Friday, April 4, 2008

Music City, USA

About a year ago, we went through the Nashville area, but stayed out of town at a quaint (think "trailer trash") RV park. It was a long drive into the city, so we really didn't get to do what we had hoped for. This time, we stayed in town, about 2 miles from Orpyland. When I made the reservation, they asked if we needed a site that would get satellite, so I told them we did. Of course, when we got there, our site was in the middle of some large trees, so no satellite. That's OK, we weren't here to watch TV!

We managed to get tickets to a taping of the Crook and Chase Show. We used to watch this show many years ago, and thought it wasn't around anymore. Turns out CMT dropped the show, but it was picked up by RFDTV. It was quite interesting to watch a taping, so if you get this channel, which is only on Direct or Dish satellite, watch for the show that originally aired on 3/27/08, and you might see us.
As we did in Savannah, we elected to take a guided tour of Nashville and the surrounding area. The campground recommended that we take a "Tommy Tour". Tommy is the only independent tour operator in the city. He is also a stand up comic...so we had a very fun time on this tour. If you ever are in Nashville, we highly recommend his 3 hour tour.


Martina McBride's estate


Alan Jackson's spread


Entrance to the Union Station Hotel

The hotel
Inside the Union Station
The ceiling in the lobby
The other big thing we wanted to do, was to attend the Grand Ole Opry. We went on a Saturday night, for the 6:30pm performance. The show is done in 3 segments. The middle segment is broadcast on TV. On this night, the headliners were Neil McCoy, Kelly Pixler (of American Idol fame), Vince Gill, and the Charlie Daniels Band. The show ended at 9:00pm sharp, and we were back at the RV park in about 15 minutes.
Right across from the Grand Ole Opry is the Opry Mills mall, which has a Gibson guitar store. It's the store where they make some acoustic guitars, as well as mandolins. I took my old L-50 acoustic in to show them, and they told me my investment in 1965 had appreciated by about 3000%! Whoo-hoo! I bought a restoration kit to clean up the metal parts, condition the fretboard, and polish the body. I also bought a new case, to replace the one that was falling apart. Needless to say, that guitar is looking real fine!! Now all I have to do is remember how to play it!
We came, we saw, we listened! Mission accomplished. Next stop, Paducah, KY.

1 comment:

  1. Boy did you guys ever hit the jackpot of big stars at the Opry!! We've been there 3 times and haven't seen a line up anywhere near that! Have fun in Paducah.

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