Just got in from Nashville. Music City. Capital of Tennessee. Home of the Predators (now that I’m a hackey mam I know this), the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
I hadn’t been to the “Athens of the South” since 1990, when I attended a conference at the Opryland hotel. I didn’t see a thing then and didn’t see a thing today. Correction: I saw meeting rooms both times.
Nashville is on my husband’s bucket list. He wants to see the Ernest Tubb Record Shop. I’ve been walking the floor over someone wanting to go such a long way to buy records. Tripadvisor lists 113 things to see and do there–including the record shop.
Today I was within arm’s reach of Music Row; I passed the sign on my way to the airport. As with Elvis’ birthplace in Tupelo, I took a mental picture at 35 miles per hour.
Finally, this afternoon I managed to hear some budding country artists as they strummed and sang and sought to make it big—from the C concourse at Nashville International. I imagined Ernest Tubb getting his start right there across from Auntie Anne’s Pretzels.
So, I bring you no good stories from Nashville today–though I do have one from 1990. As I was riding to the Opryland with a colleague from Brooklyn, New York, she recounted how she had called the hotel the day before. She asked the operator, “Do you have a gym there?” The operator said, “Honey, we have thirty-five hundred people in this hotel. You’re gonna have to give me a last name.”
Word Nymph 
Too bad you don’t have any friends in the area who could take you to dinner and show you around.
Next time!!!
You’d be disappointed in the current venue of the Grand Ole Opry. Its on the parking lot of a discount mall. Something Mills. I was surprised. Still, a fun place to visit. Sorry your trip was so short.
That would be Opry Mills, built where Opryland amusement park used to be! Hence the Opryland Hotel. I think the hotel is a crazy world unto itself. My dad used to pick me up at the airport and take me there for breakfast. You should see it at Christmas!!!
If it makes you feel better, during my one visit to Nashville (1977) all I saw was the snack bar at the Trailways bus station.
Yes, that does make me feel better. Let’s go back together some time.
Monica Welch Sent from my iPhone
This is an excellent post! Great writing! Yes, I long to visit the iconic Mr. Tubb’s record shop.