Heading West to Nashville

4/12

We left Greenville early this Easter morning and picked up the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway where we left off Friday.  The drive was beautiful and eventually led us to the Chattooga River which is the border between South Carolina and Georgia.  This is a National Wild River and it draws many whitewater fans.  We stopped for lunch and hiked down to the river.  What a spectacular spot.  There were rafters checking out a big drop called Bull Sluice which is a Class 5 rapid (class 6 being the strongest).   From there we drove the uplands of Georgia which took us through the beautiful Lake Hiwassee area and into Tennessee.  The road in Tennessee was very windy and slow, hugging the edge of the Smokey Mountains.  We didn’t arrive in Sweetwater until about 4:00 PM.  Hooked up quickly and watched the last couple of hours of the Masters.  Mike drove 250 miles today (although he’ll tell you I drove) but says he enjoyed it.  Heavy storms are predicted in the area tomorrow so we may stay here another night.

4/13

It was very cloudy and threatening this morning but we decided to get a start on our trip to Nashville.  We drove on I-40 to Crossville, Tennessee which is located on the Tennessee Plateau (or Rocky Top as in the Dolly Parton song).  After we parked the motorhome we drove the car to Cumberland State Park and then checked out Crossville.  Tennessee is just beautiful, there are redbud and dogwood trees everywhere.  The state tree is the poplar (or as we call it tulip tree) but they are finished blooming now.    It rained hard during the night.

4/14-20

By morning the rain had stopped although it was still very cloudy.  We drove into Nashville and checked into a park just north of Nashville where we will stay one week.  Spent our first day getting the lay of the land and doing some shopping.

On Wednesday we drove to Music Valley to see Opryland.  There is a huge complex which contains the Opryland Hotel, the Grand Ole Opera and the Opry Mills Mall.  The Opryland Hotel is the most amazing “hotel” we have ever seen.  There are four atrium areas with rivers, waterfalls, thousands of plants, flowers and trees as well as restaurants and shops.  It’s like Disneyland for adults.  We wandered around the grounds for a couple of hours and still didn’t see everything.  Directly next to the hotel is the home of the Grand Ole Opry.  We purchased tickets for a show on Saturday night.  The original Grand Ole Opry was in downtown Nashville but was moved to this facility in the early 1974. 

After our wonderful experience at Opryland we visited the Hermitage, the home and cotton plantation of President Andrew Jackson.  Jackson came to fame during the Revolutionary War when he stonewalled the British at the Battle of New Orleans.  His nickname was “Old Hickory” for his strong will.  He was our 7^th President and served 2 terms.  He and his wife Rachel are both buried at the mansion.  We enjoyed touring the mansion and walking the grounds.

On Thursday we got up early and drove to Kentucky in the car.  We took a scenic route and stopped at Mammoth Cave National Park.  They offer many different tours and we opted for the shortest one since I am not that crazy about being underground.  It was very interesting - we went to the area they call Frozen Niagara.  It was a cold day and was actually warmer in the cave than on the surface.  Earlier this year there was an ice storm in this area of Kentucky and extensive damage was done to many of the trees.  Some people were out of power for over 30 days.  Broken limbs and dead trees were everywhere – it was heartbreaking.  From the National Park we drove further north to Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace in Hodgenville, Kentucky.  A museum and monument mark the historical spot.  We continued to Bardstown where we visited “My Old Kentucky Home” which inspired the song by Stephen Foster.  We had hoped to get to Lexington but it was getting late in the day and we had a long drive back to Nashville.  We drove down the Bluegrass Parkway to Elizabethtown and then back to Nashville through Bowling Green.  Made an attempt to stop at the Corvette Museum in honor of Tommy Niemann but it had closed for the day.   We did visit historic Bowling Green town square.  The area of Kentucky we saw today was very beautiful, many cattle and horse farms among the rolling, green hills.

Friday was a beautiful day – warm and sunny.  We drove to downtown Nashville where we took a narrated trolley tour to get the lay of the land.  We drove by the State Capital Building and Music Row, home of some of the most historical recording studios in the world.    We then joined a walking tour of “The District”.  We visited Hatch Show Print Shop which is the oldest known poster print shop in America.  We also stopped in Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge which is where many of the biggest country stars were discovered.  The performers in all of the dives on Honky Tonk Row get no pay, only tips. 

The highlight of the tour was visiting Ryman Auditorium (the original home of the Grand Ole Opry).  The Ryman was built in 1892 as a tabernacle and later renamed Ryman in honor of riverboat captain Ryman.  From 1904 until the Opry came in 1943, the Ryman hosted a wide variety of events and became the south’s premier performance hall hosting luminaries such as Valentino, Hepburn, Mae West and Bob Hope.  In 1943 the Ryman hosted a Saturday night radio show which changed the course of country music forever.  During the Opry’s residence from 1943 to 1974 the building gained nationwide recognition as the “Mother Church of Country Music”.  The Ryman is now a National Historic Landmark and continues to serve as a performance hall.  During the day it is open as a museum.  The seats are 100 year old wooden pews with very little leg room but there is a magic in the air here.  We visited the dressing rooms of Johnny Cash and June Carter, Patsy Cline, Minnie Pearl, Hank Williams and more.  We also had a chance to stand on the stage (see photo).  The acoustics in this building are rated 2^nd best in the US – the first being the Mormon Tabernacle and the 3^rd Carnegie Hall.

After lunch at Demo’s (a very popular Nashville eatery) we visited the Country Music Hall of Fame where we enjoyed the tour through the history of country music.  The display of gold records is amazing. 

When we left the Hall of Fame we drove to Tennessee’s Bi-Centennial Park which is located in the mall of the capitol building.  We both agreed we have never seen a better done memorial.  The park was dedicated in 1996 on the 200^th anniversary of Tennessee statehood.  The walk of history is a granite timeline beginning in 1 million BC and ending in 1996.  Events that occurred are etched in the wall and there is a beautiful World War II memorial attached. 

Saturday we visited Belle Meade (Beautiful Meadow in French) Plantation which was founded in 1807.  The Greek revival style home was built in 1853.  Belle Meade was a thoroughbred breeding and training farm which was visited by 7 presidents.  The championship line began with Bonnie Scotland and Iroquois who went on to sire many Kentucky Derby winners and make a lot of money for the owners.  Many recent champs (Secretariat and Seabiscuit to name two, can trace their blood lines back to Belle Meade and Bonnie Scotland.  Most of the original land has been sold but the acreage surrounding the mansion and carriage house are intact.  The furnishings in the mansion are original.

After a wonderful lunch at O’Charley’s (the rolls are to die for) we headed to Opry Mills which is the huge mall complex enveloping the Grand Ole Opry.  I’ve never seen so many people in a mall.  Shortly after six we entered the Grand Ole Opry Theater and took our seats for the show.  I never realized that this is a live radio show – you learn something new every day.  It was a truly wonderful experience to see Little Jimmy Dickens (now 88 years young), Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner and to top it off Rascal Flatts.  It was an energetic show that we both truly enjoyed.   

Nashville has to rank up there with the top places we have visited.  We loved our time here.  Now on to Memphis.