his sights set on Nashville as a hot bed of degradation with its 91 bars. Ryman, a riverboat captain and local businessman set out to hear Jones preach intent on heckling the man out of town. Story has it that Ryman was converted on the spot by Jones and vowed that the man would never again have to look for a tent to spread the good word. He set about to build the Union Gospel Tabernacle. In 1904 Jones returned to Nashville for Ryman’s funeral. He asked that the Tabernacle be renamed for his former adversary.

For the following forty years Ryman served as a venue for countless events from religious revivals to political debates, operas to boxing matches! The walls in the Ryman tell the story and we were again unaware and surprised to learn the esteemed line-up that has graced the stage. Famed Artic explorer Robert Peary and Helen Keller lectured here, Presidents Roosevelt and Taft both spoke here, Caruso, Charlie Chaplin, Mae West, Fanny Brice, W. C. Fields, Katherine Hepburn and Harry Houdini were among the varied performers to grace the stage long before The Ryman every opened its doors to the Grand Ole Opry who were desperate to find a venue large enough to contain the growing audience. Bluegrass was born here. Stars were made. The Ryman continued to serve as a venue for music of all genres and a venue for political change.

When the decision was made to move the Opry from the Ryman the transition was bittersweet. The Opry had grown beyond the 2,200 seats but the performers felt like they were leaving home. The local paper from that day is displayed. The headlines read, “It was nearly routine ‘till Miss Minnie cried.” The headline appeared over a sobbing Minnie Pearl.

In another part of the story we didn’t know, or remember, The Ryman lay empty for the next 20 years. Having been saved from the original demolition plan due to public outcry, it wasn’t until 1994 that The Ryman was restored. Said to have better acoustics than Carnegie Hall, in fact apparently second only to the Mormon Tabernacle, Ryman once again rings with music. The playbills posted on the outside wall attest to the fact that the variety is as it always was with George Jones, Olivia Newton John, Robert Plant, Jason Mraz, Sheryl Crow, Alice Cooper, Alan Jackson, Jonas Brothers and ZZ Top all lined up side-by-side!

The side stories of so many artists were highlighted here as well. This was the only place we learned about the disgraced Hank Williams and Johnny Cash both demitted from the Opry membership when their addictions overcame their performances. We learned so much about Minnie Pearl, not only the persona but the woman under the hat. When her Dad learned that she was going to create a comedic character, his only comment was, “Make her kind, be sure to always make her kind.” The comment seemed very indicative of who she was. She is still obviously well-loved here in Nashville and remembered fondly. When you learn about who she was, it’s clear to see why. Funny side note...in the Country Music Hall of Fame I noticed that life spans were recorded at each display. In the case of Minnie Pearl there was a DOB but no death was noted. I was quite certain she had died and meant to ask about it but it was one of those things that was forgotten. Today in the presentation on Sarah Cannon it was mentioned that while she had indeed died, it was her wish that no date of death ever be listed for Minnie Pearl. Sarah believed that Minnie could never die since she was a representation of the humour, simplicity and goodness that lived in the country women she had met.

Historic Ryman Auditorium

Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff.

Coming out of The Ryman we were struck by the 35° heat! Not sure how a trip to the park was going to go but we thought we would give it a try. The first stop was Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park and the local flea market. Pretty much like a flea market anywhere else so that was a rapid walkthrough. The farmers market was much better but we can only buy so much when there are two of us, in a trailer, crossing the border in a few days. I was sure we could look after the pecan pie in the Mennonite stall though! Walking through the shaded market brought us to the far end of the park and we walked back through an outdoor memorial. A 1,400 foot granite wall stretches down the Mall from the State Capitol building inscribed with the state’s history. Along the way there is a WWII memorial and various other additional displays marking significant points in history. The coolest though is the spot where the granite wall bends and breaks and the fracture tells the story of the civil war – north on one side of the fracture, south on the other. Tennessee apparently had a particularly interesting struggle during the War Between the States. On the one hand it was a southern confederate state; on the other hand there was a strong emancipation movement in Tennessee. It appears not only was the country divided but here the state was also divided. From 1810 to 1860, the number of slaves in Tennessee increased from 44,734 to 275,719, while the number of freed blacks grew from 1,318 to 7,300! The Civil War years must have been filled with much difficulty here! We were also shocked to learn that in 1835 the Cherokee were prosperous farmers here is Tennessee and owned numerous slaves!! Talk about interesting twists in history! A fascinating and very well but by the time we made it to the other end of the Mall I was ready to expire! As much as we enjoyed it we know we didn’t do it justice as we had no more than a passing glace for the opposite side of the park that is divided into thirds and offers a walk through the diversity of the three regions of Tennessee and it’s 95 counties. Certainly something I would come back to see...on a cooler day!

