Nashville Pt.2

  We drove into Nashville on Saturday May 31 for a taste of Country. We have unintentionally taken an American music itinerary on this trip: New Orleans for jazz, Memphis for the blues, and now Nashville for country. Each city has its own distinct sound and feel. In New Orleans Bourbon St. is the happening place but you can listen to some good jazz anywhere in the city. In Memphis Beale St. is crammed full of blues joints. Nashville has Broadway as the main corridor for its music. Parking is tough but we found a garage for only $5 a few blocks from Broadway. Broadway is a wide avenue and is open to traffic unlike Beale St. and Bourbon St.

The first stop was of course the Hard Rock Cafe:

After a few drinks at the bar it was time to explore:

We walked back up Broadway taking in the sights and sounds. You hear music blaring from every other bar you go past.

We walked to the Ryman Auditorium, the old home of the Grand Ole Opry:

It is a magnificent old structure in sharp contrast to the modern buildings around it:

The Bridgestone Arena where the CMA awards are going on as I type this tonight:

After all that walking it was time to take a load off in a nice cool, dark bar:

Some good old boys were strumming:

After a few beers in the Whiskey Bent Saloon it we were getting hungry so we stopped in a barbecue joint that had a band playing. I don't remember the name of the place and for some reason I didn't take a picture of the sign:

And for all you single guys out there Nashville has to be the girl capital of the mid-south. There were packs of three, four, five, and six girls prowling Broadway having a good time. 

BB King has  place in Nashville:

The great thing about Nashville is there are different types of restaurants if you don't want barbecue or fried chicken. There is Italian, Brazilian, Japanese, and others.

Nashville is more urban and perhaps more cosmopolitan than Memphis and New Orleans. I enjoyed it very much and would love to go back if I could stay closer to the action.

Nashville, TN Pt.1

We left Graceland on May 28 and headed east to Nashville. We were approaching the end of the month and for us retirees that means the next check is around the corner but until then the budget is blown. We decided to camp on the cheap. The best deal going is Doreen's access pass. The access pass is a federal program giving the holder free admittance to any national park, a 50% off rate for camping on any federal and in most cases state parks. We discovered recreation.gov where you can book a site at a national park or an Army Corps of Engineers park. We had booked four nights at Long Branch Recreation Area about 60 miles east of Nashville. That was the only thing available so we had to take it.

The recreation was created when the engineers built a dam on the Caney Fork River. The dam rises 696 feet above sea level.

No internet; no cable TV, barely a cell signal. It is a great spot if you want to canoe or kayak but not much else around. We decided we would only make one trip into Nashville so that meant doing something synonymous with the town. That means the Grand Ole Opry. We ordered tickets for the Friday night show. They have live shows on Fridays and Saturdays only which I didn't know. I was totally unfamiliar with the Opry. For those of you that are ignorant too the Opry is a live radio show. So if anyone was listening to Sirius/XM satellite radio channel 56 last Friday we were in the audience. The Opry is the longest running radio program ever. It has been broadcasting on Fridays and Saturdays continuously since 1925.

The Opry is not really in Nashville proper: it is in a northeastern suburb. I didn't know that either. We decided to get there early and pick up our tickets and maybe ride into town for a few hours then come back for the 7 PM show.

  Well that didn't happen. The Opry is adjacent to the Opry Mills Mall and that is where the parking is. I asked the girl in the gift shop about drive time into the city and parking. She said half an hour each way plus finding a place to park if we didn't want to pay $20. We didn't feel like rushing so we agreed to just hang at the mall and go into town the next day. Plus we had such a peach parking spot at the mall close to the front doors of the Opry.

  The mall is on the site of the former Opryland Theme park. The theme park and the Opry House were built in 1972 and 1974 respectively in what was then a rural area of Nashville. I think the theme park went of business in the late 90's. Anyway you know it is time for a history lesson. The original radio broadcast took place in Nashville on WSM radio at the National Life& Insurance Co. building and was called WSM Barn Dance in 1925 until 1934. The broadcast moved to several different locations in and around town and finally settled in at the Ryman Auditorium on 5'th Ave. in Nashville in 1943. The show drew large crowds and the Ryman became obsolete by the early 70's. The current Opry house was opened in 1974.

