The Travel Junkies went to Nashville this summer. I had a conference, and mom had never been there before, so she decided to join me.  We left early on Saturday, June 10th and had two days of fun before the conference started. We returned home on Wednesday June 14th.

We rented a car, and decided that our first stop would be the Ryman Auditorium, the original location of the Grand Ole Opry.  We took a guided tour, and it was definitely worth it.  The auditorium was named after Thomas Ryman, who I guess you could say found the lord while listening to Samuel Jones preach.  He envisioned the auditorium where people could go inside for large-scale revivals.  At first it seemed odd to see all of the pews, but after hearing the story of the original tabernacle, it made sense.  I think one of the most interesting pieces of it’s history is that in the early 1900’s Lula C. Naff, a widow and mother started booking engagements, concerts in the Ryman.  It was leased to for non-religious events to help pay off it’s debts. You didn’t see many women back then running the show, but she brought in renowned entertainers until 1955 when she retired.   It was impressive to see stand on the stage, see the rather large dressing rooms occupied by so many stars – WC Fields, Houdini, Charlie Chaplin, President Theodore Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Russian Ballet, Marian Anderson, Katharine Hepburn performed the Philadelphia Story, birth of blue grass with Earl Scruggs, Bob Hope and Doris Day, Minnie Pearl, Hank Williams, Mae West, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and June Carter, Louis Armstrong, Every Brothers, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Charlie Pride and the list goes on and on and on.  Emmylou Harris was key in helping the Ryman stay alive.

After leaving the Ryman, we noticed that there was a festival downtown. We asked what this “CMA” thing was…yeah we really didn’t know. So we walked down Broadway, listened to some music while maneuvering the crowds.  We didn’t see anyone famous, but hell, we don’t really know anyone in the country-music arena.  The bars, signs, cowboy boot stores, everything was quite impressive.  It was hot, but really fun. We were thinking about returning again on Sunday, but the Predators were playing the Pittsburgh Penguins in what ended up being the last game in the Stanley Cup Series.

After leaving the city, we went to check in at our hotel which was ENORMOUS.  The Gaylord Convention Center was huge and quite impressive. Rooms, just okay though.  We got tickets for the Grand Ole Opry that night, which we learned later was within walking distance of our hotel, so we decided to unpack, find some barbecue and chill before hitting the road again.  We found a BBQ place close by, and thought it was a local joint, but later learned it was a chain.  Damn good BBQ though.

The show at the Grand Ole Opry ran from 7:00 – 9:15, and it was broadcast live.  There was an announcer and the people in italics below were kindof the hosts for their “section.”  Each artist only played about 2-3 songs but it was diverse, funny, and quite good.  We saw Jeannie Seely, Gene Watson, Eric Paslay, Mike Snider, Charley Pride, Montgomery Gentry, The Whites, Jesse McReynolds, William Michael Morgan, Opry Square Dancers, Riders in the Sky and Sara Evans. I really liked Eric, Montgomery Gentry and William. For someone who doesn’t really like the music, it was great fun and I’d go again.

On Sunday I had to work a little, so we chilled out more than anything else. We went for an amazing breakfast at The Row, home of the working class poets. A place Tiffany’s boss recommended. Just so happened that as we were driving there, Bowman’s plan landed, so she took a cab to meet us there.  We fell in LOVE with fried pickles, but everything was delicious. Who knew.

Mom decided to go back again on Tuesday, June 13th and also saw John Conlee, Drew Baldridge, Henry Cho, Connie Smith, Carly Pearce, Clint Black and Rascal Flatts.  She thought it was fabulous as well.

While I was at my conference from Monday through Wednesday, mom decided to drive to Memphis to see Graceland. It was a 3 hour drive. She went on a tour that took about 3 hours, and got to see most of the house, except his airplane.  She was really glad she went. She spent the night there, and decided to drive to Mississippi, which was only about 10 minutes south since she’d never been to that state before.