The road to Nashville

Day 3 -Saturday - involved going from Asheville to Nashville. Seemed like it would be an easy task...it is not to far, maybe a 4 hour drive... The day was gorgeous and I had made a list of the things I wanted to do and see in Nashville...

Another thing I discovered about myself is that I enjoy driving... especially on a beautiful day... The sunroof open... the windows down... the radio blaring... and me singing, driving and enjoying the scenery. Saturday was such a day... bright sunshine... gorgeous scenery... I decided since I had plenty of time (no timetable for me) that part of my drive would be thru Great Smokey Mtn. National Park... exit the Park in Gaitlinburg, go back in the Park, exit the park in Pigeon Forge, and then take a smaller road (which I had hoped would be scenic) to Nashville... Well..... the park is beautiful.... I love National Parks... there are always overlooks and paved roads... and accessible to all.... Gaitlinburg (seemed like a cute little town).. was bustling with people walking the sidewalks. I stopped at a gas station to make sure my directions were correct and reentered the park to continue on to Pigeon Forge and then to Knoxville where I'd get back on the highway to Nashville. Everything was going smoothly when all of the sudden I came to a complete stop in the park... I got stuck in the biggest traffic jam entering Pigeon Forge. I couldn't figure it out... I think I was in my own country music song.... "I'm stuck in Pigeon Forge agin" There were thousands of people out and about... on both sides of the highway... there were camping chairs set up on the side of the road on both sides... and there were cars for sale on either side of the road... I just couldn't figure it out... I thought "Maybe it's Dolly Day"... "maybe there's a parade"... I found out later it was a car swap... Anyway... the 4 hour trip turned out to be an 8 hour drive... but I arrived... and the good news is that I don't have a time table... I can take detours... and "ENJOY THE RIDE!" Since it did take so long to get to Knoxville, I did take a quick drive by the University of Tenn campus...Their stadium seemed huge!
Once in Nashville, I decided to go see the 9:30 show at the Grand Ole Opry... It was really fun... I don't know much about country music, but I did recognize several names... Porter Wagner, Pam Tillis, Marty Stuart, Kelly Pickler (yes... American Idol fame). The one thing I did find a bit disappointing was that the Grand Ole Opry is now located in a huge complex outside of town... It reminded me of Broadway on the Beach in Myrtle Beach... Not knowing alot about country music.. this is an institution that I recognize, and it seems to me that something that had such a huge impact on the music is now in a large shopping mall, seemed kind of sad... I understand that they want to serve lots of people and the staff is very nice and accommodating... It was just a little disappointing... but not terrible... and the evening was still very fun...
Just a quick note about how nice people are... I arrived early for the show and was starving... (I hadn't had time to eat) I went into the gift shop and asked a woman who worked there if there was a place to eat... Since there really wasn't a place, she offered to walk into the Opry house and get a sandwich for me from the concession stand. That was just so nice! People are just great!

Day 4- Sunday - Nashville
I was debating last night and this morning whether I was going to stay in Nashville for the whole day... I'm so glad I did...I had already planned on going to The Hermitage in the morning but thought that I may just go to Memphis after that. I shared a table at breakfast this morning with a guy in the hotel, and he was saying how fun the downtown area is... so after touring Andrew Jackson's house I went downtown... It really is fun! The main street is lined with bars, boot shops, record shops, tourist stores, etc... Music just pours out into the streets. I had a beer in 2 bars and then made my way back to the parking lot... turning down one street early and ran into a large crowd in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame... Winona Judd!! Now that's a country star I know! Got a pix of her... hope I can figure out how to download it!
Tomorrow .... Graceland!