NASHVILLE, JUST NASHVILLE

 

          I honestly don’t know how I had any kind of life when I was working full-time. I’ve been trying to sit down and write about my Tennessee trip since I got home last Saturday and this is the first opportunity I’ve found…and then only because my tummy isn’t happy and I thought it was better to stay home close to my own convenience rather than risk going to my fitness class and being totally unfit.

          The trip to Tennessee was splendid. Everyone got along and we all had a lot of fun. We arrived in Nashville Thursday afternoon, checked into the hotel and went out to find Broadway…this is the street that has bar after bar after bar. Honestly, I was absolutely amazed at the crowds of people that were walking up and down the street. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people except for functions like the breast cancer walk.      

          And, I was totally enthralled by the wide variety of appearances of the various individuals strolling along. Again, I’ve never seen such huge differences in how people dressed, made up their faces, combed (or not) their hair. I could have happily sat on a chair on the sidewalk and been entertained for an entire day.

          Not only is it bar after bar, but every single one of them has live music. As I walked past one, the sound began to fade only to be replaced by sound from the next location. Out of all the musicians I heard, there was only one talentless guy…AJ told me to silence my hearing aids and I did, but I could still hear him…he managed to make a few of my favorite songs sound absolutely awful.

          Many of the bars have an extension on the roof. At one place, I counted 74 steps; at another 95 steps. Do you think I got my exercise in Nashville? I also have to admit that I did have to stop and breathe for a bit when I climbed the 95 steps. I definitely needed a drink or a beer once I arrived. If there isn’t live music up top, the band on the bottom is piped to roof speakers. At the place with the most stairs, the sign indicating the mezzanine was behind the door (or the door may have been open covering the sign), so I didn’t stop where the kids had told me they were. I got to the top only to realize the top wasn’t the mezzanine because I couldn’t find my people. When they found out where I was, they made the trek up to retrieve me.

          At one place, I talked to the man who perused IDs to make sure the person entering was old enough. I was never ever asked for ID…can you believe that? Anyway, I asked him for the name of the band that was playing. He told me he didn’t know, that several groups would be there playing throughout the day and night. When one group left, it would go to another location and play there while a new group would come into that bar. I guess there’s lots of work for musicians and singers in Nashville.

          There was one very impressive young woman who played the fiddle. We (more like Haley and Tyler) kind of followed her and her band to various places. When she came around with the tip bucket (seriously, like a 5-gallon Home Depot bucket), I got a chance to talk to her. She’d been playing since she was four years old, so she’d been playing for twenty-two years. Her fiddle-work was amazing and she was cute as a button. Haley said that at one place, it looked as though the tip bucket had more than $1,500 in it.

          AJ and I were out and about every day wandering here and there, but were fairly happy to call it a day by 8:00 or 9:00 pm. Haley and Tyler stayed out every night until midnight or 1:00 am, bar-hopping and dancing and listening to music. To say they had a splendid time would be an understatement.

          I have to confess I did drink one afternoon/evening. Back at the hotel, I laid down to wait for AJ to do whatever he was going to do. Then I’d get up and get ready for bed. Well, I fell asleep (or passed out) and didn’t wake up until the morning. OMG, it’s been decades since I went to bed without brushing my teeth or washing my face. I couldn’t believe how bad my mouth tasted and felt. I think I used half my toothpaste scrubbing.

          We did tour the Ryman Auditorium. The tour begins with a wonderful video about the Ryman’s history. It was narrated by an actress portraying Lula C. Naff. This widow and mother began to work at the Ryman in 1904 as a stenographer. In 1910 Ms. Naff became the official Ryman manager, a position she held until 1955. She often went by L. C. Naff to avoid discrimination. She was responsible for efforts that went toward saving the Ryman when the possibility of it being demolished was promoted. The video was very informative and interesting and if you’d like to know more, look at Wikipedia. Anyway, I don’t think the kids realized the video made me cry. I managed to suck it up before we had to get up and leave. The video just brought back so many memories of growing up and listening to the Grand Ole Opry with my mom and grandma…they would have loved, loved, loved the tour.

          At the end of the tour, you can stand on the stage and have your photo taken. Well, of course, we all did that. Unfortunately, my photo has gone to another dimension for the time being. I know I unpacked it, put it on the counter with other stuff, but it’s disappeared. I’ve looked in all the places I could have put it, including the garbage, but it’s no where to be found. I wanted to frame that damn photo, so the fact it has gone to that other dimension, really pisses me off.

          On Saturday, we toured the Country Music Hall of Fame. OMG, again, the memories some of the exhibits brought back was amazing. After an hour or two, I got to the point where I felt overloaded with music, information, photos, etc. To do this place justice, I think I’d need to visit several days in a row, leave and then return the next day to take up where I left off. There’s Just. So. Much. To. Take. In. Also, there is one exhibit that must get changed periodically according to who’s currently the most famous. There was one entire long wall, plus additional exhibitry devoted to Luke Combs that began with his birth. Again, I’d like to be able to take my time and absorb the entire Combs exhibit.

          We could also get food at almost every single place we visited. I only had barbequed ribs once, but they were soooooooo gooooooood. I tried to have them for the last time in the Nashville airport coming home, but that restaurant didn’t take orders and then serve. Instead, you chose from what was behind the glass and those ribs didn’t look very good. I’ll have to have a Briley’s fix in the near future.

          Here I am at three pages and I haven’t even left Nashville yet. So, I’m going to stop and post this to my blog. I’ll continue with the family visit and other tours as I continue to write and blog about the trip. I know there’s lots of stuff I could have included in just this post about Nashville, but I’m older now and think I may be having difficulty with my short-term memory…that, or it was simply overload, or at least that’s what I prefer to think.