Music City

Bob and I rolled into Nashville, TN and set up at Yogi Bear’s Jelly Stone Park. I have been resisting staying at one of these because of the high percentage of children, but this time of the year it’s mainly adults. The big plus at this place is that they do a Christmas light show extravaganza and this week they are testing and putting the finishing touches on it. We have been treated to an exciting light show that is synchronized to music each evening. I do love those Christmas lights, so it’s been a lot of fun.

My Dad loves airplanes, still flies a lot and has even built a few. One of the planes he built is a French plane called a Flying Flea. A few years ago the Flea was purchased by a collector and moved to the Lane Motor Museum here in Nashville. Bob and I made a visit to see the Flea and really enjoyed the whole museum. It was filled with mostly European, unusual cars and motorcycles – and one little airplane hanging from the ceiling.

Nashville has an amazing network of freeways that makes getting around quick and easy. We never saw any rush hour backups like we get in Seattle. We even went into downtown around 4:30 in the afternoon and easily found a place to park in The District. This area is filled with restaurants and saloons where live country music is played more than 12 hours a day. Bob and I were planning to go into a Honky Tonk to feel the local vibe, but here in Tennessee (and also Kentucky) they still smoke in public buildings. It was early on election day and there wasn’t much of a “happening scene”, so we just listened outside.

We also visited the Grand Old Opry that just opened after the flood that filled Nashville six months ago. Many buildings in the flood zone are still closed. Bob and I cruised up and down Music Row and stopped by the Ryman Auditorium where country stars have played for decades

Before this stop we were unaware that Nashville is called the Athens of the South due to its love of Greek architecture. We went to the Parthenon in Centennial Park, which is the only full size replica of the original in the world. We also got in a pretty good 2.5 mile hike at a wilderness park that is located very close to town.

Our final day in Nashville was rainy, but we spent it with good company, a friend and client of Mary’s down in Franklin, TN. It’s supposed to get cold in the next few days, so we’re loading up on propane for our furnace before we head to the mountains.