Beginning of the Mall

Amphitheater with State Capitol building in the background.

The Tennessee story of the Civil War.

WWII Memorial

Looking back on the Mall from the present you can just see the tower of the Capitol.

The 95 bells chime at the top of every hour.

Back in the AC of the truck for a bit and we were feeling brave again so drove to the other side of town to Centennial Park (not to be confused with Bicentennial Park – I did!). This is where the Parthenon was and since it was indoors and presumably air conditioned we could give it a try. The full scale reproduction of the Parthenon is very well done but really does look very odd in this Nashville park. The inside houses an art gallery that really was not to our taste but to each his own. The top floor is dedicated to Greek mythology. Now I suppose if you are building a Parthenon this makes sense but while I have nothing against Greek mythology, if I were going to develop a thirst for such knowledge I think it might be more likely to happen in say...Greece?!! Not appreciating how this belongs here anymore than I understood the Titanic buried in the side of the road in Pigeon Forge we gave a passing glance to the 42 foot statue of Athena gilded with 8 pounds of gold and bid our farewell. Hilarious though, on the way out of the Parthenon who would you expect to run into? We ran into the Ghostbusters??? No tip jar, no apparent reason, no camera crew or entourage – just the Ghostbusters!

Parthenon

No straight lines!

42 foot gold statue of Athena!



Honest to goodnesness - Ghostbusters! No tip jar, no camera crew, no explanation??!! Just busy working! I have no idea!

Not thinking we can top that and afraid of perishing in the heat – did I mention it was 35° - we set back for the trailer and a start at packing up to get ready for our trip home!

Day 33 Ohio/Michigan

Up with the first light and crossing the Ohio River continuing homeward bound, we are now on I-75 and able to make use of the Along I-75 book that our friends John and Julie have loaned us. It’s a Canadian book written for snowbirds that gives a step-by-step commentary of the route from the Canadian border to Florida. We had seen it but never actually used it until this trip – it’s great! There is nothing on this road from radar traps to restaurants that isn’t covered in detail. Each page covers approximately 25 miles of highway and tells the history of the area, in some sections going back 400,000 years! It also tells you what is off every exit and what is noteworthy along the way. Very handy, how else would we have been able to identify Touchdown Jesus? It’s a 62 foot statue so we certainly couldn’t have missed it but we would never have known that the $300,000 statue was rebuilt, having been struck by lightning in 2010 and burned to the ground in a spectacular fire! I can only imagine the spectacular sermons that addressed the event in the Evangelical Solid Rock Church that that the statue calls home! Also interesting to learn that along the highway in northern Ohio we crossed the spot where in 1784 we would be leaving Virginia and entering Connecticut! It is so much more interesting now that we have been to Williamsburg and understand more about the political geography of the time! I love every little mile by mile detail but I controlled my “sharing”. After 33 years of marriage I am confident that less is more in David’s case!

We actually talked about this last night, how travel is such an incredible teacher. In turn then how education changes your view of the world. Of course I knew and believed all of this. I am a Principal for heaven sake! If I didn’t believe that I wouldn’t do what I do. Like so many things though, knowing it and personally experiencing it are sometimes markedly different. We have experienced so many different things this trip (as we always do on our travels) and we are already aware of the subtle changes in our attitudes and perspectives. Last night without a vehicle (trailer attached) and not much to do in the park we turned on the TV and The Help was on. We have seen it before, in fact we own it but tonight when we watched it we both admitted it was with a slightly different perspective. We were more aware of the “Hollywood effect” on the story and certainly very much more sensitive to the nuances that we may have missed had it not been for our recent travels.  Maybe not earth shattering revelations but certainly changed as our experience of the world has increased.

In an even bigger shift in thinking we have found ourselves caught in thoughts and conversations over the last couple of days in the car about what might be different today if slavery hadn’t happened. Would we have as significant an African-American population as we do today? If we didn’t have that richness in our population and culture would we have suffered the horrors of the civil rights movement – doubtful..? If we hadn’t struggled through the civil rights movement would our immigration policies and our welcome across world borders be significantly different – I suspect so...? Going down that road we realized the huge impact on the entire world and on our personal experience. I’m not sure I ever before gave much thought to the sacrifice of the slaves having much impact currently on my life. Now I’m not so sure anymore! Deep thoughts and crazy wonderings for a mostly leisurely drive through the Ohio countryside!

