Grande Ole Opry

Day 35

Today we started with a sightseeing tour of the landmarks of Nashville.  We started with the Parthenon.  This was built years ago for the centennial as Nashville is often referred to as little Athens due to the number of schools in the area.  The first one was made of plaster and timber and it started to decay. It was then rebuilt to the exact measurements of the original Parthenon.

Next Was the State Capitol and the Bicentennial State Park.  We started with a walk across Tennessee;  a 200ft granite map which shows all the towns and rivers; and then the Museum to the Civil War.    

They have a Pathway of History. This is a really great learning area as the state’s history is etched in granite.  It includes the life of Andrew Jackson, Davy Crockett,  the Trail of Tears where 4,000 of the 17,000 Cherokees who were forced to relocate walking hundreds of miles died along the way, the Civil War, Lincoln,  Casey Jones and many others. 

We then drove past the recording studios of Music Row.  Next was the Country Music Hall of Fame which is 3 floors celebrating the birth and history of Country Music.  It had all the fashions and memorabilia from the beginning to current and of course a gift shop.

We had the afternoon in town and lunch at one of the bars.  They all have their own live performers which are all very good.

Last night was FANTASTIC!  We went to the Grand Ole Oprey which had a lineup of new as well as past Hall of Fame performers.  The star of the night was Charlie Daniels.  He was amazing in spite of his age. He bought the house down.  They also had little Jimmy Dickens who at 91 (and looked about 4’6”)could still sing and was extremely funny.  It was a great night.