My Summer Trip to Nashville

Today we wanted to make a whirlwind tour of the commercial side of the Grand Ole Opry. You know, the huge mall, the convention center and the massive hotel with the inside gardens. The mall was clean, the food not bad and the large riverboat had a rock and roll band on it. The smaller riverboat had been hijacked by a local radio station for a fireworks cruise and was not open to the public.

I stood (i.e. "No Standing") with my car in the covered 200' 6 lane registration driveway of the hotel as Sigi went in to photograph the gardens for posterity. I thought they would throw me out but all the valet parkers just ignored me. Turns out Sigi had to take 2 elevators and walk a mile for a Camel just to shoot pictures of the gardens. Thankfully, she returned auspiciously as I was getting itchy.

Now to find the Opry. We drove back around the huge complex following the little signs, Opry -->, Opry <-- and drove right past our destination into the mall. The Opry is surrounded by huge trees and quaint brick information buildings, a multi-acre brick plaza, beautiful flowers and landscaping, a free concert stage and free Museum of Country Music. The place was empty, perhaps 10 people milled around - the pretty greeter said it was early yet. The only remaining tickets for the Opry were $74 dollars each, so we bought the $8 Ryman tickets for the next day and went to the museum. It’s worth a trip to Nashville just to see this fantastic museum. Gold records, gold trim on stage clothes, original instruments, and pics of the original stars when they were kids learning to play. There's even an original jukebox with real records in it set for coinless plays, just punch your selection and dance your heart out in a recreation of Tootsie's Bar (used by permission). Stand at the mic on an authentic recreation of the Ryman auditorium as it was when filled with the thousands of patrons who packed it every weekend. See http://www.opry.com/05_history/05_museum.asp for more info.

And don't miss the bronze of the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, in the Theatre. As the time to leave for the downtown fireworks drew near, the plaza was packed. Gaylord's hospitality was wonderful and the staff was exuberant, especially the beauty giving out American flags for the Fourth. We stopped for a few minutes at the plaza concert, a 3 piece electric county band backing up an up-and-coming female vocalist - tasty.

The Nashville fireworks were the best I've ever seen. Their opening salvo was the typical finale and their ground display must have been a 1/3 mile long. The finale made me shrink down against my car, feeling as I did running for the bunker in Vietnam, it scared the you-know-what out of me.

The next day we drove to the original downtown Nashville. The 1970s had seen urban decay, drunks and homeless people prowling the streets, and folks wouldn't go to the Ryman and the Opry for fear of assault. The Opry moved to its current location and abandoned the Ryman, Minnie Pearl cried at the final performance. For 20 years the Ryman stood vacant and decaying, all studies reported saving the landmark was not viable. In the early 1990's Gaylord Entertainment made the commitment to save the Historic Landmark. Today, we can see history, and stand on the stage where so many of the world's greatest performers, Katherine Hepburn, Caruso, Hank Williams, Patsy Klein, Earl & Lester, Bill himself, Mae West, Helen Keller, Rudolph Valentino, W.C. Fields, Harpo Marx and many more, have stood.

The beautiful wooden benches, original stained glass windows, the best acoustics, surpassing Carnegie Hall and second only to the Mormon Tabernacle and a balcony you won't believe. The Grand Ole Opry still plays at the Ryman in winter and bluegrass and country music still echoes in the halls every week.

When you stop in Gruhn's guitar shop, tell 'em the mando guy sent you. I played every mando hanging up, from new $4400 F4s to my favorite, a 1921 Gibson for $1250, the sweetest instrument I've ever played. And check out the picture of me next to the jumbo guitars, the $8000 one is out of the frame. I wouldn't even take those puppies down, I'm not fit to hold 'em.

Check your schedule and plan your trip, you won't be sorry. Nashville and the Appalachian Museum east of Oak Ridge, http://www.museumofappalachia.com/ , home of the 4th of July anvil shoot, are well worth visiting.