A half days travel brought us to Nashville - Music City USA. On our way there, we realized that The Grand Old Opry only plays on Friday and Saturday nights. This being Saturday, we decided that would be our first stop. I called ahead to make sure tickets were available, and we headed for Opryland. Our tickets are for the late show at 9:30, so we had time to get settled and have dinner.
On the way to the Opry, our bus driver talked about The Nashville Palace where we had had dinner. Turns out this is where many Nashville Stars, including Randy Travis, had gotten their start. Music spews forth from that establishment almost continuously.
We had no preconceived notions about what the Opry was going to be like. Large Venue with church type pews for seats. Tonight it was quite full on the main floor, which created a good audience -- probably 800 people. The Opry is actually the live performance of their long running radio show -- 75 years+. People are wandering all over the large stage -- performers coming and going, friends and family watching from seating on the stage, performers standing in the wings watching, and the "host" reading commercials from a podium that were projected on large screens around the theatre. It was quite a scene, very different than most concerts. In the course of 2 1/2 hours, over 25 different acts performed, so they were changing instruments, performers, and backup bands every 5-7 minutes! But it all happened without a hitch. It was interesting that the Opry provided certain common elements to every act -- all the audio/amplification equipment, a large drum set, 4 backup singers, and probably more that we couldn't see. That is what allowed the groups to move in and out quickly. At each change, a bevy of tech's descended upon the stage to help each group get unconnected and the new group get connected, adjust mic heights and locations, amp settings, etc. It was kind of controlled chaos!
No superstars were there this night. But names that were at least vaguely familiar to even "non country" people. Porter Waggoner, Little Jimmy Dickens, Osborne Bros, Joe Diffie, and Jean Shepard. It was definitely a fun, different evening.
As long as we were in the neighborhood, we thought we would go to The Opryland Hotel (3,000 rooms!) for lunch and a look around although we had been there briefly several years ago. As we circled the place, it became apparent that they wanted $6.00 to park to allow you to spend money in their premise -- we decided we didn't want to see it again that bad and headed for The Hermitage - Andrew Jackson's farm and home.
We enjoyed The Hermitage - lots of history and good exhibits in the small museum. He was quite a character -- people either loved him or hated him. He killed 2 men in duels, and married a woman who wasn't yet divorced! Great scandel for a man who would run for President! He made a name for himself in the Battle of New Orleans, although he had neither training nor desire to lead in battle. He had many enemies, and, like GWBush, didn't win the popular vote -- and almost didn't win when the election finally went to Congress -- he won by a single vote -- GWB should be reminding people of that!
A beautiful day in Nashville, and we head downtown to see their restored downtown area and Centennial Park. The park houses the only full size replica of The Parthenon -- it is impressive. Not open today (it is an art Museum), so just got the see the outside. After finding a nice Day's Inn right downtown for $69, we went off to explore the city. Their convention center area is very well done, and adjoins a really cute restored historic area. The hotel had recommended Demo's for dinner -- and for $35 including tip, we had a wonderful dinner -- great atmosphere, excellent service, and really good food. On our walk back -- all uphill -- ugh after dinner! -- we stopped into their old hotel on the historic register -- The Hermitage. Beautiful, cozy lobby, but you could tell they were struggling.
The next morning, we headed across the street to the Capitol. The tour guide was totally not busy, and a history buff, so we picked his brain about the South, the Civil War, Andrew Jackson, and anything else we thought of!! He was a real wealth of information. The capitol building dates back to the 1850's, and is very nice, but doesn't compare with some of the really great ones we have seen.
One more "must see" stop before heading out of town -- The Ryman Theatre, where the Grand Old Opry played for 37 years. Originally built as a church (thus the pews carried over into the new venue), it has been restored to its original majesty, and it is quite neat. Now houses many traveling acts, theatre productions, and, yes, The Grand Old Opry returns there for a couple of months each year. It is right in the heart of their Convention area and has a special place in the hearts of Nashville residents and Grand Old Opry stars.
Off to a totally different kind of adventure. That's what makes this trip so fun -- we never get bored of one type of sightseeing. It is always something different. We are now headed for Mammoth Cave National Park. Not Phil's favorite thing, but he agreed to a 2 hour historic tour tomorrow morning.
The day dawned rainy and cool - perfect weather to head into a cave. This one was dry -- no stalactites or stalagmites -- this cave was formed by water and is the largest known. Over 350 miles of cave have been discovered so far (The Park Ranger's favorite stupid question: How many miles of the cave are undiscovered? (<:)
The water has hollowed out huge tubes in the limestone underground (Ranger's 2nd favorite stupid question: Is all the Cave underground?!!) and made some truly beautiful formations. A "capstone" of shale covers the entire area and keeps most water from seeping into the cave, although several active rivers still are in the deepest areas of the cave. Overall, a facsinating place. And if you are a real adventurer, they lead a "crawling" tour (bring your own knee and elbow pads) into some of the more obscure locals.
Drove til almost dark, but didn't quite make St. Louis, so will go on in tomorrow.
