Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville Nov 22 2010

This building was opened on May 17 2001 in downtown Nashville and is made up of symbolic images of music. The windows look like piano keys. The round discs surrounding the tower symbolize the different size records and cds used to record country music and viewed from the air (no I didn't see it I just read this) the building is shaped like a bass clef.

Inside the Hall of Fame there is a collection of memorabilia that illustrates country musics story through two centuries.





There were many instruments used to shape the country music world and some of them are displayed here at the Hall Of Fame.




It was so great to see some of the costumes that were actually worn by some of the great singers.
This is Elvis Presley's Solid Gold Cadillac. This 1960 cadillac was accented in 24 karat gold.a d its exterior sheen is due to forty coats of a translucent mixture of crushed diamonds and fish scales called diamond dust pearl. The interior has a gold plated television.
This Gold Piano also belonged to Elvis and was a gift to him from his wife. It was covered in gold leaf.
Many great faces adorned these walls, some of them gone already and some of them very much alive.


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General Jackson - Nashville Nov. 21 2010

We took a lunch time cruise aboard the General Jackson. The General Jackson is a 300 foot paddle wheel riverboat. It is one of the largest showboats in USA with four decks and a two story Victorian Theater located in the center of the boat.

Tim Watson and his band entertained us while we ate our meal and cruised up the Cumberland River. It was a great experience.

Nashville November 20

I decided to take a tour of Nashville and chose Tommy's Tours. Turned out to be a witty and informative tour and well worth the time. We saw this full scale replica of the Parthenon. This full scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens was built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Today if functions as and art museun and as a centerpeiece for Centennial Park.

We saw Printer's Alley which gets its name from the early connection with Nashville's printing and publishing industry which is still a thrives in Nashville today. The orininal location of Printer's Alley however has given way to hotels, resturants and honky tonks some of which have showcased such famous performers as Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams.
The Ryman Auditorium - a 2362 seat live performance venu which is best known as the historic home of the Grand Ole Opry. It was used for the Grand Ole Opry live broadcasts from 1943-1974 when the Opry was moved to a larger venue at Opryland. It was reopened in 1994 as an intimate performance venue and museum. This is where we saw the Grand Ole Opry performance and the seating is pews. Not too soft but different.
We drove out to see some of the star's homes and there were many beautiful ones but hard to get a picture of.
Alan Jackson's house. Some of his video's were filmed here as well one of which was "Drive".
This is Dolly Parton's house all decked out for Christmas.

The Grande Ole Opry November 20 2010

We and two other couples we met at the campground caught the shuttle downtown, grabbed some supper and headed to the Grand Ole Opry.
Little Jimmy Dickens was one of the hosts and sang a few songs.
Marty Stuart also helped host the show and did a few of his songs.
Charlie Pride was one of the hosts and sang a few songs as well one of which was Crystal Chandeliers.
Paul Shafer treated us to some of the best piano playing I have heard in a long time.
The Charlie Daniels Band and of course many other performers as well. The Grand Ole Opry is still brodcasted live via radio and therefore is complete with advertisements as well, some of which are as entertaining as the show itself.


After the Opry show we headed to see the honky tonk scene where we saw this unusual fellow, a bit eccentric but he could play the most amazing piano and will be playing Jerry Lee Lewis in an upcoming movie. I am sure he will do a great job of it.

We stopped at the famous "Tootsies" bar which is located acoss the back alley from the Ryman Auditorium. The performers from the Grand Ole Opry would slip arcoss the back alley to Tootsies for a quick drink between sets. Many famous performers have sang at Tootsies and their pictures decorate the walls of the place.

Christmas Light up at Opryland, Nashville

We checked out the Opryland Hotel Complex, a nine acre complex which recently re-opened after the devestating flood in May 2010. During the flood many of the common areas in the complex werer under 10 feet (3m ) of water. The flood also affected many downtown businesses and destroyed many homes. Most of the restoration has been done and except for a few places it is hard to believe that so much was destroyed. After exploring this magnificient complex we headed outside for the Christmas Light Up ceremony and were treated to a live show and yummy hot chocolate. The light up was spectacular with its 2,000,000 twinkling lights and a bonus fireworks display!