TOURING NASHVILLE - Nov. 5th & Nov. 6th

We decided to jump on a tour bus to get a real look at downtown Nashville as well as the homes of the Country & Western icons who live here. Gray Line was a little pricey, so our neighbor Rae called up "Tommy's Tours" and found they did tours for 1/3 the price! Well, Tommy picked us up at the campground in a nice 25 seat bus and off the four of us went. We soon found out the driver (Tommy) was also the receptionist, booking agent, navigator, commentator and complaint department! He started by finding out where each patron was from and we proceeded on a very informational and crazy tour. Tommy was a never ending story teller who only put down his microphone long enough to answer his cellphone for a new rider or open the bus door to ask the poor pedestrian nearby if they had any grey poupon mustard! Not having much use for red lights, Tommy navigated downtown Nashville in a unique way but did keep the bus in one piece. We saw the Grand Ole Opry (Ryman Auditorium), the Honky Tonk district, old Nashville (called The Print District) which was notorious during prohibition, the Grand Union Train Station, The batman building, otherwise known as Nissan Headquarters, as well as the Crazy Horse Saloon and Coyote Ugly Bar. We then left for the wealthy suburbs and saw homes owned by Minnie Pearl, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks & Tricia Yearwood, Ronnie Brooks (Brooks & Dunn), Keith Urban & Nicole Kidman, Martina McBride, Dolly Parton, LeAnn Rimes, Johnnie Cash's husband-in-law, and others we can't remember. It turns out Tommy has met most of the C&W stars and they are for the most part kind, courteous and eager to please their fans (just like Hollywood - right?). Tommy got us back to Two Rivers Campground safely (bless his heart) and we have attached the photos we got to the blog.



The next AM Jane and I went for a walk around the block which ended being a five mile jaunt. After lunch Ernie, Rae, Jane and I went back downtown to do some shopping and honky-tonk stopping. The taverns on Broadway almost all have big stages with live music, and each group sounds good enough to make it big, just looking for that big break. We toured the Charlie Daniels museum which was really awesome, more memorabilia than can be seen anywhere. We had supper at the Hard Rock cafe, and then went to the Sommet Center where the Country Music Awards are being held on Wednesday nite (Nov. 7). Outside the Sommet a big crowd was forming and we were treated to a free concert by the Phil Vassar Band. He has a ton of big C&W hits and he played them all even though the temp. was dropping to freezing. We made it home safe and slept like rocks after an active day. Unfortunately, Ernie & Rae are leaving today to visit their daughter in Memphis, but we are sure we will see them again somewhere in this great country.



Signing off for now, Bill & Jane

Miinie Pearls home



Tim McGraw & Faith Hills Home

THE JOURNEY BEGINS - Oct 31, 2007

We left Buffalo, NY following the conclusion of the SUNY Brockport Soccer season headed for Nashville, Tennessee. The first night we made it to Florence, Kentucky which is just south of Cincinnati. (I-90 to I-271 to I-71 SB). Had an awesome supper at Lonestar Steakhouse. We can already see the pace of life slowing down as we head south. Next morning continued SB to I-65 to Nashville, the Music City. We stayed 1 night at the KOA and attended a Gospel Concert at the campground. The next AM we checked prices at two other campgrounds and moved to Two Rivers Campground and saved over $300! Our second nite we traveled to downtown Nashville for supper and sights. WOW! The Broadway section of Nashville is full of honky tomks and watering holes each with a stage and live country entertainment. The talent of the acts on stage is unbelieveable! It seems like each group is just on the verge of making it big and is just waiting to be "discovered" by the right producer or record company. Remember "Bobbie Cutshaw". This 5 piece group sounded as good as the Eagles! We also saw Titans Stadium which is right on the edge of Downtown by the Cumberland River. We met a very nice couple from Michigan, Ernie and Ray, at Two Rivers. Ernie is a purple heart winner who served in Vietnam. They are both retired from Kelloggs. Saturday nite we went to the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville with Ernie and Ray. It was a 2 1/2 hour show cut into half hour segments for radio broadcast. The show was awesome! We got to see Vince Gill, Patti Loveless, Amy Grant, Sawyer Brown,

Jason Crabb, Mel McDaniel, Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys, Riders in the Sky and more. The theme of the evening was a tribute to Porter Wagoner who died this week and was an original member of the Opry. They also recognized several Iraq War veterans and purple heart winners. The talent was again awesome, and the strong feeling of patriotism pervaded the performances. The Ryman Auditorium is the old site of the Grand Ole Opry and where the winter shows are performed. The acoustics and atmosphere were perfect. On Sunday, Nov. 4, we went to Church at St. Joseph's, a huge parish near Two Rivers. Believe it or not, they have an adult choir that was awesome! What else would you expect in the Music City? At noon we went to the Scoreboard Tavern to watch the Bill's game. We were invited to a table with some Bengal fans. The Bill's looked pretty good, especially on offense, and won the game 33-21. About half of this bar was filled with Packer fans. We found out it is one of three official sites in Nashville where Packer Backer meetings are held. Of course Brett Favre led a game winning drive at the end.

Bill and Jane signing off for now.

Sommet Center where the CMA's are on Wed. Nov. 7th and where the Predators play.