When we were there yesterday in the afternoon the ticket lady told us there were no more tours available and we should come back tomorrow. I asked to buy tickets for tomorrow and she told me to "just buy them when you get here tomorrow." So we get there this morning and are told, "Sorry. All tours are already sold out. Would yo like to buy tickets for tomorrow?" I told the nice man, "We tried to do that yesterday and the lady wouldn't sell us tickets for today. And today is our last day in Nashville." He rolled his eyes and said, "Let me see what I can do." 5 minutes of suspense while he poked at the keyboard and he came up with two tickets to "the tour that starts in 5 minutes. Hurry upstairs now."
The "backstage tour" was wonderful. Dressing rooms full of posters and other memorabilia. But we were not allowed to take pictures. We could take pictures in the auditorium though.
As close as I'll ever get to Ryman stage.
And in the museum area around the balcony.
I don't think there is anyone reading my blog who doesn't know whose hat this is.
This is one of Johnny Cash's tuxedos from his TV show. The dress was worn by Sissy Spacek in the movie "Coal Miner's Daughter. Please click on pic to see it full size.
Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl and Carol.
Again we took about twice as long as we had anticipated. Carol has never seen the Grand Ole Opry. Being with me for 7+ years has made her knowledgeable about many of the stars. But neither of us knew all the history of the building. It's a really fascinating story with some larger than life characters. Click here for info.
Time for lunch. You may know, Nashville has dozens if not hundreds of bars and restaurants with live music. The musicians play for tips hoping for that "big break". Too many to pick from. Finally chose Crazy Town.
Three stories, six bars and three stages. We chose the patio on the third floor. All three floors were packed at lunch on a Friday. Apparently it's packed pretty much 24/7 but management hasn't figured that out yet. The bartender was the only employee on the third floor. She apologized for the delays and said there should be a second person in a few minutes. We finally gave up on table service and went inside to sit at the bar. The music was nothing special except loud. I think Sounds of Bluegrass or Dew South would get a lot more tips than these guys did. Anybody got an old bus? With such a crowd we didn't expect the food to be anything special. We were wrong. We were going to Ryman and the Airstream was an hour away. I couldn't risk my incredibly consistent spill on my shirt.
Finished lunch and returned to to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. We got there around 2 o'clock but the lady that told us yesterday the we couldn't do it in an hour and a half should have told us we couldn't do it in three hours. As we left, my comment for the suggestion box was, "Sell a two day ticket. Or at the very least allow anyone who enters after 2 o'clock to come back the next day for free."
Pictures WERE allowed !
But there was soooooo much stuff to see and read about that Carol only took a few.
The only bass in the building.
Except for this. The "Whomper" was probably the first bass guitar. It was made from a bass drum head in the 1940's. Please click on the pic and enlarge it so you can see the Whomper in the photo of the quartet.
It was BIG.
We had to take a picture of the Charlie Daniels exhibit because we were going to hear him this evening.
They threw us out at 5 o'clock. So we had 4 1/2 hours before our show started. We walked to The John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge which connects downtown with Cumberland Park. Condemned as a highway bridge, it was scheduled to be torn down. But concerned citizens convinced the City to turn it into a pedestrian/bike bridge. It's a beautiful bridge and offers great views of the river and downtown.
There were street musicians everywhere but this trio featured an upright bass. After listening for a while, I told the bassist, "It's not very often I see some one playing lead on a bass."
Time for THE SHOW.
Just some of the artists we got to hear before the main act.
Exile
Smithfield
Ray Pillow, a member of the Opry since 1966. He's from Lynchburg, VA.
The Grascals
The Whites
And the MAN and his band !
Eighty years old and still rocking the house. A late night but worth every minute and $. A quiet ride back to the campground.
Saturday we watched Penn State beat Indiana. Sunday we went to church and packed things up to head home.
Got home, Tuesday November 15th after almost three months.
An incredible trip. A dear friend called it the "trip of a lifetime." I corrected her and said it was "our new life." We're home until April and then we'll head west again, this time through the South.
