9/13 and 9/14 Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame.

Ghost Ballet Sculpture on Nashville Waterfront

9/13 I headed to the Nashville Visitors Center to get my legs under me.  I bought the All Access Passes for John and I and planned a bit of a schedule.  I got to see the unusual architecture of the AT&T building.

  Of course, I got to met Elvis, too.

We ubered out to the Gaylord Opry Land Hotel.  It is quite amazing.  While you are indoors the whole time, there are lush gardens everywhere.

There is even a boat that courses along in and out of the trees and waterfalls.  There were waterfalls, orchids and areas where you could be above the canopy of the trees looking down on them.

We met some friends for a picture. 

After lunch, we took their shuttle to the Opry Mills Mall.  Of course, we paid a visit to the Bass Pro Shop.  John got three new shirts.  

Then we walked across the parking lot to the Grand Ole Opry.  What a fabulous performance!

John Conlee, Clare Dunn, Wade Hayes, Old Dominion, Ricky Skaggs, Drake White, Montgomery Genrty, and my favorite, Randy Owen from Alabama all performed.  It was a great show with some new hits and some old favorites. 

9/14 We got a slow start this morning because the air conditioner had shut off in the sleeping cabin.  The strainer in the pump was full.  After we emptied it, all was well with the world.  A public service spot on clean water in Nashville was being filmed from the docks.  It as in the 90's and I felt badly for this drop of water.  She was wearing a life jacket under that costume and it must have been hotter than normal. 

We got ready to head out and just as we were leaving we could see our friends on Bee Haven approaching the dock.  Ouch, they found an old piece of the bridge and their boat got caught on it and was raised out of the water.   The dockmaster, Towboat US, a diver, and the fire department were all called with no success.  Finally, someone asked the Army Corp of Engineers to send more water through the lock above us.  That did it and floated them off.   We went over the same area the other day.  That could have been us.  While the crew of Bee Haven was waiting for all this to happen, they insisted we go on to sight see.

We went over to the Country Music Hall of Fame.  It is very entertaining and well laid out.  There was a special display devoted to Alabama at the beginning.  The roots of country music was traced from the early hill music to the stars of today.  In each area, there were listening booths, that featured about 6 songs related to each subject.  One film traced the history of country music on TV from Tennessee Ernie Ford and Minnie Pearl to the Beverly Hillbillies and American Idol, Carrie Underwood.  The outfits that were worn by both the men and women were very elaborate. 

After the Hall of Fame, we headed to Tootsies, on Broadway to listen to some music.  Broadway is lined with bars that are open and have country bands practicing their craft for tips.

The music is everywhere, up and down the streets of Nashville. We could hear the music as we crossed the bridge back to our dock.  The full moon was rising over the bridge.

Tomorrow, we are taking a bus tour and have tickets for the Ryman Theater.