Today was our urban Nashville day. We started off heading downtown on the bus. The bus was easy to figure out and clean. It dropped us off at a transit center directly diagonal from my old workplace, the Andrew Jackson Building on Charlotte Pike. I was impressed that the transit center has clearly marked restrooms that were actually open, something most big cities seem incapable of sustaining. My old work building hasn't lost any charm (it never had any) but it doesn't look any worse either.
The first thing I wanted to visit was The Arcade, an early covered but not enclosed shopping area that has been around for over 100 years. It was essentially a lunch time food court when I worked in Nashville and from the website I was hopeful it still had a variety of places to eat but at a minimum I knew it had 'Ugly Bagel'. Unfortunately, Ugly Bagel is literally the only thing open before lunch and probably one of maybe 3 things in the entire Arcade that aren't vacant of being gutted and redone. Ugly Bagel also doesn't even have a square foot of counter space to eat at and the wind chill was about 25 degrees today so eating outside was not on the to-do list. We ended up having a super overpriced mediocre breakfast at Stateside Kitchen, part of a Hyatt property. I will remember the 11 dollar cinnamon roll but not fondly.
Thankfully, breakfast was the low point of the day. After that we went to lower Broadway (where all the honky-tonks owned by country stars are) for some t-shirts and other gifts. Morning on a weekday is hardly prime-time for Broadway but there were bands playing with music spilling out onto the street, a definitely Nashville unique thing. After that we headed the opposite way through the core of downtown again and down to the Bicentennial mall, a late 1990's effort to celebrate all things Tennessee. It's a nice series of outdoor exhibits and a visitor's center. I like the scale model of the state showing major roads and even some pretty small cities. It gives a good sense of how wide Tennessee is and the relative geographic representations of them.
Next up we went into the
Tennessee State Museum which used to be a very dated facility near the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) that left my unimpressed. Despite hearing that the exhibits were largely the same as the old building, we went into the new location at the end of the Bicentennial Mall since it was free and was at least a chance to warm up. The new museum, to Brian and I, bore
zero resemblance to the old one. Everything was modern and had great lighting and presentation. There was a well produced series of short documentaries, each in its own curved semi-open mini theater space. The little films were a mix of live interviews, camera shots of relevant subject matter and a little bit of animation (not cartoons) when it made sense to illustrate concepts that can't be directly filmed.
We returned to the hotel around 1 pm so we had a chance to relax, nap and get dressed for what may turn out to be the highlight of the trip, the
Grand Ole Opry. I wore my western shirt and cowboy boots and everything felt and looked good I think. We drove (through awful downtown traffic) and got there right on time to have dinner with John at the Cheesecake Factory in the mall next to the Opry house. The actual Opry show was just phenomenal. We sat on extreme stage left (not the best) but nearly in the front row of the lowest balcony so we were actually quite close to the stage and there were no obstructions at all. The Opry House is very well designed and they recently redid their sound system. I would say this was the best, most clear and satisfying live music sound system I've ever experienced. It was clear and punchy but didn't need to be (and wasn't) ear bleedingly loud to fully enjoy every performance.
The show is a well oiled machine and getting parked, in the doors and out at the end of the show were all smooth and efficient. Our lineup included Lady A, Collin Raye, James Dupré and T. Graham Brown along with a wonderful Bluegrass band. Collin Raye was amazing, he sounds like he's in his peak still and he received a heartfelt standing ovation despite being a lot less of a current mega star than Lady A. James Dupré wasn't a familiar name to us but he was great and he worked with Randy Travis on the relatively new Randy Travis Song, Where That Came From which was produced with AI. Then Randy Travis came on stage and waved at the audience and sat with James despite being quite frail. Later came Clay Walker who also has some health struggles but he put on an excellent performance of several of his many hits including 'If I Could Make a Living' before Randy Travis came out again and they announced an upcoming biopic about Randy Travis. Finally, Clay sang 'Forever and Ever Amen' with Randy Travis at his side, a truly spectacular emotional ending to an intense 2 and a half our powerhouse of a show. It's tempting to think that we saw one of the best Opry shows of the year or at least the month but honestly I suspect the even more remarkable truth is that they turn out a dozen amazing shows a month if their YouTube channel is any indication. We were sad to see that we just missed seeing Connie Smith perform on March 1. She looks and sounds amazing and it would have been a real thrill to hear her live.
I'm not sure how Memphis can measure up to our Nashville experience but so far this trip has been a series of highs so who knows what lies ahead as we head west tomorrow.
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