Decided to call on The Raddison downtown, looks nice and advertising $69 in the AAA book at this time - regularly $149. Bummer - big science teachers convention in town and they (and all the downtown hotels) are booked through the weekend. Backup plan. Found a nice Best Western just out of downtown near their Forest Park. Not as big as our Forest Park, but quite nice -- they have most of their museums there, and is in an area with several of the Universities --kind of a happening locale.
Once we got checked in, we headed for their light rail and off to town. Explored the historic area called Lacleide's Landing. Mostly restaurants and nightclubs. Decided we would come back this evening for dinner. Walked on down to The Arch -- 630 feet tall, and the same width from one base leg to the other. Wonderful Westward Expansion museum inside the visitors center there. Tells the story from the Louisiana Purchase, to the Lewis & Clark Expedition and a bit about the California Gold Rush. Good exhibits, and puts things in a timeline perspective.
Of course, we had to take the tram up to the top of the Arch. Quite a view from up there, but I thought the tram was even more interesting. How to you devise an "elevator" to go up the inside of that curved space? It was an engineering dilemma also. They came up with something like a Disneyland ride that lifts then moves inward, lifts and moves in, etc. You sit in cramped little cars - 5 people to a car -- good thing it only takes a few minutes each way. A bit claustrophobic.
After quite awhile there, we walked on downtown, poked around a bit, then headed back to the historic area for a nice dinner. Had a fun conversation with the teachers at the next table -- mostly about golf.
On the way out of town, we decided to drive through their Forest Park. Very nice -- even with the tress still bare and the grass brown. All of the museums, a skating rink (ice and roller), and a golf course contained within the 2,900+ acres. A real urban treasure. As we exited the park, we found ourselves in a beautiful residentail area with lovely old homes bordering the park.
We had to choose between U. S. Grant and Daniel Boone. Of course, we choose Daniel Boone! Off to find his last home. Most of his life was spent in KY, but has last years were in MO. It was a real trek to find this place. I was sure we would be the only ones there! But, actually quite a few people had ventured forth. An interesting diversion -- learned a lot about his life.
Off to the scenic road -- The Great River Road, up the Mississippi to Hannibel, MO. The home of Mark Twain. But, this early in the season, they close everything at 4PM, and we didn't make it until 4:30. Looked around, and not really much to see without getting the full tour. Actually had a hard time finding the place, as there were absolutely no signs directing you. And they pride themselves on this being their big attraction and claim to fame -- couldn't believe we finally had to stop and ask. This is not a large town, so that really amazed us. We decided not to stay over and see it tomorrow, but pushed on towards St. Joseph's -- the home of the Pony Express.
A quick night in the middle of nowhere, and we were on the road again, for what turned out to be our longest driving day of the trip. We had planned to go to Omaha, then into Sioux City the next day to rendevous with our friends Bob & Marti Ritter from Brookings, SD. We got to Omaha mid afternoon, and since we will come back this way, decided to push on for Sioux City, expecially since the temperature was hovering near freezing, and we could get snow flurries! Who knows what the morning will bring.
We have been wanting to know the weight of the RWH for the entire trip. The Pleasureways handbook says we weigh about 8,500 lbs. But it is unclear as to whether that includes gas, water, people, possessions, etc. So when we saw the highway sign saying "trucks over 6,000 lbs must exit" at the truck stop, we thought, good, now we'll know. The inspector waved us on, but we stopped and I went back and asked him if he could weigh us (they weren't busy). He said sure. Now we know that we weigh 8,120 lbs with about 1/4 tank of gas and a 1/2 tank of water. Apparently, any weigh station will weigh you on request.
This morning, Phil, as is his ritual, goes down to get the perverbial Continental Breakfast at the motel and his beloved newspaper. He comes back laughing and shaking his head. "Look at the date on this paper" (He has learned to always check). "It says Tuesday, March 20 -- but today is Saturday, March 24!" I asked, "Why did you buy this?". He says -- "That's the laugh -- the news is current -- sports headlines that happened yesterday -- they just didn't change the banner -- for several days now!" Welcome to our heartland!
Right now we are wishing that we hadn't sent our heavy winter clothes home with the Mardi Gras stuff!! It is sunny and beautiful -- until you step outside! Fortunately, we still have some sweatshirts, jeans, boots, and windbreakers!
Speaking of clothes, we are really sick of our meager wardrobe!! We may burn everything when we return home!! 4 pairs of pants -- black cotton, black wool, cords, and jeans -- that's it for over 200 days so far! Oh, I forgot, we do have a few pairs of shorts for those sunny days! Two long sleeve shirts, one turtleneck, two sleeveless tops (one bought along the way), and 3-4 golf shirts make up my inventory! Phil's is similarly skimpy. But our storage is so limited, this is what has to be....
Bob and Marti arrived right on schedule bearing a "book" made by her first graders who are usuing our website as part of their education this year. There was a picture on the front, and letters from each of them about what they have liked most, and thanking us for teaching them -- the whole thing is priceless and will be a part of our momentos from this trip.
We had a fun afternoon just chatting and laughing with them. The boys were tripping down memory lane, and laughing about all the crazy things they did in middle school. We went out to dinner with them before they headed back to Brookings. It was good to see them again and catch up on what our school kids and real life kids are all doing.