Nashville, Tennessee and Visiting Friends

We left our Pegasus host at the end of day lights savings time.  The clocks changed so we gained an hour then we gained another hour as we moved into the Central time zone so we gained 2 hours in one day!  I feel younger!

We drove to Nashville, Tennessee and parked at the Nashville RV Resort. 

  

 The park was not crowded at all.

We were within walking distance of the Gaylord Opryland hotel.  I stayed at this hotel many, many years ago when I lived in Pennsylvania and Prudential, the company where I worked for 10 years, sent me and some co-workers to a software conference.  It was the most amazing hotel I had every been.  

The hotel has expanded a lot since I stayed there and it still has amazing indoor courtyards to walk around.  When we visited this time it was decorated for Christmas.  

I found the room where I stayed which had a little patio that opened to this courtyard.

Photo courtesy of Google Images

 

  

The next day we visited with friends we know from California who within the past two years moved to the Nashville area.  First we went to Sue & Kevin's house.  We know them from our Church singles group where Al and I met and where Sue & Kevin met.  We saw their beautiful home and then we went out to lunch.

 

 

So great to catch up with them.  Then we drove less than two miles to Scott & Julie's house.   I worked with Scott for almost 25 years at Experian and got to know Julie at the annual Christmas party.   

Scott and Julie also have a beautiful home but I forgot to take a photo.  We went to their favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner.  

It's so fun being able to reconnect with old friends while we're traveling around.  

Our next day in Nashville we went to the downtown area.  We took a shuttle from the campground to downtown and just started walking.  First up was this pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland River.

John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge

The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in 1998 due to it's poor condition.  It was listed in the National Registry of Historic Places due mainly to the unique truss design in 1998 and underwent a refurbishment.

 In April 2014, the bridge was renamed the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge in honor of journalist and civil rights advocate John Seigenthaler. While reporting for The Tennessean in the 1950s, Seigenthaler once physically prevented a suicidal man from jumping off the bridge.

The bridge is often seen in country music videos.  I'm not a country music fan but does anyone recognize it?

From the bridge we could see Nissan Stadium, home to the Tennessee Titans NFL team and Tigers of Tennessee State University.  The stadium opened in 1999.

Downtown Nashville

Next we walked to the downtown area and found the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.

Old concert tickets

From there we walked to the Tennessee State Capital.  

Andrew Jackson
US Senator from Tennessee
7th President of the US
Commander of Victorious American Forces
At Battle of New Orleans January 8, 1815
Died: June 8, 1845, Nashville, TN

The door was open so we went inside.  We arrived just in time to take a tour. 

William Strickland designed the building and supervised construction until his death in April 1854.

Some other famous men from Tennessee:

David Crockett
Born in Tennessee,
Died Defending the Alamo

Welcome to the
Tennessee
House of Representatives
112th General Assembly
Speaker Cameron Sexton
Cumberland County, TN

 

This Bust Created In the Likeness of
Sampson W. Keeble
The First African American Representative to the Tennessee State
Legislature.  Also Serves as a Commemorative Emblem to all Fourteen
African American Legislators Elected in the 19th Century.

14th and 15th Amendments
African American Citizenship and Male Suffrage

 

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States—including former enslaved people—and guaranteed all citizens “equal protection of the laws.”

The 15th Amendment guaranteed African-American men the right to vote. Almost immediately after ratification, African Americans began to take part in running for office and voting.

Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote. The 19th amendment legally guarantees American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle—victory took decades of agitation and protest.

Senate Chambers

 

 

View from the Capital Balcony

Enough of the history and civics lessons.  On to Lower Broadway to check out some music.

 

Nashville's Honky Tonk Highway, located on Lower Broadway, is a row of honky tonks pumping live music into the streets from 10am to 3am.

First up, Ryman Auditorium
The Union Gospel Tabernacle was built in 1892 after steamboat captain Thomas Ryman heard Rev. Sam P. Jones speak at a tent revival in 1885.  Ryman commissioned architect Hugh C. Thompson to build the Gothic Revival church, which quickly became a place for secular and religious gatherings.  After Ryman's death in 1904 it was renamed in his honor.  Nicknamed the "Mother Church of Country Music." the Ryman Auditorium was home to WSM's "Grand Ole Opry" from 1943-1974.

 

Photo courtesy of Google Images.

 Outside the building were several statues.

Bill Monroe and the Birth of Bluegrass
In December 1945, Grand Ole Opry star Bill Monroe and his mandolin brought to the Ryman Auditorium stage a band that created a new American musical form.  With the banjo style of Earl Scruggs and the guitar of Lester Flatt, the new musical genre became known as "Bluegrass."  Augmented by the fiddle of Chubby Wise and the bass of Howard Watts (also known as Cedric Rainwater), this ensemble became known as "The Original Bluegrass Band," which became the prototype for groups that followed.

Loretta Lynn

Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff at Ryman Auditorium

As you walk into the lobby of the Ryman Auditorium, you will notice this famous duo chatting on a pew. On the left is the King of Country Music, Roy Acuff. The singer-songwriter and fiddler auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry in 1938. This launched the Smokey Mountain Boys and Acuff’s rise as a superstar. He was the first living member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. By his side is Sarah Cannon, better known by her stage name Minnie Pearl. She is wearing her signature straw hat with flowers and a dangling price tag. The comedian-singer joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1940. Together, Acuff and Pearl entertained at the Grand Ole Opry almost every weekend for decades. These statues by Russ Faxon are so lifelike you almost expect to hear Minnie shout out, “Howww-Deee! I’m jest so proud to be here!”

I was lucky to see Mini Pearl in person as she was the keynote speaker at the software conference I attended many years ago in Nashville.

Here are our sights from Lower Broadway.  It was so much fun walking around sneaking a listen to the different bands and singers right from the sidewalk.

 

 

 

 

 

Three story bar with a different band on each floor!

Lower Broadway with interesting AT&T building above.

I don't know Chase Wright but at least this club, Ole Red, put his name up for him so people can learn it.

 

 

 

We climbed the steps of the Ole Red bar to the roof top to check out the view.

Jason Aldean's

Kid Rock's Honky Tonk

We happen to be in town on the day before the Country Music Awards show for 2021 so they were getting ready for the event held at the Bridgestone Arena.  

 

The arena is home to the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League and opened in 1996.

 

 

 

One more stop before our shuttle back to the campground.  This was the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. 

 

 

Some markers on the Music City Walk of Fame

AT&T Building

 

That was our visit to Nashville.  It was great to connect with Sue & Kevin and Scott & Julie and get a chance to see downtown Nashville and the re-visit Gaylord Opryland Resort.
 

Next stop is Memphis, Tennessee.  Thanks for following along.....