We arrived safely at KOA on the Ohio-Michigan border by early afternoon. KOA is like McDonald’s when you’re on the road. Nothing to get excited about but convenient and you’re pretty sure of what you’ll get. Another day of travel done and it’s home tomorrow – yeah! Life on the road is wonderful but so is going home to loved ones!

Day 32 Kentucky

All good things must come to an end and today was the day to head north. We left behind the deep woods and hills of Tennessee and rolled through the farmland of Kentucky. Even when the farms gave way to expanses of forest the road was more open here. In Tennessee the forest that surrounds the highway envelopes you and there is a sense of isolation even as you travel the interstate. In Tennessee the road follows mountain streams and generously accommodates the mountains themselves. In Kentucky the road is more open and surprisingly straight. Certainly more trees, but often reminiscent of our trip across the prairies with ribbons of highway that appear to go on forever!

While we may be getting closer to home the English gap is increasing. While I have certainly noticed the varieties of English along the way it was never more pronounced than here is Kentucky. In direct conversation I miss every third of fourth word. When eavesdropping I get every third or fourth word! Folks here make, “How are you all doing?” one word!!

We stopped for gas next to a Dairy Queen and decided on a dipped soft serve for lunch. Sometimes it’s great to be a grownup! We passed the early afternoon reminiscing about our trip. Our favourite stops – probably Nashville and Washington tied but it’s really hard to choose; our favourite moments – US Constitution, walking the beach on Cape Cod, time with John and Julie then Cliff and Liz, getting lost on the NYC subway, the MLK Memorial, the slave presentation, The Grand Ole Opry...we decided in the end other than some traffic, the heat, the few technical difficulties and missing the kids and grandkids that everything on this trip was outstanding and we are very blessed that we have the chance to travel like this!

We pulled into our campground mid-afternoon and wee doggies! Called Oak Creek Campground in Walton, KY, it is indeed on a creek. Our site was right next to the creek in fact. While the creek is dried up at the moment which clearly perhaps God is in charge of, pretty sure it was a human hand we have to thank for the old bricks that are now exposed along the bed of the creek. And while I am talking about the creek, what would you suppose the creek running through Oak Creek Campground was called? It’s Salem Creek! I have no idea!! This is one special place! It is directly off the I-75 (although it would have been handy to know that your right turn was immediately followed by a left turn – honestly can’t people assume when you are going to an RV park that you’re towing an RV??). Our site was long and level, meaning we could leave the trailer hooked to the truck for the night, faced the out road for easy morning access, and it only cost us $27. That’s all the credit I can offer this spot. Clearly though it’s a local favourite. With 100 sites it appeared as if our little section was the one reserved for travellers. The seasonal sites were something to behold! The “season” has extended into years for some of these folks and I will say that a level of neighbourly cooperation has been clearly demonstrated to arrange these rigs cheek by jowl! In spots you could barely see daylight between the end of one and the side of another. While some rigs were big and new and we wondered how they ever navigated into the spots, others were so old the markings had faded and in one instance the roof had delaminated and concrete blocks were sitting on top to hold the rubber roof membrane! The decorating scheme ranged from your standard pink flamingos to wind chimes made from aluminum beer bottles – not kidding!! One man was in a tent. Sounds innocent enough and temporary you might think?  He offered a warm howdy on his way to his port-a-potty conveniently situated on his site – not communal campground facilities, his!!! People gathered on porches built on the sides of some of the trailers and kids and dogs played happily in the summer heat! What a sight! David wanted to take pictures but that WAS NOT happening! These people seemed quite happy with their summer vacation and we have no right to judge, except to state with some assurance that it’s not for us! One night is plenty thanks.

In a sweet gesture, someone left a beer cup of wild flowers on our camp table. In this campground bless them I'd call that lipstick on  a pig!

 

Day 30 Nashville

What a day! Several people had mentioned that we should go to see the Opryland Hotel. Now that sounded like a dumb way to spend a day of vacation to me, but when enough people mention it, it’s across the street and we wanted to check out a backstage tour of the Grand Ole Opry, so we thought, let’s give it a try. Oh My Goodness!!!

