Nashville - The Opry and Downtown


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April 3rd 2013
Published: April 6th 2013
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As we approach Nashville, the countryside seems more hilly with lot of deciduous trees. The trees are still without leaves - a sure sign we are heading north. We left Graceland about 11:30am and decide we can make Nashville for the Grand Ole Opry that night. We are rushing it a bit because the Opry only plays Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and we are arriving Tuesday so may not want to spend that much time in Nashville waiting for the Friday show. We book the Comfort Inn in Music Valley and arrive in time to unload, get something to eat and head to the Opry. It was very good and nearly full so we feel lucky we got tickets. There were 7 or 8 entertainers, some old timers and some new entertainers. We enjoyed John Conlee, (whispering) Bill Anderson and Mark Wills.

Wednesday morning we parked downtown by Riverside Park and did a walking tour which was in the Frommer's Nashville tour book. We walked for about 5 hours including a quick lunch and saw all the sights downtown, including the State Capitol, and Memorial area, Earnest Tubb's record shop, Wildhorse Saloon, Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, the old Union Station (now a hotel), Ryman Theatre to name a few. Nashville is a nice clean, impressive looking city. We commonly find this when visiting a state capitol. We decided we didn't have time to see the Country Hall of Fame so will do it Thursday. Stayed at the Best Western on Music Row.

In the evening, we took a cab downtown to the famous Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, the Legends and the Wildhorse Saloon. Tootsie's is a small, dilapidated two level bar about 30ft wide and 60ft long. People were pack in and we stood on the stairs and listened to both bands alternately by moving up and down the steps. The music was great. We ate supper at the Wildhorse which is a huge 3 story bar, restaurant and dance hall. The decor is really neat - several humorous horse statues and a view of the dance floor from the second and third levels. This is where the Country Music dancing used to be televised and we saw our friends Bob and Elaine (1) on TV dancing there in the 70's. We were disappointed that there were not many people there and only line dancing.


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