Our Trip to the “Honky Tonk City”

Well, it’s been on my bucket list for a long time, so we decided to take a trip to Nashville in late September. While I don’t profess to be a huge country music fan, there are some country musicians that I really do like (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Dolly Parton, Jason Aldeen, and a few others). And I really did want to see the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. But I gotta tell you, as far as I am concerned, you can keep downtown Nashville! Now I had heard that you can sit down and listen to some of the best country musicians in the “honky tonks of Nashville”, and that maybe so. I certainly did not get any of that. Downtown Nashville is like New Orleans during the Mardi Gras, or Times Square in NYC on New Years Eve! Utter chaos!!!

Ok, I know that you are probably thinking, “She’s just getting too old to enjoy this place!” You know Trace and I thought about this as well. But in truth, I don’t think that 10, 20, or even 30 years ago I would have thought anything different. First of all, we went during a “shoulder season” in late September. So there were no special events or festivals going on when we were there. Yet, it was still wall-to-wall people every night as you walk down the streets of downtown Nashville where all the honky tonks are located. These establishments are, for the most part, open to the outdoors, as they have huge wide open windows and multiple floors. Music is BLASTING from each and every one of these establishments, so much so, that all you hear as you walk along the street is massive noise from all these bands clashing with one another. And as if that isn’t bad enough, there are these “party wagons” going up and down the streets of downtown. These “party wagons” are actually trucks with open trailers on the back that have been outfitted with HUGE sound systems that blast music as they carry well-paying party animals (aka drunk crazies), and put on quite a show for onlookers. One thing that we found out was that Nashville has been named the as the “bachelorette party destination” for the country (similar to Vegas as the bachelor party destination of choice for the gents). I can see why as most of these “party wagons” that we saw were carrying scantily clad young women who were definitely in party mode! So you be the judge; is it my age that turned me off to all of this?

But thankfully, there’s a whole lot more to Nashville than its crazy downtown area. We did get to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame and that alone was worth the trip. We also took a couple of day trips down to Franklin which is about 35 miles south of Nashville. We visited Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage where he lived in the years following his presidency. And we did get to see the new Grand Ole Opry complex, which is now a huge resort just outside of Nashville. We also got a chance to visit with Trace’s nephew and his family, as they live just outside Nashville. So needless to say, we did enjoy ourselves on this trip, despite the craziness of downtown Nashville.

And as usual, I took plenty of photos while we were there. Here are a few:

This is a picture of the what folks in Nashville have named the “Batman Building”. It’s a relatively new building right in downtown Nashville. I thought it looked pretty neat.

A mural on the side of one of the buildings. Just speaks to how deep country music is rooted in this city. They say that any and all country music stars went through Nashville on their way to stardom.

Here is a nighttime picture of downtown Nashville from their football stadium (aka Nissan Stadium – Home to the Tennessee Titans) across the river.

This is a pic of the capitol building there, all lit up at night.

This is a very interesting building. If it looks a little familiar, it’s because it is an exact replica of the Parthenon in Greece. It also houses a 42-foot statue of Athena just like the real one in Greece. This was built in 1897 for the Tennessee’s Centennial Exposition. They decided to keep it after the exposition was over, and now it serves as Nashville’s art museum, and a major tourist attraction. It also offers a great photo opportunity, especially at night.

The next few pictures I took just to show what a chaotic mess the downtown area is at night. Mind you I took these pictures on a normal weekday, with no particular events going on in the city at the time.

Notice one of the “party wagons” in the lower right side of this picture. This one is actually a converted school bus.

Minnie Pearl’s outfit complete with that infamous hat of hers. This was at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Part of the Elvis collection in the Country Music Hall of Fame. I was surprised to see all the Elvis stuff there, but I guess his roots are in country music.

Ok, it’s only a picture on a door, but he is one of my favorite country artists, and I could just look at him all day long!

Trace sitting along side Chet Atkins at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.

The Grand Ole Opry. This is not the original Opry building. This is the new one that is part of a huge resort just outside of Nashville.

A statue of a confederate soldier in Franklin, Tennessee. Here in Franklin, they are not into erasing their history.

Another historical monument in Franklin honoring the confederate soldiers.

Ok, here’s a quiz: where have you seen this car before? Read on for the answer later in this post.

Andrew Jackson’s mansion at the Hermitage

This is the gravesite of Andrew Jackson. What is weird about this is that the marker has the name of “General Andrew Jackson” and not “President Andrew Jackson”.

Wax images of President Andrew Jackson and his wife. They make quite the pair, don’t they?

Ok, ok, now the moment you have all been waiting for. The car pictured several images above was Barney Fife’s squad car from the Andy of Mayberry series. The car now is owned and sits in the town of Franklin, Tennessee.