Nashville Trip 2005


October 7th to October 10th, we spent the Columbus Day weekend in the great town of Nashville, TN. It is not a bad trip at all from Atlanta. Pretty much a 4 hour drive on the nose. There is a lot to do there, particularly if you have a fondness for country music, or really just music in general. There is a thriving music scene, and a very cool vibe to the city. We arrived in Nashville around 1:00 pm on Friday the 7th, checking into the Hotel Preston


After checking in and getting the dogs settled, we set out to explore the town. We drove further down Briley Parkway to the Opryland area. We needed to know our way around this area because we had tickets to attend the Grand Ole Opry the next night. Just adjacent to the Opry itself is Opry Mills, a GIGANTIC shopping complex. We walked through the shopping center, people-watched for awhile, and stopped for a bite to eat at the Alabama Grill. It may have just been the time of the day, but the food was not all that terrific. The atmosphere was kind of cool, though, with a lot of country memorabilia, much of it autographed.

After eating, we drove around the area a bit more and did some geocaching. After that, we swung over to the Opry and picked up our tickets for the next night. We decided to go back to the hotel and hang out with the dogs for the remainder of the evening.

The following morning we got up and went out to do some more geocaching and explore more of the city. That evening, we went over to the Opry Hall. A lady that we encountered outside took our picture at the sign:



That night at the Opry, we saw a nice mix of country legends of yesteryear and the stars of today, including Little Jimmy Dickens, Porter Waggoner, Daryl Worley, and Hanna-McEuen.

The next morning, we got up and did some additional geocaching. We also went downtown to do some exploring. We got the opportunity to tour the historic Ryman Auditorium. The Ryman is a really cool place with a great vibe and is really an important location in the history of American music. The history of the building is interesting because it is actually a converted church. They say the acoustics in the building are second only to the Mormon Tabernacle. Below is a picture of the Ryman windows, complete with stained glass. Below that is a picture of us onstage at the Ryman. Being up there you can truly feel the "aura" of the legends who had been right where you are standing.





Our next stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame. This was an interesting place, especially knowing the wonderful relics of country music that are archived and stored in the library there. Our final stop was the tower, a tall, round room where the persons voted into the hall are honored with plaques. During our tour of the Hall, Matt stopped to pose with a large picture of his cousin, bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs:



After leaving the Hall of Fame, we wandered up Broadway to the area of the Gaylord Entertainment Center. Along the street are sculptures of guitars. Julia had Matt pose with the guitar below, which has the likenesses of various country legends:



We stopped for a bite to eat at Jack's Barbecue, which boasts some of the best barbecue we have ever eaten. We then moved on to try to check out the famous Wildhorse Saloon. Unfortunately, it was closed for a private function, but we did have our picture taken with the Wild Horse: