Twelve days in Nashville

Memories of a dozen days in Nashville, TN: July 29 – August 9, 2018…

Standing in the shadow of Nissan Stadium and looking across the Cumberland River at the Nashville skyline. In planning our holiday in Nashville, we saw so many pictures of the skyline, and now we were here seeing the real thing!

Experiencing humidex temperatures everyday around 42 degrees Celsius. We were sweating while simply standing around. And the day we walked across the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge and back again, we were drenched by the time we returned to Broadway Street. Looking like drowned rats when we stepped into Luke’s 32 Bridge Food and Drink. The server immediately brought us glasses of water.

Touring the Ryman Auditorium. Oh man, so much history in those pews. Even the building itself is a story to behold. Birth by fire and brimstone as the Union Gospel Tabernacle. Transforming into the Carnegie of the South in the roaring 20’s. Hosting the Grand Ole Opry for some 30 years. A lonely death by silent neglect. And finally, a resurrection in the 90’s with a complete reno and rebirth.

Strolling around Centennial Park and visiting the Parthenon, the full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens. The statue of Athena Parthenos is huge and the focus of the Parthenon, but we were somewhat underwhelmed by it. But Centennial Park is beautiful.

Spending hours in the Country Music Hall of Fame. So many exhibits and artifacts. So well done. There’s a photo in the Loretta Lynn exhibit of President Obama awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the country music matriarch in 2013. Looking at the photo in the hall then, and looking at it now as a photo of the photo, I can’t help but wonder when normalcy will return to the White House. But as the saying goes, that’s a whole other story…

The iconic AT&T tower in downtown Nashville, known locally as the Batman Building. The tallest building in Tennessee, the tower’s twin spires reach 617 feet high. It’s a truly remarkable looking building. Read some fun facts about it here.

On several occasions, local residents identified the Bos Lady and me as Canadians simply by looking at us, hearing our “accent”, or a combination of the two. It’s funny: Tennesseeans calling out our Canadian accents but, mercy sakes, have y’all heard y’all?!

Standing in front of the Bridgestone Arena, home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators. Hearing in my head the crowd chants from last year’s playoffs: “It’s all your fault!” Haha, good times. Would love to see a game live in Bridgestone.

Hiking eastern Tennessee: the waterfalls, state parks, Great Smoky Mountains. And the town of Gatlinburg. For wall to wall tourists, the Canadian cousin of Gatlinburg has to be Banff, Alberta. Similar mix of souvenir shacks, too. But we have way better mountains. Just sayin’.

Of course, any visit to Nashville must include the Grand Ole Opry, a bucket list item of the Bos Lady. Well check that bucket list box — we saw headliner Luke Combs perform a six-song headliner set on August 8, 2018. Goosebumps! When It Rains It Pours and Hurricane sound sooooo good at the Opry!