Last Day in Nashville
The day started in a leisurely way. There was no rush to get out the door so we enjoyed a long (and yummy) breakfast before heading back to our rooms and packing our suitcases. With everything just about ready for departure, we decided to walk to the heartbeat of this city - Broadway.
There are lots of cowboys in this neck of the woods, and boots are almost compulsory clothing items - like a sari is in India, or an Akubra is in outback Oz. We called into a very posh boots shop in downtown Nashville, and were not only impressed by the incredible array of boots, but also by the very well behaved labradoodles various customers had in tow.
We continued past buildings with quaint architecture of important historical significance, as well as some Nashville wildlife!
When we realised what the time was, we thought we should make a beeline for the Country Music Hall of Fame - where we had left off yesterday. Fortunately Google Maps works on my phone, so with a bit of assistance we made our way through the streets, stumbling through the Music City Centre where the ICMA annual conference was in full swing. We noticed the pavement honoured great songs and songwriters.
Then we needed to cross the road which was a spectacle in itself as various mobile bars with singing patrons passed us. Waiting for us to cross the road was a yellow school bus - I checked to see if Miss Frissel was on board - she wasn't!
The current feature on the third floor of the Country Music Hall of Fame is an exhibition of the original scores of songs composed by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant (who until yesterday, I had never heard of!) There's was a radical, passionate and forever love story. In the spring of 1945, Felice, an elevator operator met Boudleaux Bryant a classical violinist with a symphony orchestra. Five days later they eloped and never looked back. Over the next 30 years, the couple wrote nearly 6,000 songs together, selling over 200 million records with artists such as Roy Orbison, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Buddy Holly, Eddy Arnold, Bobbie Gentry, Gram Parsons, Simon & Garfunkel and most memorably, the Everly Brothers. The Bryants’ list of classics includes “Bye Bye Love,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” and “Love Hurts”. Apparently Felice (of Sicilian heritage) was a marvellous cook. She would invite prospective young musicians over to their house, cook them up a meal and Boudleaux would relax them with a glass or two of wine and good conversation. When they left later in the evening they had a song and an agreement to record it.
Today we only had a brief time to check out what was on the second floor. It was all the inductees of Country Music's Hall of Fame. I could have spent a whole day in there! I guess I'll have to come back again another time!
Jenny and I then jumped into a cab and high tailed it to the Grand Old Opry to enjoy a tour of the backstage. The venue is a good drive out of town, so we got to see another area of Nashville.
Security was pretty tight. We had to go through a metal detector.
When we finally got inside we were walked past the various stars fan mail letterboxes. Apparently Keith Urban, Alan Jackson and Dolly Parton get the most mail at the moment.
Then we got to have a bit of a sticky beak into some of the dressing rooms:
I got the feeling that it was like a big ole family home, especially when I found out that the green room is called the 'Family Room'. We had the opportunity to sit in the comfy chairs before proceeding to the stage. One of the stage hands was celebrating his birthday, so the whole group I was with and I sang him Happy Birthday. Now I can honestly say that I have sung on stage at the Grand Ole Opry!
It was lots of fun to stand on such revered ground and I'm going to make a point of listening to the radio show via the internet in the coming weeks.
After an interlude to top up the energy reserves, it was onward and upward to find the exhibition celebrating Dolly Parton's 50 years of involvement with the Grand Ole Opry. 
Not surprisingly, she is adored .... and her on stage costumes are splendiferous!
As we left, we were handed an aqua blue sharpie so we could add our love and admiration of Dolly to the wall in the courtyard outside the exhibition:
. 
We didn't have to wait for a cab because they were lining up after dropping off the people who would be audience members at the Grand Ole Opry tonight. We asked to be dropped back in Broadway so we could experience the atmosphere of Friday night in Nashville.
Young musicians, and remnants of old musicians, US war veterans begging for food and shelter, hooting and hollering revellers, revving cars, bands, music, singers, musicians wandering with their instruments to the places they need to set up, tourists, dogs, traffic, flashing traffic lights, colourful business slogans etc, etc. It's full on!!!
And here's the sign of the day!
We called into a souvenir shop and saw some interesting ware...
These are jalepinos! 
Then we slowly walked home past some interesting landmarks
Put our weary feet up and prepared ourselves for a less frenetic day tomorrow ... a limo ride to the airport and a flight to Chicago.
