Another Great Day in Nashville!!!

I think I have enough signal to update the blog.....here's trying!

Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl, who Don saw in person when he visited
with his parents in 1979.

Tuesday,  we immersed ourselves in Country Music, which isn't hard to do since we're in Nashville! Jim and Olivia gave us a car so we could go back to Nashville, and the first thing we did was to go to Ryman Auditorium, the first home of the Opry, to get tickets for that night's show at the Grand Ole Opry. Only high balcony seats were available…but they would be fine. At this time of year, performances are only on Tuesdays,  Fridays, and Saturdays. 

Ryman Auditorium

Next, we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. We aren't big country music fans, but have certainly enjoyed country music over the decades! We saw a special exhibit on Patsy Cline, "Crazy for Loving You," from the 1950's. We had no idea she died in a plane crash at the age of 31. "Taylor Swift:Speak Now-Treasures from The World Tour"  was a special exhibit  featuring artifacts from the top-grossing country music tour of 2011. And of course there was Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire, Glen Campbell….you get the idea! The Hall of Fame Rotunda is a special room where the members' plaques are positioned randomly to insure that everyone has a place of equal importance. Around the rotunda are the words, WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN. Well, the resounding answer is YES. 

Webb Pierce's car had a rifle and pistols adorning it!

How angelic she looks!!!

 After that we walked along Broadway and 2nd Ave., listening to the music in the Honky Tonk bars…looking at the hundreds of styles of cowboy boots…it was soon time to drive to the Grand Ole Opry. And was it full of surprises!!!

Performers Tuesday night included Terri Clark, little Jimmy Dickens who will be 92 in Dec., Jim Ed Brown, known for The Three Bells and Scarlet Ribbons , and Darius Rucker, formerly of Hootie and the Blowfish. At centre stage was a circle of wood that was part of the floor of the Ryman Auditorium for decades. It has been placed in the new Opry, and the performers who stand on it know they are standing where so many great artists stood before them!!! The circle is unbroken!!!

You can see the circle from the Ryman Auditorium.

We were a bit high up....but the large screens helped!

Familiar faces!!!

Now for the surprises…at intermission we realized directly behind us were Loopers….Lois and Dominic from Sunshine, and Fred from North Star. Their boats were at the downtown Nashville dock, and they took a bus to the Opry. What fun that was!!! We will surely see them again when we get to the Tennessee River.

At the end of the show, Brad Paisley, who was in the audience…much closer to the stage than we were… made Darius Rucker an offer he couldn't refuse…..to become a Member of the Grand Ole Opry….what an honour that is!!!! Darius was overwhelmed with emotion, and of course said Yes, thrilled to become part of the circle!!!

Then Brad, who was not on the program, took the stage and performed!!! His latest single that he just recorded this week in Nashville is bound to be #1 shortly!!!  I can't remember the title, but it's about leaving his comfortable Southern home and venturing to far-away places.  It was phenomenal! We sure never expected to be entertained by Brad Paisley!!!!