  Doreen found that the mall had a VF Outlet so that is where she was for a couple hours. I walked around the mall and stopped in Dave & Busters for a cold one (or two) then it was off for some dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grille. We headed over to the Opry and got to our seats.

The show opened with the traditional group Riders in the Sky:

A nice big video monitor is behind the stage: 

The show runs for about two and half hours with a short intermission in between. Some of the performers I knew while others I did not. We didn't see any current big Country stars but it was still a fine show.

Kathy Matttea- 18 wheels and a dozen roses:

Rickey Scaggs:

And this guy who's name I can't remember:

Marty Stuart

And several others. Also giving a performance was stand up comic Henry Cho. He was hilarious. For about $50 a ticket you get your money's worth. I would love to go back for a major performer some day. The venue is very modern with rich acoustics and numerous concession stands. It is an ideal place for concerts. We had a long ride back so it was straight to the truck and on the road back to the campground.

Miles this leg: 283.1

Total miles: 3160.05 

Beale Street

  No trip to Memphis would be complete without a visit to Beale St. Home and claimed birthplace of rock n' roll.

It was about a ten minute drive from Graceland into town. Parking wasn't too difficult and before we knew it we were right in front of BB King's Blues Club:

Beale St. is only two blocks long but it is packed full of blues joints, bars, restaurants, and souviner shops.

As we passed BB Kings Doreen spotted the Company Store and asked me to run in to buy a postcard. As I entered I heard some hot blues emanating from inside the club. I had to go in. I fetched Doreen and in a minute we were seated inside. This turned out to be a fortuitous decision. Just seconds after ordering drinks sheets of rain came down in a fury. We listened to some music had a light bite to eat and drank some of the local brew. We always like to sample the beer where ever we are. The local brew of Memphis is Ghost River Brewing. 

For $10.99 you can have a specialty cocktail:

After BB's we walked down to Silky O'Sullivan's. Apparently Silky was a pillar of the community and his bar is a favorite. 

The front of the building is propped up:

There is a nice courtyard with two bars, a firepit, and plenty of seating but everything was soaking wet from the rain. I wouldn't eat the food here. The kitchen is out in the open and the inside is quite dusty due to the high open ceiling with exposed rafters and lack of dusting.

I could clearly see a thick layer of dust on the fixtures. We had one drink and scooted out. Doreen made a couple of friends going to the restroom though and they chatted all the way out:

Our next stop was the Hard Rock. We always make it a point to find the Hard Rock and have at least one drink in every city that has one. 

A photo of Elvis' last concert in Indianapolis: 

I love the artwork on the sides of buildings; although this looks newer it is done in an old style:

We ready for dinner and Doreen is ready to whip out her list of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Sure enough she found one on Main St. called South of Beale. Main St. is an interesting area. From what we learned it was the first suburb of Memphis even though it is only several blocks from the center of town. Many of the original store fronts from the early 20'th century still survive and the area is seeing a resurgence with an influx of empty nesters, hipsters, and retirees.

  

Street cars ply the path to town

 As two men play a game of bocci ball across from our alfresco table

We met a really friendly local couple who joined us at our table for a good hour. They were lifelong Memphians and filled us in the local flavor. As the sun began to set we made our way back to the truck.

We returned a few nights later for an evening visit. I forgot my camera so I had to use the phone. It was a rainy night so that didn't help.

We had dinner at the Blues City Cafe and we were seated in the Band Box to see Earl The Pearl perform:

Earl is the one seated with the white hat playing the guitar. They really jammed for a bunch of old guys and the crowd enjoyed it while eating some lip smacking good ribs which is what we had.

It wasn't raining too hard when we got there but it was really pouring when we were ready to leave so we headed back to the truck and the campground.

I have got to say that I was impressed with Memphis. For a city of about 600,000 it seemed quaint and charming. Unlike in many cities the economically depressed areas are in the suburbs; especially south of Memphis and the inner city is prosperous and resurgent. I enjoyed our stay and would return again. 

Miles this leg: 232.8

Total miles: 2877.