Day Seven: Nashville to Memphis!

Day 7 of our trip began by sleeping in! Today we were beat and needed to leisurely rise to start our day. Once we were ready to head out, about 11am, it was off to the Country Music Hall of Fame! We didn’t realize it but we just happen to book our time in Nashville to coincide with the Annual Country Music Festival. Downtown was booming with people, tents, stars, press, and tons of excitement on every street corner. Lucky for us, the CMHF was right in the middle of it all. We parked for $4.00! As we entered the museum we saw a long line of people waiting. A greeter told us Jimmy Wayne was signing autographs. I thought, “I am so glad I don’t have to wait in that line.” Off we went to get our tickets. While waiting in that line, which was short, I glanced behind us. There stood a perfect example of how small the world is. The couple we met in line at the Mammoth Caves the day before in Kentucky was standing in line behind us. How WEIRD is that! In any event, we got our tickets and off we went. This place was packed with great memories of huge musical legends. Privileged might be a word I would use to describe how it felt just standing among the artifacts of the musical giants like Gene Autry, Hank Williams, Pasty Kline, Connie Smith, Dolly Parton, Elvis, Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Roy Rogers and on and on. When we got to the second floor, my dear sweet wonderful son had to use the facilities, which of course were at the opposite end from where we were. Mema stayed with Adriana and AJ and I hustled to the other end. While waiting for my son I noticed a crowd of people in the Hall of Fame room. So we went to check it out. We learned that Jimmy Wayne would be performing in the room in a few mins so I called Mema and told them to hurry on down. While we were waiting a crew member asked me how many were in our party. I said, “Four!” Would you like to sit in the front row, he asked? I thought Duh!, but replied “Sure!” A few of the contest guests didn’t arrive and I have four extra seats so you all can have them. Great! Lead us to them!! Jimmy Wayne is currently opening for Brad Paisley. He is a terrific up and coming country artist who has had his first hit single sell over 500,000 copies to date. He was really fantastic! Great voice, tremendous story of a young poor boy with a terrible childhood, often living on the streets, realized his dream and is now becoming a famous country star. He speaks with such humility and genuineness it makes you love his music all the more. We finished our museum tour after the concert. Famished and craving a kosher hot dog we saw on the way in, we headed outside and discovered a parade of country stars going by. We copped a squat on the steps, watched the close of the parade, and ate our dogs! It was a great moment! Nashville had been great but Memphis was waiting. We loaded up, popped in some Trace Adkins and headed down the road for our next great adventure. Me being who I am, in that I get bored pretty easily, I can find all kinds of ways to keep me entertained while driving for three hours. This particular day it was counting 18 Wheelers!! Don’t laugh, there was a reason. I noticed there seemed to be a ton of trucks on the road and was curious as to how many I could count in a couple of mins. For those who really know me well, I never do anything a little bit! LOL I had to count how many trucks passed between Nashville and Memphis! Weird? Yes! Entertaining? Certainly! Shocking? Definitely! “WE”, yes I had everyone counting trucks, counted 1223 trucks on the road! This whole truck thing was becoming a theme as my kids where having fun seeing how many of the trucks in a 30+ convey (yes 30) would honk for them on the way to Nashville the day before. OK, enough oddities! We arrived in Memphis, checked in and asked about restaurants. We were referred to Marlowe’s. They will pick you up in a pink limo. So of course we were in! An hour later the limo arrives. (It was supposes to be 20 mins) The limo was pink and very old! Dinner was typical BBQ but pretty good! The staff was very friendly.

· Money Saving Tip: Join all of the hotel chains reward programs and before you book your travel know what deals and program they are running. Its pretty easy to earn free night and dinners with money you are already spending. Check out Hotels.com, Expedia, and Cheap tickets for their programs too! Always price check these three if you prefer on vendor over another and they are higher just call them with the cheaper sites info and they will usually match it.

Day Six: Park City KY and Nashville TN

Interstate 65 led us to Park City, KY., cave country. Here Mammoth Cave would prove to be worth the trip. We arrived just mins before the tour was about to begin which has been pretty much par for the course for us. Having explored other caves we knew to grab our sweatshirts and hiking shoes. We met up with our tour guide and he began to explain the history of the Mammouth Cave system. We were stunned to learn it is 365 miles long making it the longest cave in the world. It maintains a constant 54 degrees and 97% humidity. Limestone is the only rock you will find as the cave is dry. We ventured down almost 200 feet below ground passing through an enormous rotunda. It was in this area soldiers fighting in the war of 1812 washed dirt to collect material for gun powder. Our guide told us a story of a man who was found dead in the caves many years ago. His body was perfectly preserved to the point the could determine is last meal. What makes this impressive is the body dated back over a 100 years. Of course that paled to the furry chicken nuggets we saw hanging from the ceilings. Ok.....they were tiny bats affectionately referred to as "furry chicken nuggets" by the park rangers. After the caves it was a two hour drive to Nashville. We ate dinner at the neatest restaurant, the Aquarium Restaurant. We ate while sharks, rays, tuna, eels, and a multitude of other fish swam around us. It was a totally cool experience. The kids of courses loved it stating it was the best restaurant ever! The food was really good too!! Finally it was show time at the GRAND OLE OPRY! The energy outside of this place is just incredible. Theres a stage outside where you can listen to some great county music, fresh kettle corn being popped, hands clapping, people singing and dancing, and smiles everywhere you look. While waiting for our show to being, we explored the museum. It was fantastic! It really sets the tone for the show. Inside the opry we would three tiers and one each tier were long benches covered in red velvet seat cushions. 4400 is the oprys capacity and it was sold this night for both shows. We were privileged to see Little Jimmy Dickens who at 88 is still preforming in top form! Bill Anderson, Carrie Underwood, Trace Adkins, Ricky Skaggs, Little Big Town, Connie Smith, The Charlie Daniels Band, and Lori Morgan rounded out the evenings entertainment. I cant even begin to express what an awesome event this was. The amazing part was the shows cost. $142 for all four of us! Unreal! My poor little kids were just so tired that we let a just before closing as it was midnight after all! This truly is a must see for anyone who just loves music of any kind.