We started at the Opry and booked an early backstage tour. This morning, with far fewer people around this morning it was a perfect opportunity to appreciate the grounds. The amount of effort that clearly goes into appearance is astounding. The only place I have ever seen that demonstrates that much care is Disney.

Mary came out and interrupted our serenity with an invitation to join her backstage. The Grand Ole Opry has a rich history dating back almost 100 years. I learned so much today that I hadn’t understood before that adds to the whole charm of the Opry! I knew that the current location was not the original spot but I didn’t realize that Ryman Auditorium was really only a stop along the way. In 1925 WSM was broadcasting a radio show from various locales around Nashville. The call letters WSM, as they still are today, were because the sponsor National Life and Accident Insurance Company’s motto was We Shield Millions. In November of that year the host, George Hay, was cornered when an act didn’t show and asked Uncle Jimmy Thompson, an old-time fiddler, to play to fill the spot. The overwhelming positive response shocked everyone! As it followed an Opera show, the host began to refer to the program as the Nashville Opry and the name stuck!  Increasingly large crowds led to a move to the Ryman in 1943. In 1974 the ever increasing crowds led to a move to its current location at the Opryland complex in Music Valley. In an interesting twist, the current location was destroyed by the Nashville flood in 2010. The Grand Ole Opry was back to finding sites around Nashville that would accommodate the show. Since the show began in 1925 it has not missed a week – not matter what!

We also learned that while the Opry hosts many guest appearances there is very much a coveted club that makes up the actual members of the Grand Ole Opry. While the Oscars seem to be the ultimate in recognition for actors, an invitation to join the Opry is the coveted prize for country music stars.

Our backstage tour explained all that with Blake Shelton (on video) as our host. We walked through the star entrances, toured the dressing rooms, learned the history and the culture, and then we stood in the famed wooden circle! When they moved from the Ryman, a circle of the wooden floor at centre stage was also moved. During the flood of 2010 much of the theater was under several feet of water and destroyed. The circle though was rescued and lovingly restored to still mark the spot where so many legends have stood!

The Opry has also hosted many a famous guest over the years. When it moved to the current location Richard and Pat Nixon attended and there is video and memorabilia recounting the visit. Apparently Roy Acuff tried to teach Nixon how to work a yo-yo. When Nixon failed horrible he quipped, “Roy I’ll stay here and learn the yo-yo. You go learn how to be the President.” There were countless stories like these weaving a rich history at the Opry.

The stars entrance!

The iconic Miss Minny!

Member mailboxes. They are in alphabetical order except Little Jimmy Dickens whose mailbox had to be moved closer to the bottom so he could reach it!

The last three inductees. I was surprised by how small the actual membership is.

Nixon and the yo-yo!

If you look closely you can see the watermark (runs through the bottom half of the yellow dress). That was created by the flood in 2010.

One of the countless dressing rooms we visited. This one was Porter Wagner's favourite and has been decorated as a tribute to him. Interesting side note - Roy Acuff was of course instrumental in establishing the Opry. It is referred to as The House that Roy Built. He was so well loved here that in the later year's of his life a home was built for him right beside the entrance. He was the first one there in the morning and the last to leave at night. His dressing room is considered a very special place around here but is now used by Vince Gill, known to be just a nice a gentleman as Roy!

Our seats (right by the closest chair) shot from the stage. Even from here they look like great seats!

Standing on the iconic circle!

Following our morning tour we thought we would head over to Opryland. We could at the very least find someplace in the hotel to have some lunch. After all, how interesting could a hotel lobby be? Famous last words!

This hotel is the largest non-casino hotel in the US, weighing in at 172 acres all under one roof! They have almost 3,000 rooms, restaurants and entertainment, pubs and clubs, but the really unbelievable part is the walkways! I lost count of the number of waterfalls! There is a river with a riverboat that can float you move than ¼ mile through what amounts to a tropical paradise. The Delta River was created with a blend of water from more than 1,700 sites worldwide, including the Credit River not far from where we live!

I kept thinking as we spent hours walking through the many paths that this would be a great place for a March Break get-away! The General Jackson Riverboat Dinner Cruise, Wild Horse Salon dancing and live music, Grand Ole Opry spectacular shows, etc., etc., etc., all on site! Cliff and Liz? Charlie and Anna Marie?  Anyone else? I’m thinking a guaranteed good time!

The boat on the Delta River.

The shops!

I lost count of the number of waterfalls!

They are even growing bananas in here for crying out loud!

Dancing fountains abound!



