Sister Nashville Trip

Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009-- 2:15 p.m. and Eleanor and I landed in Nashville and met up with Caroline. Her plane had just landed about 15-20 minutes earlier. The weather was bad for her getting out of Dallas. We didn't have any problem and had a good flight. We got to our hotel and settled in. We are staying at the Marriott Courtyard in Nashville about one mile or so from Downtown Nashville. The weather here now is partly sunny with some clouds and a nice temperature of 70 degrees. We decided to take the shuttle that the hotel offers and go downtown and see what was there. Walking the streets of Nashville and there are shops after shops with all kinds of western wear and gadgets and souvenirs to buy. All the honky tonk places here have some kind of country music being played by kids who hope to hit it big and be a star. It is amazing how many people are here mid-week. We got back to our hotel and had a lovely evening, with such balmy weather and not a bit cold. We went to dinner at the "Mid-Town Cafe" which is right across from out hotel. We can see it from out window. It is a small place and suppose to have "famous" people come there to eat because it is away from the "tourists" downtown. Tim McCraw and Faith Hill have a home here in Nashville and have been seen in this restaurant with "from what were told" other country stars. Every evening they put orange cones in the front of the cafe to "save" parking spots for the "exclusive guests". Also a valet stands outside and waits, just in case. No one of importance, except us of course, came in to eat the time we were there. They do a good business and the food was amazing. Back at the room and now we need to figure out what our game plan is for tomorrow.

Friday - Oct. 23, 2009-Well we are ready to go downtown again and see the Music City Hall of Fame. It is suppose to rain off and on all day today, so it is a perfect day to go and do something inside. The temperature is suppose to be 68 degree and balmy again. We toured all around downtown Nashville and went thru the Hall of Fame. It was very interesting and a great site to see a place for anyone coming to Nashville to see. We had some lunch and a great guitar player named David Anderson was playing and strolling through the lunch crowd. He was very enjoyable to listen to playing a lot of old country mixed with new music. I bought 2 Cd's from him and had my picture taken with him. It is suppose to be on his web site, but I have not seen it posted yet. We also had a tour of "Studio B" where Elvis and many other singers made their recordings. Finally got back to our hotel about 6:30 p.m. and then left to have dinner at the Valentino's Restaurant. Since it was late we only wanted something lite to eat so we just had some smoked salmon and minestrone soup. Back to the room to plan our day for tomorrow. Finally sleep at 11:00 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009 - Breakfast at 11:00 a.m. in the hotel. hahahaha. On our way to Opryland area. Took a cab since the shuttle at the hotel does not go that far. Walked all through the beautiful gardens and the hotel area, we sat by a beautiful waterfall and relaxed with the orchids and all the other exotic plants, I can't name. It is almost like being in a rain forest, everything is so green and full. There are small boat rides that take you for a ride down a "river" that is just lovely. The trees are just starting to turn color here and the weather was so nice to just walk around this complex. We are having a great time and after sitting and resting awhile, having something to drink, we decided to walk over to the Opry Mills Mall. It is a HUGE mall!!! It has every store imaginable and then some. We did not even have time to walk all through to the end because it was getting close to the time for us to go to the "Grand Ole Opry" show. We saw Montgomery Gentry, Oakridge Boys and Trace Atkins and Mallary Hope. Trace Atkins was the best and also the cutest. I did not know he was 6'6". What a deep voiced he has. WOW. We enjoyed being in a place that has been around for so long and has had the best of the best in country music sing here. The Oak Ridge Boys were also amazing. Sure glad we had a chance to do this. It was a full night of good happy music. We all walked out of there singing and laughing.

Sunday -Oct. 25, 2009 - Took off this afternoon on the shuttle to downtown Nashville again. This time we wanted to listed to some Blue Grass music. Went to a few places that advertised, Blue Grass music, but they were playing rock and roll and we were not interested in that. So we walked up and down Old Nashville streets and went into almost all the shops and checked them out. We walked down by the river they had at the end of town and there was a nice park and it overlooked the L.P. Field, which is the stadium where the Titans play. We had lunch on the top deck of a very nice restaurant that overlooked the downtown area. Because the temperature today was 70 degrees with blue skies we decided it would be a good place to eat. We called our hotel shuttle and had them pick us up and the we vegged out for awhile then went out to eat at the Brewery which was right across the street. None of us were very hungry since we had such a late lunch. So we only had Nachos and chips for dinner. Walked back to the hotel and enjoyed our "sister bonding".

Monday - Oct. 26, 2009 - We took the shuttle downtown again, (Frank asked us if the shuttle driver was cute, since we are always taking the shuttle) I laughed, because they change from old, retired, to fat, old and retired. hahahahaha. But it is the only way we can get to the downtown area without having to pay for a cab and it is just a little too far to walk. We walked up and down all the streets of Music Row and saw the recording studios of the stars, Reba, Tennessee Ernie Ford and many others. We got back home and ready to see our Elvis show tonight. the Elvis shuttle picked us up and the show was great!! Started out slow, but it sure turned out fabulous. Shuttle took us back to the hotel when it was over, all included in the price.

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 - Going to the Ryman Theater today and it was so interesting. This is the original Ole Opry. Where the Grand Ole Opry is broadcasted from now is a new building. Saw all the old gold records on the wall from all the country stars, a video and blurps of the country stars in concert, Elvis's Cadillac, so much history, it was hard to comprehend and remember it all. Took some pictures of our new group, called the ATM Trio, Anderson (lead singer), Tiahrt (Guitarist), Martin (2nd Guitarist). Catch them if you can the next time you are in Nashville. (hahaha) Walked back to the Music hall of Fame and saw Anne Murray signing autographs on her new book. Also check out how much the tickets were for the AMA Awards that will be held here and also if there were any seats available. (Just for the fun of it). Tickets are still available ranging form $115.00-$470.00 depending where you wanted to seat. BUT they did not have any two or three seats together, only single seats, scattered here and there. We then decided that we would go see a local entertainer. We went to a place called "The Station". We saw the Dole and Debbie Show. What a hoot that was!!! A redneck comedy show and we laughed, and laughed. It was so funny!!! Went back to the hotel after the show and had our usual cup of coffee. It rained hard all day today. ugh!!

Wed. Oct. 28, 2009 - Going downtown today to see the world famous "Wild Horse Saloon". Having lunch there and checking it out. They were getting ready for a "Halloween Party" so the country band they are having was tuning up and we got to listen a bit. It has 3 floors and it is amazing to see. Does not look like much on the outside, but is very nice on the inside. We then decided to go back to the Opry Mall and check out the SAKS store for sales. We went and could not find anything "saleable" so we decided to go to a movie. We saw the movie "Amelia". It is about Amelia Earhart, and it was

a "must see". With Richard Geer, how can it not be a good movie. We took a cab back to downtown Nashville and walked around just people watching. Since "Kiss" is in town having a concert there was a lot of people watching to do. A lot of people dressed up to look like the "Kiss" group. Eleanor got interviewed by Nashville Channel 2 News and was suppose to "air" tonight, but she got "cut" and they put on the news someone dressed up like "Kiss". So much for her "debut".hahaha. Called our hotel shuttle again and back to the hotel. We walked across the street to our favorite place-Midtown Cafe-and had a good final dinner here. Back in the room we called and asked for a "wake up call" at 5:00 a.m.!!! for our ride to the airport after a fun filled week here in Nashville. Lots of food, walking, music, and laughter. A good shot in the arm for all 3 of us for another year.