After visiting the Opry Mall and Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, we walked across the parking lot to the Grand Ol' Opry. We bought tickets online a month earlier and had great seats. From the poster given out that evening, you can see that there was a great line up of entertainers.


These pictures were taken in front of the Opry House after the concert!

Pictured is Dale Watson and his wife, Celine Lee. They did about 3 numbers.

One of the best segments of the show was when a relatively unknown performer came on, Don Schlitz. He had a great sense of humor. We found out that he was a great songwriter and wrote many hits including WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL and THE GAMBLER (made famous by Kenny Rodgers) both of which he sang that night.

This was followed up by the last entertainer of the evening, Vince Gill, who turned in a stirring performance with 3 wonderful songs and a tribute to the military service for Memorial Day weekend.

After the Opry show, we signed up for the backstage pass. This allowed us to go backstage to the dressing areas and also see areas where the performers "hang out".


One of the final things on the tour backstage was taking our picture "in the circle" where the performers stand on stage.
To the right is the rhinestone fringe denim jacket that Sylvia was hoping to find. We found one at the Opry gift shop!




On the way home from the Grand Ol' Opry, we were a little hungry. Being after midnight, we weren't sure where to eat. We got a little lost, and drove the wrong way out of the area away from the Grand Ol' Opry on Hwy 40. By the time we realized our mistake, we had stumbled upon a Waffle House. Fortuitous! See, some mistakes turn out well!

The next day, Sylvia was in a Drag Show!
Ok, let me explain!

It was Sunday morning and we decided to eat brunch at Suzy Wong's Drag n' Brunch! What could go wrong, right? We had breakfast and the show was great! There were 3 performers and they were all wonderful, but towards the end of the show, they asked if there was anyone celebrating anything! Of course, Sylvia said she was celebrating her birthday. About 20 people went up onstage and strutted their stuff and danced a little for the crowd! At the end, the drag Queens voted for the best cat-walk and ... surprise... Sylvia won!!!!

Here is the tee shirt that she won as her prize! It says, "HAUTE MESS". Underneath it lists the Drag N' Brunch, Nashville, TN. Ok, now I'm telling everyone that I'm dating a drag queen!

That evening, we had a special dinner at a restaurant called SINATRA. It was upscale and plush but the best part was an entertainer named Ryan J. Driscoll who did Sinatra tunes for the patrons that night! Sylvia requested "Come Fly with Me" and got a personized performance from the singer.


Definitely not something that you can see back home. It was a special evening overall!

On the way back from Sinatra, we walked along lower Broadway! That part of the city is amazing and bustling with activity almost all night! There are multiple bars, all packed with people, and music emanating throughout the night air everywhere you walked! It reminded me of 6th street in Austin or Freemont Street in Las Vegas!

Above, is a picture of the boots Sylvia bought at the Boot Barn on Broadway! The trip and these boots were her main birthday gift! (She had a coupon for them -- inside joke.)


The two pictures below were from a brief stop at the Miranda Lambert bar on Broadway! Alcohol and band music are parts of every bar on Broadway. They go hand in hand!

The last day, I have to admit, we were running out of steam. Nashville is definitely a party town and I believe I may have missed the prime years of truly enjoying this type of thing, but at this stage of my life, I can only take so much partying!

Just a block away from our hotel was the Johnny Cash Museum. I read about it before going and I was determined to go and see it before I left. Here we are with Johnny. Sylvia is tuning his guitar while I am holding up one of his gold records.


We stopped in the Johnny Cash Restaurant adjacent to the museum! Sylvia had the pulled pork sliders and I had the "hot" spicy chicken that I believe Nashville is famous for! While we ate, a band played Johnny Cash songs on a small stage almost right next to us!


The Museum itself was just chock full of memorabilia and had so many pictures and records and videos packed into a relatively small building. It was actually quite impressive. Of course, it exited through a gift shop and we bought a couple of items.

One of the last things we had planned to visit was the Bar and Grill at 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville. It is a classic honky tonk bar in Nashville with a long standing tradition and one of the last things on our agenda. Honestly, by that time, Sylvia and I had plenty of alcoholic beverages and even though we sat at the bar, we both ordered diet coke.

The music was fun bluegrass by a group called the Time Jumpers! You could tell by their ease of playing that they've been playing together a long time and their smooth music was excellent. We stayed perhaps an hour and a half and left a little early, knowing we had to get up early to pack for our trip home.
(Note the diet coke in the 1st picture below!)

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