From The Gaylord Opryland Hotel And The American Symphony

  We got to the Opryland Hotel and Convention Center and are now in the care of American Cruise Lines. We arrived in Nashville on Sunday and after checking in to our hotel we did a bit of a walkabout in order to get the lay of the land. One thing became immediately obvious, especially once we got to Broadway where the bars are located: Country Western music rules in Nashville. (Sidebar: if you absolutely despise Country Western music, do not come to Nashville). The District, aka Broadway, is lined with bars, restaurants, and merchants and each bar and restaurant has LOUD, VERY LOUD musicians and singers. Occasionally, the stage is right next to the street and the stage is visible from the street......and the window, aka sliding glass door,  is wide open.....so the decibels are off the scale. It was surprising to us that so many people were out on a Sunday night. Trust me, crowds like that do not happen where both Patti and I live. Being in The District is now in the been there done that category for us.

  Yesterday we took the Hop On Hop Off Trolley. Prior to our ride, we went to a diner that had been rcommended to us only to find that open at 7 am (it was after 9 am) does not mean open at 7 am. There was a couple from New England who were also at the diner so we joined them for breakfast at another diner. They had just arrived in the morning and had not checked in to their hotel yet and were tired. They were very nice and had come to Nashville to celebrate their birthdays. We both agree that one of the best parts of traveling is meeting and connecting with people, if only for a brief period.

  It is Thursday May 1st, and we are onboard The American Symphony on our way to Paducah, KY. I will attempt to recap the remainder of our stay in Nashville and our time at the The Gaylord Opryland Hotel, After breakfast with the couple from New England we boarded the hop on hop off trolley and saw the sights of Nashville. We did hop off at the old Marathon Motor Works factory and walked around. Patti's late husband John would have loved the tour because there was a lot of old car stuff (Patti may have used a different noun that starts with "s" to describe the car stuff) on display. The factory has been converted to shops where various items from clothing to olive oil to knives and guns can be purchased. Our next hop off was at Belmont College where we toured the Belmont Mansion which dates from prior to the Civil War. It was beautiful and extremely ornate in that way over the top ornateness that was characteristic of the exrtemely wealthy in the 19th century. When we ended the tour we went to The Country Music Hall Of Fame. It is definitely worth a visit if you come to Nashville. There are instrument displays as well as displays of some of the outfits worn by both the men and women of country music as well as Elvis's gold plated Cadillac. We then proceeded to a really good pizza place called the Sicilian that had been recommended to us. The pizza did not disappoint. It was delicious. On our way back to the hotel we chanced upon a store called  Any Old Iron where we tried on some of the clothes. While Patti tried on blingy jackets, I tried on one that would be extremely inappropriate at church. The young lady who worked there was a real kick and she recommended that we go to the Virgin Hotel in midtown close to Music Row if we wanted a great view of Nashville from the roof. She was absolutely right and we enjoyed the view as we nibbled on some light snacks. The next morning we checked out of our hotel and took our baggage to the Gaylord Opryland prior to returning our rental car to Nashville airport. Prior to returning the car we went to The Hermitage, the plantation that was owned by Andrew Jackson, but did not take the tour as we wanted to get settled at the Opryland Hotel. When we got to the Opryland Hotel we checked in, got our room, had some lunch and took a bit of a rest prior to our evening at The Grand Ole Opry. We also met a delightful woman named Natalie who is widowed for 28 years, is 90 years old and does not look it, and who travels extensively. She is our new hero and we hope to be traveling when we hit 90. The Opry auditorium is large and comfortable with very good sight lines. We really enjoyed the performers, even though we did not know who they are; but many people in the audience definitely knew who they were and showed their appreciation. Yesterday morning we departed the Gaylord and got on a bus for a tour of Nashville prior to boarding the American Symphony. Our cabin is on the starboard side, has a balcony, and is quite comfortable. Last night we enjoyed the performance by the onboard entertainer who got his start in entertainment as a tap dancing Christmas tree with Beach Blanket Babylon that ran for decades in San Francisco. He was very entertaining. Right now we are about two hours from today's port of call, Paducah Kentucky. We are enjoying this trip immensely, trying not to think about the calories we are consuming, and being thankful that we are able to travel and enjoy the gift of life and each other.


. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Catching Up From Abingdon, Virginia

It's been a few days so I will do my best to update what we have been up to. We arrived in Florence, AL and on our first morning there we set out for a loop tour of Florence on the provided bus. The tour got off to an inauspicious start as we discovered that the entire area of the loop had no power, so we decided to stay on the bus, make the loop, and hope the power would come back on. On our second go round we got off the bus and went to the art museum that was the first stop. Here the inauspiciousness continued as there was still no power and no art on display because the museum was between exhibits, so we made our way on foot to stop 2, Popes Tavern. It was at Popes Tavern that the lights came back on. The docent told us Popes Tavern was probably never a tavern, so the truth was stretched a tad to make it a more interesting sounding tourist stop. It did serve as a hospital for both Confederate and Union troops in the Civil War and had Civil War artifacts on display. Feeling enco...
Read more

Franklin Street Fair

  Today we went to Franklin (I was mistaken in the first post when I said the street fair was going to be in Spring Hill) and attended the street fair. There were many booths selling artwork, jewelry, food items, clothing, and other items. The crowd was large, orderly, and friendly. There was a real positive vibe to the whole day. We lucked out for lunch and found a table that had just been vacated outside in the shade so not only could we eat, but we were also able to people watch. The food was good and reasonably priced. After we had ice cream and we started making our way back to the shuttle one of those moments of pure serendipity occurred. I spotted someone I knew. First, a little background. In the late 1990s Dianne and I were in the adult chorus at Carondelet High School. A neighbor of ours, Shawn Johnson, who had a daughter who attended Carondelet was in the chorus with us. Shawn moved to Franklin, Tennessee in the mid 2000s and Dianne and I actually spent a night at her ho...
Read more

Addendum To Abingdon Post

Image
Patti reminded me that I forgot to include the real highlight of our time in Chattanooga, Ruby Falls. After we picked up the car we made our way back to Chattanooga and went to Ruby Falls, an indoor waterfall in Lookout Mountain. It is truly spectacular. To get there, you need to drive up a windy road. Once you have parked the car you enter the building and buy your tickets and then conveniently wait in the gift shop until your tour is called and you descend 260 feet in an elevator to the beginning of the tour through a limestone cavern. The falls were accidentally discovered by Leo Lambert in 1928 after he crawled through a very narrow passage for 17 hours until he came to a place where he could stand and walk and he ended up discovering the falls which he named after his wife Ruby. He and a team sank an elevator shaft and started working on making a path through the limestone walls. Along the way there are numerous stalagmites and stalactites that have been forming for millions of ye...
Read more