Country, Country, Country ...

It was 30 degrees F today! That means it was below freezing! but there is no hanging around. We are in Nashville! We have booked a Grayline sightseeing tour - Discover Nashville. We are picked up at the RV park at 8.15 am. Our guide is an effervescent young blonde girl - Betty - she sounds fun. We collect 8 more passengers. The tour is fully narrated. We travel to landmarks in Nashville including historic downtown and Honky Tonk row, the Riverfront park, the State Capital, Bicentennial Mall, the Parthenon, Vanderbilt University, Music Row, the Ryman Auditorium and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Talk about history, especially country music history. We had a great morning!

The Ryman

Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff

Included in the tour was entry to the Ryman Auditorium - the original Grand Ole Opry - and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The history of the Ryman dates back to the 1880's when Thomas G Ryman, a riverboat captain and Nashville businessman attended a revival by famed evangelist Sam Jones. Captain Ryman went along to heckle the preacher who he believed was affecting his business affairs. Instead he was converted on the spot and decided to raise money for a permanent place for Jones to preach. In 1892, the Union Gospel Tabernacle was completed. It was renamed Ryman Auditorium upon Captain Ryman's death in 1904.

From 1904 until the Grand Ole Opry came in 1943, the Ryman was a venue for a wide variety of events and became one of the south's premier performing halls. Rudolph Valentino, Katherine Hepburn, Mae West, Bob Hope to name just a few acting luminaries. In 1943 the Ryman was rented out on Saturday nights for a popular live radio show and so changed the course of history for the Ryman and for country music.

For the next 31 years the building gained nationwide recognition as the 'Mother Church of Country Music'. Performers such as Bill Monroe, Hank Williams and Patsy Cline helped shape country and bluegrass music from the Ryman stage.  It has pitch-perfect acoustics and is still a venerated performance hall for top selling artists of all genres.

Since 1974 country music has had its home in The Grand Ole Opry House about 8 miles out of downtown Nashville.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum showcases the industry's heritage.  Election to the Country Music Hall of Fame is country music's highest honour. The first members - Jimmie Rodgers, Fred Rose and Hank Williams - were inducted in 1961.
The Country Music Hall of Fame honors scores of outstanding musicians. In keeping with its exhibits, the building itself has been specially designed to resemble the black and white keys of a giant piano. Inside there is a collection of vintage guitars, costumes, string ties, cowboy boots, well known lyrics composed on bar napkins and the celebrated golden Elvis cadillac and so much more.

There she is!

We could have stayed for much longer than we did.
We also discover that the CMA Awards are to be presented tomorrow night in town.
Much as we would have liked a ticket I guess that they are out of our reach.
We do manage to see some of the Awards on TV and a cameo appearance by Willie Nelson to receive a Lifetime Award

The RV was nice and warm when we got back - there has been some sun. But its still cold. Only 13 but feels like 8 or 9.




And it is finally Halloween! I set up the decorations and put the lights on when it gets dark! It looked great but ... where is everyone?  I finally found 2 children getting dressed up to go trick and treating off park. So I accosted them and gave away some of the treats we had in readiness!