Nashville Part 1

Hello readers
I write tonight from Nashville Tennessee. It’s a chilly -6C & the ground is covered in snow. Now although I had seen snow in Flagstaff, it wasn’t until yesterday that I actually got to be in snow as it came down So exciting, and pretty…until it starts melting that is.
Moving on, Nashville, Music city. Well they aren’t kidding are they? Music City, Music Row, Music Valley, Broadway, 2nd Ave and Printers Alley… we have done quite a bit.

Broadway & Second is the part of the city lined with bars & clubs. Some fairly famous people have played at many of them, and many movies used their sets. Actually there was one being filmed at the Stage this week. "Love Don't Let Me Down” starring Gwenyth Paltrow, Leighton Meester & Tim McGraw. Nuts! We all know I’m a not so closet Gossip Girl Fan, so this made me super happy, not that we got to go inside while they were there, but still, quite cool.

We visited both of Ernest Tubb’s record stores, one hosts the midnight Jamboree, and the other his tour bus from the 70’s, which we got to explore. They are very very proud of Ernest here!
We headed out to music row, not much to actually do there, but recording studio’s a-plenty…We also went to Music Valley to check out the Grand ole Opry, Which is a live music venue that hosts the Radio show of the same name. The radio show started in the 20’s, and is broadcast live, as a concert/gig. It has a lot of history & I don’t quite feel like I’m doing it justice, so have a look here.

So yesterday we were snowed in – well not technically, but we weren’t walking anywhere that was for sure, so we had a day in, which meant today we wanted to go out, as it was Saturday we wanted to experience Nashville’s nightlife for all it’s worth. We headed into the city about 4, and got a bite to eat, another pulled pork sandwich with smokey BBQ sauce – Can not get enough!! Then we checked out a few places…now I don’t think I have really explained what these iconic streets are actually like. Sure we have busy pub/bar streets… but on Beale Street, Broadway etc, it is neon lights & every door is a pub. Usually stretching a few blocks. The only things really breaking this up are a few random souvenir stores. So now that you have a little bit of a picture ( still have bad internet & actual pictures not a possibility) I’ll continue. The first place we go to is country. Real country. There are people dancin’, drinkin’ and hollarin’. We had our first experience with “holler & swaller”. It is pretty much as it says. Someone calls for a holler & swaller, everyone raises their glasses up high, you all yell as loud as you can ( that’s the haller) then you drink ( hence – swaller) Now whilst drinking In Nashville, this happens fairly frequently, so be prepared…I think the band enjoy it juuuust as much as we do. Or perhaps they are just hoping for more tips. It’s pretty much a staple to carry a bunch of $1 bills when you go out anywhere in the USA, The bands do not get paid perse’ you tip them, and they will bring that tip jar round a few times a set, so having a few $$$ bills handy is great

We saw 2 proposals tonight!! The first was at this bar, there was a bit of a story attached, and so forth but that was nice. Got up on stage & did his thing, she said yes, everyone was very happy for them. After that we moved on though, We went into “the stage” & had a beer, throughout the night we also went to the Legends corner & Layla’s.
Amidst all of this though we got to do something that Ben has wanted to fit somewhere into the trip, we went to a NHL Game!. As we were bar hopping we came across a guy selling tickets to the Hockey, and figured we’d see how much they were. The first guy with tickets was far too expensive, but he did get our hopes up, so we went & found another, and got our tickets at our price – a healthy $10 a piece So we spent a few hours watching the Nashville Predators v the Atlanta Thrashers. It was great, and hilarious. I took video of the chants they sing because they are so funny. This is where the second proposal was too – big screen proposal. So we saw people slammed into the ice/ wall, get given their time outs (I’m sure there’s a proper word, but we’ve all watched mighty ducks right?) and score the occasional goal, it was fun! And Nashville won, so everyone was up for the evening.

Anyway we are home now, heavily over budget for this evening. It’s Ramen noodles tomorrow for lunch and dinner! =], but very happy. I do apologize for not being able to post pics of our time, it just cant handle uploading as it keeps dropping out.
As soon as we get some good internet I will get the Memphis & Nashville pics up. We still have a few days left here before we move along, WWE on Monday & I’m sure we will fit in a few more country/rock/bluegrass gigs in inbetween

Much love for getting through all that

xoxo