Nashville Show Trip Report
By Bob Breeden, Huntsville Ski Club Trip Coordinator
Well, after many years of wondering what it would be like to go to Nashville for anything else other than just 'passing through', I finally went. Thirty-two Huntsville Ski Club members and friends toured beautiful Music City to see the sites, eat wonderful down-home southern-style cookin’ and... get a taste of true Country Music from its source, music row including the renowned Grand Ole Opry show at the “Mother Church of Country Music”, the Ryman Auditorium...
The bus tour was arranged by Diamond Tours, Inc., which provides tours by motor-coach all over the United States and Canada. After a relatively short bus trip from Huntsville, we arrived at the recently renovated Opryland Hotel and took a guided tour on the Delta River Flatboats around its scenic interior river. Along the way were waterfalls, beautiful botanical gardens with vegetation in full bloom, and views of Christmas Trees of all sorts. The river was teaming with several varieties of fish swimming in its crystal clear water. After the cruise, we had a chance to shop and eat lunch in any of several different stores and restaurants inside the hotel. Of course, the entry into the Opryland Hotel is free and open year-round for your pleasure. After lunch, we loaded back on our bus and checked into a different hotel, the Opryland Holiday Inn, only a few blocks away; where we had a chance to freshen up and relax a few moments before heading to the Nashville Nightlife Dinner Theater...
I hoped we would get a great meal, and we did! It was one of the best buffets I’ve ever experienced including all kinds of salads, veggies, fried chicken, turkey & dressing, and ham, all cooked just like grandma’s, plus delicious cherry and peach cobbler for dessert. Of course, as I always do at buffets, I ate way too much and felt like I could curl-up and go to sleep right there at the table. ...Then the show started. Vonette Hartsfield was invited to come up onto the stage and show everyone how to do a real “Yee Haw!” She then volunteered to teach us how to call pigs. That was special! The rest of the show involved several different musicians, singers and instrumentalists, all were very good. The music was a mix of country and Christmas songs. One lady-performer asked for a volunteer to come up so she would have a man to sing to for Tammy Wynette’s song, “Stand by Your Man”. Well, my wonderful group nominated me to go and I was totally caught off-guard when she asked me what I thought about Dolly Parton. All I could do was stutter and say that I’d better not say because it might get back to my wife. We eventually sang together and I returned to my seat and we all enjoyed the rest of the show.
I knew a few of our group may be interested in going downtown to experience the nightlife in Nashville. We talked our driver into dropping us off on 2nd avenue at the Wildhorse Saloon, right in the middle of music row. In addition to having one of country’s largest dance floors where they teach several different types of line dances; also, they have a live show several nights of the week. This was a Monday night and the attendance was sparse, but a new group called “McKinsey’s Mill” performed while most of us sat and listened and others danced. I must like classic country music better than the new “rocking country” that this group performed with the volume turned all the way up... A few of us who wanted to protect the remainder of our eardrums decided to stroll on down music row and see what else was out there. Not too far away, on Broadway, we found several bars or honky-tonks (I don’t know what they call them anymore), each one having a different new or “undiscovered” band playing for tips. This is evidently the way new groups get “noticed”, hoping that someone might promote them. I’m not kidding when I say that this was my favorite part of the night. All the performers we heard were very talented. We went to Tootsies, The Stage, and other establishments on Broadway, each one with standing room only to watch the shows. There was no cover charge but we did buy a drink or two along the way. Time soon came to return to the bus and head for the hotel. I can see now why musicians and music lovers are late-owls; the later the night, the better the show. This I will have to do again...
As good as the first day of our trip was, the second day was even better. The day started off with a great continental breakfast at our hotel.
There was fruit, cereal, sweet rolls, boiled eggs, milk, juices and coffee; something for everyone. It was just the right kind of breakfast to follow the bountiful feast the night before. Following breakfast, we got on the bus and headed for our next stop - the Farmers Market where we met our guides for the next leg of our trip. If you ever go to Nashville, you must do the “NashTrash Tour”. All thirty-three of us, including our bus driver, boarded a pink school bus that served as a moving stage for what must be one of the funniest comedy acts alive.
The wacky Jugg Sisters, (Sheri Lynn & Brenda Kay) provided a country-musical-comedy tour extravaganza that kept us all in hysterics for two solid hours. Of course, you must heed the warning that nobody under the age of 13 is allowed. The Tennessean said the “NashTrash tour of the city’s underbelly is a non-stop first-rate comedy on wheels.” Several of our group said that this tour by itself was worth the cost of the whole trip...
After lunch at a downtown mall and a couple hours relaxation at our hotel we were off again for dinner and a show at the Grand Ole Opry. Dinner was excellent and the Opry was, well, the Opry. I am never disappointed at the Opry, even though I have taken my family there several times in years past. This show was performed at the Ryman Auditorium that was the home of the Opry for 30 years until 1973 when it moved to the new Opryland location. Every Christmas season the Opry is held at the Ryman due to the Rockettes Christmas show being performed at the new Opry House that is just next door to the Opryland Hotel.
The performances that night include many of the regulars, Little Jimmy Dickens, Whispering Bill Anderson, Diamond Rio and others. The final performance was a new group to the show, making their first appearance at the Opry, The Little Willy's, with Nora Jones. This was truly a great show and one of the best I've experienced. Back at the hotel we gathered at the pool bar for a goodnight drink, to celebrate the great day and wonderful trip, and to bid our bus driver goodbye.
After breakfast on our final day we boarded the bus and headed downtown for a stop at the $40M Country Music Hall of Fame. Wow! I never thought I’d enjoy a museum as much as I enjoyed this one. It was one of the most nostalgic experiences of my life. My parents were country music lovers and I watched country music TV shows and listened to country radio all the time when I was young. Then for about 40 years, all I wanted to hear was rock-n-roll or pop music. I feel like I have rediscovered something in myself that was missing. The two hours we stayed there was not nearly enough to soak in all the wonderful legacy of country music. I will have to go back and spend a full day sometime.
After one more stop at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Franklin, we headed home. It was a great trip but it ended too soon. Many suggested we go again someday and check out some of the other sites and activities in Nashville. I agreed that there is much more to see there and that we could possibly do this again in the future.
I want to extend huge ”Thank you!” to all the HSC members and friends that went along with me on this trip. The trip was so much better when shared with friends. Maybe next time we can fill all the seats on the bus...
And a special thanks to Mr. Dewayne Davis our bus driver. We hope to see him again someday.