Lunch at Jack Daniels. Don't get the fuss about fried green tomatoes. They're OK just nothing to get excited about?

The hotel rooms.



Flowered gazebos also house fountains.

Under another fountail.

Taken from behind a fountain!

The giant dome that gathers the place together into one climate controlled space - a little science fictiony!

A restaurant amid a lake of fountains.



Multi-waterfalls! I am telling you this place is amazing!

One of the staff keeping everything Disney perfect! Super friendly too as he greets people along the walkways. He invited us to, "Come on in. The water's great!"

Not under the same roof but no need to find another parking spot (all day and we didn’t move the truck), there  is a massive shopping mall with loads more restaurants, IMAX theaters and enough stores to exhaust me quickly! Even with another new dress (I know, can you believe the shopping I’ve done? Me? Mary-Kate I know you are shocked...and proud!) I am ready to call it a day. Who knew visiting a country music concert hall and wandering through a hotel lobby could provide a great day’s entertainment?!!

Day 29 Nashville

One of the pleasures of working in education (and there are many) are summers! David and I have become very aware as we age, that life is short and “putting things off until we retire” seems like a stupid idea to us! There are no guarantees that you even get there. We have had so many friends denied the privilege.  One of the defining moments in my life came from my friend Brendan who, when diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and planning a trip to Europe said to me, when I was lamenting the fact that we couldn’t afford to join a cruise that many of our friends had booked, “Oh you’re so right. You need to wait until you’re like me to afford things like that.” We booked that cruise and haven’t stopped travelling (one of our great passions) ever since! We now tell people that we dabble in a retirement lifestyle while still working! David consulting in the information age has also supported this, but every so often...today was a work day! There haven’t been many on the trip so I don’t even feel resentful as I sit in my (reasonably!) air conditioned trailer and blog, preview pictures and catch up on some house cleaning while David works. Besides it’s stinky hot out there so it’s not so bad not to wander!

At the end of the day we called Downtown Shuttle and requested a pick-up to check out Nashville at night. Downtown Shuttle did get us there and back but they are no GrayLine I’ll tell you. I wouldn’t bother again. We had heard about Dancin’ in the District and we wanted to experience Honky Tonk Row when the sun goes down. Well, we experienced it! I mentioned that even during the day the place was a little seedy. When the sun goes down the seedy factor goes up...way up! Maybe it was the particular night, maybe it’s our age, maybe it’s the lack of sunshine to make all things seem a little brighter, but while it certainly didn’t seem unsafe it was definitely not our scene!

The number of homeless people increased dramatically, many playing or performing (very badly) adding to the overall sadness.  Bars here open at 10:00am and it was pretty clear some folks had been patrons since then! The music in the bars just didn’t seem as good as it had during the day which really surprised us! There is never a cover in any of the bars on the Row so we could wander in and out until we heard something we liked. We didn’t stop often. Our stop at Legends was interesting. Pretty sure the entertainers we heard will never be “legends” but we had a great chat with Nadine, the bartender from Calgary! She lives in Nashville now, came here to pursue a career in music. She works in the bar three nights a week because she likes the scene and the money is good! Asking her about the music in bars we learned that there are 12 bars considered part of Honky Tonk Row, six on each side of Broadway. Every bar has live entertainment, several with multiple floors so two or three acts at a time. Everyone books four acts a day – shifts run 10 – 2, 2 – 6, 6 – 10 and 10 – 2! That’s more than 48 chances to be discovered every day, and Legends (not sure about the others) is open 365 days a year!!! We asked what it was like on Christmas Day! She said she was usually in Calgary with her family but claimed it was a busy place with two kinds of clientele. The displaced who don’t have family to celebrate with and a larger group of tourists who come to Nashville to spend the holidays with family who want them out of the house on Christmas day so they can get the dinner on the table in peace! We stayed a while here watching some interesting people wander in, including Elvis, painted ladies, and a few interesting cowboys well past their prime. The music may not have been great but the entertainment was top notch!

Bad idea!! Lets's modify a bike. Put a full bar down the middle. Invite people to hop on a tractor seat (no back) and we will party and serve them shots as they peddle, we'll steer through Braodway traffic at night! Honestly who thinks of  these things? Glad we weren't travelling with a large group of people so we weren't more tempted to join in! Pub group? Anyone?

Honky Tonk Row as the lights go down.

Neon at night was pretty ... helped hide the seedy!

After four hours we called it a night.