Happy Birthday Opry Land!

Our trip back North reminded me why I moved to Florida in the first place. We arrived on a Monday and it was gray, cold and rainy…Tuesday, the same, Wednesday…the same. By Thursday I was ready to poke my eyes out with sticks. Our cottage is on a beautiful little lake, with a wood stove as its only heat source. I bought two electric heaters, a hooded sweatshirt, a pair of jeans, a trunk full of wood, socks, a lap blanket and enough comfort food to support a hibernating bear.

My fragile traveling companion, RC caught a cold, and we couldn’t wait until our business up North was done. We ate our way through our favorite WNY foods and I have to admit that we did see the sun for a day before we packed up and headed south. The leaves were just short of peak and the trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains was special.

We decided to take a side trip to Nashville and got a real treat when we arrived. Nashville has been recovering from severe flooding that closed down their famous Country Music landmark, Opryland. Its cornerstone attraction, the famous Grand Old Opry, had just reopened and was celebrating 85 years of Music. The sign outside announced Taylor Swift and Dolly Pardon as featured guests the night we arrived. We rolled in to the Hotel at 6:30, and by 7:30 we decided to take a ride over to The Opry on a whim, although it was sold out.

I shamelessly used my handicap sticker to con my way to parking right up front and although the show had started, I headed to the ticket office. I am famous for my good timing and just by chance two tickets became available on the floor and just like that we were sitting within shouting range to some of the most famous acts in Country music. I am not the biggest country fan (RC is), but this was amazing. The venue is wonderful, and the performers were great. It was a night I’ll never forget. RC even took a few pictures that didn’t cut off Dolly’s head if you get my drift.

We ended the night downtown Nashville on a Saturday Night. The streets were alive, and the music blasted out of every door. We decided to take the voyeurs route and found a table on the deck of Crabby Joe’s, and watched the street madness from above. There was a time that I would have been right in the thick of the crowd, but that night after a 11 hour drive, and the Concert I was ready to watch the mêlée’ while enjoying a quiet cocktail and some fresh seafood.

The next morning we decided to try a breakfast joint that had been featured on the Food Network, Loveland’s. That wound up not being the best idea. The place looked intriguing, with a cluster of small shops and a Motel straight out of the 50’s. The wait for breakfast, however, was two hours, so we opted for fast food breakfast in a bag and pointed the car toward the Bubble; Villages here we come.