Thanks for keeping tabs on us. Until tomorrow ... see y'all.
There are lots of cowboys in this neck of the woods, and boots are almost compulsory clothing items - like a sari is in India, or an Akubra is in outback Oz. We called into a very posh boots shop in downtown Nashville, and were not only impressed by the incredible array of boots, but also by the very well behaved labradoodles various customers had in tow.
We continued past buildings with quaint architecture of important historical significance, as well as some Nashville wildlife!
When we realised what the time was, we thought we should make a beeline for the Country Music Hall of Fame - where we had left off yesterday. Fortunately Google Maps works on my phone, so with a bit of assistance we made our way through the streets, stumbling through the Music City Centre where the ICMA annual conference was in full swing. We noticed the pavement honoured great songs and songwriters.
Then we needed to cross the road which was a spectacle in itself as various mobile bars with singing patrons passed us. Waiting for us to cross the road was a yellow school bus - I checked to see if Miss Frissel was on board - she wasn't!
The current feature on the third floor of the Country Music Hall of Fame is an exhibition of the original scores of songs composed by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant (who until yesterday, I had never heard of!) There's was a radical, passionate and forever love story. In the spring of 1945, Felice, an elevator operator met Boudleaux Bryant a classical violinist with a symphony orchestra. Five days later they eloped and never looked back. Over the next 30 years, the couple wrote nearly 6,000 songs together, selling over 200 million records with artists such as Roy Orbison, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Buddy Holly, Eddy Arnold, Bobbie Gentry, Gram Parsons, Simon & Garfunkel and most memorably, the Everly Brothers. The Bryants’ list of classics includes “Bye Bye Love,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” and “Love Hurts”. Apparently Felice (of Sicilian heritage) was a marvellous cook. She would invite prospective young musicians over to their house, cook them up a meal and Boudleaux would relax them with a glass or two of wine and good conversation. When they left later in the evening they had a song and an agreement to record it. Today we only had a brief time to check out what was on the second floor. It was all the inductees of Country Music's Hall of Fame. I could have spent a whole day in there! I guess I'll have to come back again another time!
Jenny and I then jumped into a cab and high tailed it to the Grand Old Opry to enjoy a tour of the backstage. The venue is a good drive out of town, so we got to see another area of Nashville.
Security was pretty tight. We had to go through a metal detector.
When we finally got inside we were walked past the various stars fan mail letterboxes. Apparently Keith Urban, Alan Jackson and Dolly Parton get the most mail at the moment.
Then we got to have a bit of a sticky beak into some of the dressing rooms:
I got the feeling that it was like a big ole family home, especially when I found out that the green room is called the 'Family Room'. We had the opportunity to sit in the comfy chairs before proceeding to the stage. One of the stage hands was celebrating his birthday, so the whole group I was with and I sang him Happy Birthday. Now I can honestly say that I have sung on stage at the Grand Ole Opry!
It was lots of fun to stand on such revered ground and I'm going to make a point of listening to the radio show via the internet in the coming weeks.
After an interlude to top up the energy reserves, it was onward and upward to find the exhibition celebrating Dolly Parton's 50 years of involvement with the Grand Ole Opry. 
Not surprisingly, she is adored .... and her on stage costumes are splendiferous!
As we left, we were handed an aqua blue sharpie so we could add our love and admiration of Dolly to the wall in the courtyard outside the exhibition:
. 
We didn't have to wait for a cab because they were lining up after dropping off the people who would be audience members at the Grand Ole Opry tonight. We asked to be dropped back in Broadway so we could experience the atmosphere of Friday night in Nashville.
Young musicians, and remnants of old musicians, US war veterans begging for food and shelter, hooting and hollering revellers, revving cars, bands, music, singers, musicians wandering with their instruments to the places they need to set up, tourists, dogs, traffic, flashing traffic lights, colourful business slogans etc, etc. It's full on!!!
And here's the sign of the day!
We called into a souvenir shop and saw some interesting ware...
These are jalepinos! 
Then we slowly walked home past some interesting landmarks
Put our weary feet up and prepared ourselves for a less frenetic day tomorrow ... a limo ride to the airport and a flight to Chicago.
Thanks for keeping tabs on us. Until tomorrow ... see y'all.
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