Nashville

We arrived in Nashville from Florida and planned for a one or two nights stay.  Vickie & I, Kollin & Jaime (the honeymooners).  We were planning to do a few of the must do ‘touristy’ things like; visiting the Grand Ol’ Oprey; the Johnny Cash Museum; Ryman Auditorium; Heck, there was even a Rock’n Roll ½ marathon going on.We walked from our hotel a few blocks to Broadway on perfect warm Thursday evening.  Kollin & Jaime had been here before and suggested we stop into Rippy’s Bar & Grill for some good barbecue.  We started the evening with good barbeque, cold beer and live music.  From there we went to Tootsie’s for a nightcap.  Tootsie’s was a three-story bar with live music on each floor.  The place was so full we couldn’t even find a seat.  It was like a college dorm room kegger where you had to turn sideways and lead with your beer to squeeze through the crowd.  I thought Kollin had picked the most happening place on the whole strip, but it turned out that dozens of places were just as crowded (on Thursday night?).  All of them had live country music ranging from Hank (Sr.) to Jason Aldean.  Our dinner and a nightcap turned into 2:00 am meandering back to the hotel.  We hit places like Tootsie’s, Robert’s, Legend’s Corner, Boot Country, and Honky Tonk Central.

The next day we decided was the day to hit the tourist spots, but we would start with a burger and a couple of beers at Roberts and listen to some ‘old school’ live country music.  It was around 1:00 in the afternoon on perfect sunny 80 degree day.  Then we stopped by Honky Tonk Central for one or two beers before we walked to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

This turned into a visit to the Swinging door

Again we found ourselves traveling from bar to bar listening to live country music until late in the evening.  We came across some really talented musicians who came from all over the country to play in Nashville and get discovered.  It was live country music, cold beer, and great friends.  We had a blast.

We did eventually get to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame before we left.

Next stop Mammoth Cave NP.