Nashville - Day 5

Following a night of severe (tornadic) weather in and around Nashville, we awoke to a cool, cloudy Friday. Mary planned some great activities for us, and her ideas were perfect! We started off with a bus tour by Grayline Bus Tours that took us to several locations throughout the city.

One of our first stops was at Bicentennial State Park, and I really wish we could have walked around this area. The park was designed to provide an unobstructed view of the State Capital. Fifty tall pillars represent each of the 50 states. There's a granite wall built to show the geographic and cultural history of the state, and there's a huge map of Tennessee done in granite (called Map Plaza), with the rivers represented with polished stone, so they glisten. There's also an amphitheater and flea market.

Bicentennial State Park, and the Tennessee State Capital in the distance (top of hill). There are fifty of the foreground pillars; one representing each state.

We then toured Music Row, where many recording studios are housed in old homes or small, nondescript buildings. Following a near wreck on a roundabout, we headed to the original Ryman Theatre, and we were given some time to spend inside. The theatre was originally built to house a church, so the seats are curved pews.

A display in the Ryman theatre - Johnny and June Cash

The stage of the original Ryman Theatre

Love the shoes - makes me think of the song, "King of the Road."

We also stopped with the tour bus at Legends, one of the more popular honky tonks. The walls are lined with records, and near the ceiling, are all kinds of unique guitars and other instruments.

This was called the "One Man Band."

Ahhh - an album cover for Bruce Springsteen!! 

I think this happy guy was on a bus headed to a different institution :)

Our last tour bus stop was at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

This was the vehicle of a music producer. 

Kris Kristofferson's lyrics for "Help Me Make it Through the Night."

Dress worn by Carrie Underwood

Dress worn by Taylor Swift

The gift shop - look at all the gold and platinum records!

Mary's plans to top off the day included tickets for the Grand Ole Opry. I didn't realize, but this is a live radio program (the worlds longest-running live radio program). The new Ryman Theatre was flooded for several months last year, and the show went on - sometimes in the original theatre, and at other venues in the area as well.

A lot of stars performed that night - Marty Stuart, The Oak Ridge Boys (it was the 30th anniversary of the release of Elvira, and we all sang along with surprise guest, Bo Bice), Vince Gill, Bill Anderson, Montgomery Gentry, Gretchen Wilson, and Allison Krause. We were treated to another surprise guest, Crystal Bowersox, who was the runner up in the last season of American Idol. She performed a song she wrote for her husband, "Mine all Mine." You can watch the performance here on You Tube.