Friday, April 16, 2010

Downtown Nashville

Country Music Hall of Fame









The Ryman Auditorium










On stage at the Ryman











The Parthenon








Nashville skyline and the Cumberland River


Ah, we had a great day. A Grayline tour bus picked us up from the KOA at 9 am and took us to downtown Nashville. That trolley also took us on a one hour driving tour all over town. It was a very good tour. It took us by the Parthenon ...which is a recreation of the original in Greece. It's supposed to be accurate to within an inch of the original. We also went down Music Row where the music recording and producing buildings are. We saw the building where Elvis Presley recorded.

When we got done with the trolley tour, we immediately went on a walking tour. It included the old Ryman Auditorium where the Grand Old Opry was held for years. The tour took us backstage, thru the dressing rooms, and out on stage. There were some great old pictures of all of the old stars hanging on the walls. It is really funny. There are only 2 rules for the stars when they perform at the Ryman. If they break those rules, they are thrown out and can't come back. There is no cussing and you can't be late. Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks are currently on the bad boy list for being late.

The walking tour also took us thru Tootsie's Lounge where Kris Kristofferson (?) was discovered, and Willie Nelson and others wrote and performed a lot of their music. Kid Rock has apparently been arrested there a couple of times.

We then went on our own and ate b-que for lunch. We walked over to the Country Hall of Fame. They had lots of outfits, recording and pictures. There was a film that covered a lot of the performing history which included so many of the old tv shows that Donnie & I remembered. Anyway, it was a great day.

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