Nashville is no Cathy Rigby

I arrived in Washington DC yesterday after a rather long day of driving.  Google maps claimed it was going to be 10 hour 13 min or 10 min 32 min in traffic.  It always gets travel times wrong because it forgets to factor in "you missed the critical turnoff" time.  I'm still too trusting of the position of the blue dot.

Memphis had Beale street which was pretty cool.  I ended up not visiting one of the blues bars in it because I was not in the mood to sit in another bar alone.  I was pretty tired after xmas and the drive to Tennessee.  The next morning I walked around Memphis downtown to see it in the daylight and then walked to the banks of the Mississippi. Coming over the Mississippi into Memphis was pretty cool when I arrived the day before with the  city lights growing out of the banks of the river.

I then attended the entrance of the ducks at the Peabody hotel.  Since about 1930 the ducks which live on top of the hotel enter the elevator, make their way to the ground floor (someone from the hotel pushes the button) and they exit the elevator into a red carpet which leads to the hotel's marble fountain. It was quite a sight and a grabbed as much of it as I could on video but the crowd was huge.

I moved on to Graceland to see the home of the king.  I am sure I don't need to tell you it is very commercial.  Fun fact, it was called Graceland when he bought it originally and he retained the name.   I'm glad I have done it - would have been crazy not to but not in my top 10.

I moved on to Nashville which was a mere 3.5 hours drive (I think my shortest journey on the trip).  I checked into the hotel which was on the outskirts of downtown so I jumped back in the car for some cruising.  This is when I worked out it was the music bowl (the Gaylord music bowl that is).  So I parked back at the hotel and made my way in for dinner.

I walked through Broadway street which had the flashy, neon signs above the bars and also many shops of cowboy boots and related clothing. It was a quiet night for me as I was told by my waitress that when the football finished, the city would be teeming with drunk football fans.

The next day I made my way to the Grand Ol Opry which was next to Opryland, the biggest shopping centre I have ever seen.  I did a quick tour of the mall and escaped to walk around the actual Opry.

Unfortunately tours of the Opry were closed over Christmas so I had to settle for a quick photo and a browse of the gift shop.  I picked up some drum sticks for my budding drumming career and a couple of other thinks for other people.

I stopped in somewhere for lunch and then made my way to the Pantheon (the Nashville recreation, not the Greek one).  Getting out of the car made me realise I had left my coat at lunch.  That ruined my plans to tour the pantheon art museum but shit happens.

I double backed, picked up my jacket at the restaurant and went back to the hotel to book my DC and NY accommodation, or so I thought.

I walked back into downtown for dinner, drinks and dancing.  It was still early so I walked the block around Broadway before I bit the bullet and went into one of the live country music bars.  I ordered a Bud and watched the resident band.  The song was Mustang Sally so it was looking promising.  A few beers through and Mustang Sally was the only song I had recognised so far- false advertising I say.

About now, a lady beside me started to knock my chair every few minutes.  I was starved for conversation and saw it as an opportunity to have a chat.  So Debbie was here with her partner Dedar on holiday from Alabama.  We ended up chatting for ages and they saved my Nashville experience.  Dedar even requested Keith Urban for me but the hacks on stage did not know any of his songs.

So we hung there for a while and then moved on to "The Stage" which was the same deal but a bit bigger.  They explained to me that getting to play in one of the bars in Broadway, Nashville is a big deal.  I decided to get a CD from one of the bands (I was drunk).  I also picked up a "The Stage" coolie, or stubbie cooler in Australian.

They then took me to the BBQ joint in the street that is apparently famous.  It was good but I was pretty unsure about what was going on- it was served like we were in high school.  I ended up getting pork - I think.

Now how do you top such a night off?  Well go cowboy hat shopping of course.  I decided it was really important that I have a black cowboy hat to complete my Nashville experience but alas, neither of the open hat shops had any that fit the bill.

So a few beers down the track, some good conversation and the best Southern BBQ I have ever had, that was my night in Nashville that saved the city for me.

I walked the girls back to the hotel (the Hilton 2 blocks away) and walked a little further to mine, the Best Western Music City Inn (not quite as glamorous and a few blocks further).

I had an early start in the morning for the 10.5 hour drive to Washington and the hangover did not help.  Unluckily I had downloaded Stephen Hawking's "A briefer history of time" which I could not really handle until the afternoon.

Overall, I love the south for the accents, food and of course the people.  I had some good experiences and glad I got to see this different part of the US.

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