Travel report: A visit to Music City

Cathy writes:

Last week I traveled to Nashville, Tenn. for a mini-vacation with some friends. We packed in a lot of sightseeing, eating and a concert.  

My companions included ladies from West Virginia, Indiana and Minnesota. We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and had a delicious dinner at Demo’s Restaurant downtown. From there we went to The Stage, one of Nashville’s many honky-tonks on Broadway, to see a new artist, Matt Mason, perform. Having spent much of the day traveling, we all called it a night after his show.

First thing Thursday, we took some time to walk up and down the streets of Music Row. This is the area of town where all the recording studios and music labels are located. Even though breakfast was included at our hotel, we wanted to experience a Nashville tradition, so we had a late breakfast at the Pancake Pantry. It was worth waiting in line outside the restaurant.

After that, we spent a few hours in the Country Music Hall of Fame. The current special exhibits include memorabilia from Chet Atkins and all of Taylor Swift’s costumes from her 2011 "Speak Now” world tour. The Hall is also home to plaques commemorating every artist that has been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame over the years.

Next we visited the Ryman Auditorium. After a brief video of the Ryman’s history a couple of us got our picture taken on the stage as a souvenir. We were then free to explore the exhibits -- but we saw that Opry member Vince Gill was in the balcony being interviewed on camera. Naturally, we snuck up to get a closer look, and once he was done, a few of us were able to get his autograph.

Click above to see Cathy's photos. Click below to read the rest of her report.

Dinner Thursday night at another downtown restaurant was followed by a carriage ride around town and a stop at Tootsie’s, another famous honky-tonk.

More tourist activities were on Friday’s agenda. We traveled out of town to tour Belle Meade Plantation. Back in the 1800’s, the original owners bred thoroughbred horses. Famous horses such as Secretariat, Seabiscuit, Smarty Jones and Barbaro can trace their roots back to one horse, Bonnie Scottland, through the Belle Meade bloodlines. Besides the restored mansion, today there are various outbuildings, a carriage house and a winery on the grounds.

After lunch near Opryland, we took the backstage tour at the Grand Ole Opry. This is the present location for live Opry shows, whereas in the past they were held at the Ryman. The tour takes you behind the scenes and on the stage itself, where you can stand in the famous Circle of Wood.

Standing in the Circle of Wood

The center circular section of the floor was cut from the original Ryman stage and has been stood upon by musical legends from Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley to Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, to name a few. Everyone on the tour sang a round of “You Are My Sunshine” so that we can brag to our friends that we have actually sung on the Opry stage.

We made plans to meet a friend of one of my travel companions for dinner at the Loveless Café, which is famous for its southern cooking.  The entrance area is covered with autographed photos from numerous celebrities that have visited over the years.

Besides enjoying the many attractions in Nashville, the main reason for our trip was to attend a concert on Saturday. Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw were co-headlining the “Brothers of the Sun” tour and performed at LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans. Since the concert didn’t start until the afternoon we had time for lunch at the Hard Rock Café and to walk around the stadium parking lot for a while. Thousands of fans were there early to tailgate despite the 93-degree temperature.

There were two opening acts before Tim and Kenny each took the stage for nearly two hours apiece.  Then the encore songs included both of them as well -- as the opening acts, who joined them for one last song. In all it was over 6 hours of music.

Some of my friends had to depart early Sunday morning but I was able to get a glimpse of the Parthenon before leaving town. It was a memorable trip with lots of fun times. There’s always plenty to do and see in Nashville -- so I’m already planning my next visit.