Wednesday 28th January 2015

Wednesday 28th January 2015

Woke up fairly early and went down to collect coffee from the breakfast area. We decided to book the hop-on-hop-off bus and take it from the park close by. We booked it online at the hotel and printed the tickets there. Then we walked to Centennial Park to the Parthenon where there was a bus stop. We had just missed one so had a it of a wait until the next one. We learnt that the original Parthenon had been constructed for a 100 year expo in 1897. It was made of wood and plaster along with other buildings typical of other countries at the expo. All the temporary buildings were torn down at the end of the expo but the public called for the Parthenon to be reconstructed. It took until 1921 for building to start and due to lack of funding, it was not completed until 1931 when it was opened to the public. It is now an art museum. Centennial Park is a very nice park and is being smartened up for the summer. There is also another museum there as there is an Air National Guard jet plane and a large old locomotive in the park.

The Parthenon, no, its not Greece, its Nashville TN

The Frieze at the top of the entrance portico

Not sure why this is here.

....or this.

Eventually the trolley came and we took it downtown to the Frist Art Museum which is close to the Union Station. The old building of Union Station has been converted into a hotel. We tried to find Hattie B’s which serves hot fried chicken but MAC had mistaken the address and although we searched South 9th Avenue, the restaurant is actually on South 19th Avenue. So no fried chicken for lunch. But, an itinerant guy offered to help us, gave us the wrong direcvtions and then asked for money. We gave him our loose change and then followed the directions he gave which led nowhere!!! We briefly visited the Union Station Hotel lobby which is very grand. We had tried to stay here but it was fully booked.

The Union Station Hotel lobby

We returned to the trolley stop and after about half an hour the trolley came back and we took it to Riverside where we walked past several iconic buildings such as the Johnny Cash Museum and the Country Music Hall of Fame. We had lunch at the Acme Seed and Feed Co. This is an old warehouse down by the river which serves good southern food.

Then we walked to the GooGoo Candy store and bought the obligatory candies. Then it was up Broadway where many of the bars had live music in the afternoon. We passed the Robert Moore Building, a grand and palatial edifice as it should be.

Hot sauce, a feature of Southern cuisine

The Acme Feed & Seed Co and at bottom, their enormous selection of tap beers

Then we visited the Ryman Auditorium. This is a historic building which used to house the Grand Ole Opry. The building has an interesting history. There was a fiery preacher in Nashville called Sam Jones. A riverboat captain and businessman, Thomas Ryman was fed up with this preacher’s sermons. He went to a meeting intending to cause trouble but was so moved by Jones’ preaching that he decided to spend some of his money building a suitable place for Jones to preach. In 1892, the Union Gospel Tabernacle was built. When Ryman died in 1904, it was renamed after him. In 1897, a Confederate Veterans reunion was held and in honor of this a balcony was built at the theater which enlarged the capacity to over 2,600. It is now known as the Mother Church of Country Music. Many, many of the country music greats have performed here as well as other entertainers including opera singers, comedians and classical music performers.

..and above, the interior of the Ryman Auditorium

That night's concert which we attended.

More interior shots of the Auditorium

The exterior of the former Gospel Tabernacle.

Here are some of the sights of Nashville

My club....

One of the more important buildings in the city

I tried to persuade MAC to get this but................

MAC & friend

The so-called Batman building

The bells and historic markers in Centennial Park

Centennial Park with us in the foreground and the Capitol in the background

We took the trolley back to the hotel via various sights such as the beautiful State House which was designed by Strickland who is buried there, another Centennial Park where there are columns representing the passing ages and a wall with inscriptions of the events which have shaped Tennessee. Another wall describes the rivers which flow in the State and yet another area containing a forest of bells which play State songs at intervals. There is also a large State map on the ground showing the three main divisions of the State. We learnt that one of the universities, Fisk University, after its foundation, fell on hard times, it was partially rescued by some students who formed an accapella singing group called the Fisk Jubilee Singers and toured the country raising money for the university. This came to the notice of Queen Victoria in England who invited them to come to sing for her. She showed her appreciation in 1874 by writing to the Governor of Tennessee and using the term in her letter ‘Musical City’ and so was this cachet of Nashville born. The aforementioned letter, so we were told, resides in the State Capitol.

We drove into town to attend the concert at the Ryman Auditorium. Carlene Carter, one of the daughters of June Carter who was, at one time married to Johnny Cash, sang and the main act was John Mellencamp. When MAC first mentioned that he was playing here, my reaction was “Is he still around?”. Well it seems he is and he has a pretty big fan base here in Nashville. The Auditorium was full and we could only get separate seats. 

 I must say to my taste both performers were a bit past their ‘sell by’ date. Both have seen better days but haven't we all? Carlene Carter still has the remnants of the pleasant voice she had when younger. She was joined by her husband for a couple of songs and that made a nice duo. She must have mentioned her mother and grandmother a hundred times and I guess if you are a Carter family member, you have to trade on it in the way her sister Roseanne trades on the Cash name. Mellencamp has turned into an aging rocker whose voice is at the edge of its tether. He gave an enthusiastic show and it was evident by the fact that most of the audience recognized his songs (which I did not), from the first guitar chord and then proceeded to sing along knowing all the words that he still has an eager fan base. It was not until the last couple of songs that I recognized anything, “Aint that America?” Being the most familiar. His backing band which included an electric violin which I was not too fond of, was OK but not spectacular. It was, all in all, an experience to attend a concert in such an august location and it was good to see that the rest of the audience had a good time even though all the men had grey hair and all the women were blonde!!!

After a slight altercation with a recalcitrant car park barrier we drove home to the hotel to plan for tomorrow's trip to Ashville NC.