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!