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Published: August 23rd 2023
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Getting to Music City from San Diego for your standard traveller could be done in under 4 hours. However, yours truly decided that a greater challenge was required, and following schedule changes and sticking to my budget, I decided to continue with my flight to the east coast with a short transfer in Denver. five hours stuck in the airport of brotherly love, before once again meeting my friends again from Spirit Air for the final push to Nashville. Under federal law cannabis/ marijuana use is illegal in the US, either for medicinal or recreational purposes. However California was the first state to legalize it´s use for medical reasons in 1996, and as of October 2022, the substance in it´s many guises, is now legal for recreational use in 19 states and legal for medical use in 37 states. As I travelled through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California and Washington State I noticed many places selling the stuff, and the distictive whiiff in the streets. My next destination, the state of Tennessee has stricter laws, along with Texas where Willie Nelson lives, which must complicate his life. Anyway, it was one hell of a journey, taking the guts of 21 hours, door
to door, and I was highly relieved to reach my apartment on the outskirts of the city. Having recived a code to my apartment from the hosts, I attempted to key it in. Completely exhausted, I misuderstood the instructions, a four number code with keys on the doors double digit. for example a code of 3158 meants keying 34, 12, 56, 78. It took me a number of messages via the wifi of a local cafe to finally gain entry. After 8 days, of travel and budget hostels, I finally had my own apartment, and bathroom. After a bit of food, I crashed out for a few hours. The suburb was about 15 minutes from downtown Nashville, and had hipster bars, cafes and even a couple of craft breweries. It was a classic case of those professional types moving into a once not so prosperous area, and bit by bit pushing the previous occupants out. Anyway the address was 415 Humphreys Street, and I would highly recommend it as a place to stay. Over the next couple of nights staying here, I visited a few local bars, meeting some great people including Nate, a self-taught craft beer tehnician, who travelled
the country leaving his partner and 3 month old baby back home. We had a number of beers, and as with my previous visits to the US, there is no better place to meet people and no more generous. In another bar I was invited to shots, by a very friendly young lady working in a music bar. Walking past a coffee bar, I even caught the end of a most wonderful poetry night. So many young people, and angry talented poets with a message to get across.
The next morning, I had booked tickets for Museum of Country Music, which included a visit to RCA Studio B. Being charged nearly 9 dollars for a cupcake in The Nashville Grill down the road didn't dampen my spirits too much and the museum was a most incredible experience. Having previously visited The Daniel O'Donnell Museum and Visitor Centre in Dugloe, County Donegal with my mother and her partner, the Nashville venue is far more worthy of a visit. The RCA Studio B was used by most of the greats, but sitting at the piano which was the favourite of a certain singer from down the road in Memphis, I was
Elvis for a few magic moments. Broadway in Nashville has about 100 bars and honky tonks, with some establishments on four floors, with a constant stream of music, from 11 a.m. for the next 16 hours. It is truly wild, and you can pop in and out until you get dizzy. I had been recommended by a local to visit Robert's Western World, and try their recession special of a fried bologna sandwich, mooncake and a can of beer for six dollars, the value purchase of the tour. It was a bit too touristy in this area, and I had found The Station Inn in The Gulch, which was the legendary home of bluegrass in Nashville. The band that night were called Borderline Bluegrass, and hailed from Ozark in deepest Missouri. The lead singer was a third generation preacher and also a farrier aswell as an estate agent. Speaking to them before the concert, and learning that I had travelled from Madrid via Dublin, they insisted in having their photo taken with me on the famous stage. Great bluegrass, beer and pizza, it would be very hard to better that night, especially when they dedicated one of my favourite songs,
A Man of Constant Sorrow. A wonderful couple and thie son from Chicago,who had become my friends for the night, insisted on driving me back to my lodgings, such kindnesss.
The next day involved a return visit to complain about the excessively priced cake which did not go down so well, maybe I should have left it alone. The Johnny Cash Museum was disappointing, maybe The Country Hall of Fame had set too high a standard the day before. Anybody who knows country music, knows the Ryman Auditorium. Aswell being the most famous country music venue in the world, it has hosted everyone from Houndini, Count John McCormack, Lizzo, Louis Armstrong to Helen Keller, and was the venue for The Grand Old Opry for many years, before it moved to a new venue. Unfortunately, the night I had chosen to visit had a concert by students from the local School of Rock, as opposed to country music. They were extremely talented, and covered many areas of music, and made their family members proud to seem them play such a legendary venue. I wonder what Charles Ryman would have thought , a wealthy boat owner and businessman who had given
up a life of debauchery to find Jesus. He had founded the Auditorium as the Union Gospel Tabernacle for evangelist Reverand Sam Jones, and the wooden benches gave it a disitinctive church feel. Having seen enough by the interval, it is a must for music lovers, and my lookalike Ed Sheeran was due to play there a few days later. It had taken over a century to make music city, but i would love a return visit.
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