Nashville Skyline Rag

Daily Mileage = 20;Total Trip= 11,458

We started out this morning visiting a plantation in Nashville but not downtown. Belle Meade (beautiful morning) was a plantation founded in 1807 by John Harding and his wife Susannah. The Hardings started out with a small log cabin that is still on the property and grew into the mansion that is there today. The tour was given by a guide in costume and is one of the best "historical house" tours we've been on.

At the height of its success the plantation was 5400 acres and the mansion had grown to only 7,000 square feet. The interesting and different aspect of this plantation is that it didn't do "cash crops" but rather became a premier thoroughbred horse farm. The tour takes you into the mansion which has been restored and holds a number of the original pieces.

We also walked around the grounds (which today are no where near the 5400 acres it was back in the late 1800's although the "town" of Belle Meade is very upscale and lovely). There are slave quarters, a dairy, wonderful stables and a carriage house. (Notice the "surrey with the fringe on the top." Just one of several carriages they have on display.) The plantation stayed in the family for several generations but in the early 1900's, gambling fell out of favor and so did the horse racing industry, this fact plus the patriarch dying placed the business into bankruptcy. In the 1950's the non-family owners sold it to the state who then turned it over to a historical society which now runs it.

However, in its heyday, the Belle Meade Plantation owned several of the top stud horses in the world. One of the famous horses was Bonnie Scotland who sired more Kentucky Derby winners than any other horse. Some of the more modern horses who are from his bloodline include: Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, Giacomo and Barbarro. Not too bad a bloodline if you ask me!!
This is a doll house that was built for the children to play in (I guess there wasn't enough room in the big mansion!). It was very cute and there are a lot of interpretative activities for children on the grounds as well.

We ended our trip there with a very lovely lunch (southern style) at Martha's at the Plantation. Good eats.

We then headed over to the Ryman Auditorium. It was the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1945 until 1973. The fact that we didn't know until we took the self-guided tour, was that it was originally built as a church in 1892 by a barge owner, Ryman. He decided there should be a church, rather than a tent, for his reverend to give his sermons in. When Ryman died, they decided to rename the church the "Ryman Auditorium." It was supposed to be used for religious purposes but when it was still in a lot of debt a woman became its house manager and began to bring in all sorts of entertainment. She ran it successfully for 50 years in the black! Everyone who is anyone had played (or wished they had played) at the Ryman Auditorium. It's really neat because the seats are actually curved pews and the acoustics are supposed to be as good as the Mormon Tabernacle's auditorium.

In 1973 the Grand Ole Opry shows moved to a new venue so that more people could see the shows. The place stood empty for almost 20 years because no one could or would restore it. Finally, someone did and it's open again for performances. It has been restored beautifully and is now a National Historic Landmark.

Rich is here with Minnie Pearl one of the classics at the Ryman.

We then went to the County Museum Hall of Fame (CMHF). It is a new, huge building that holds not only a museum on country music but also extensive archives and artifacts. The museum has been around for awhile but the new quarters is only a few years old. Our time there was great. It was done very well and whether or not you're a country music fan, it's packed full of information and interest. It is very interactive and we did the audio tour which provided us with more data than we'll ever remember.

The architecture itself was neat. The windows are supposed to be the black keys on a piano. The tower over the rotunda (which houses the Hall of Fame) is a reminder of the diamond-shaped WSM Radio tower, which was instrumental in the growth of country music. From overhead, the building resembles the shape of a bass clef (but you have to get above it to actually see this effect).

The floors are done chronologically with memorabilia displayed within the era they are portraying. They have samples of the music from early gospel, blue grass, tin guitars, early country, cross over music all the way through to the present day. There are also interview videos you can listen to and watch. It just goes on and on. You can spend at least 3 hours there and we almost did. Having just seen the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland this past January, this was so much better. There is really no comparison and it made us feel slightly sad that the Rock and Roll Museum wasn't done more like the Country Music one.

The Hall of Fame Rotunda is also done very nicely and has a bronze plaque for each member. You know all the names such as, Dolly Parton, Whealon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline just to name a few of our favorites. There are many more and of course we had to get a photo of Rich's favorite, Johnny Cash!

We finished the afternoon with drinks listening to some country music at "Tootsies" which is a legend located right on Broadway. A woman called, Tootsie, ran it for years. It is right behind the Ryman Auditorium and when performers had a break in between sets, they would slip out the back and run in for a "fast one or two."

The place looks like a dive but the photos, autographs and memorabilia are great. It's been there for years. It has two bands playing simultaneously one upstairs and one down. It's crazy. By the way, the building is purple and blends into the street but I love the modern skyline in the back. You see this all over Nashville the old and new. Downtown is really not that big but there are many other sections which are sprawled out from it and are still called "Nashville." It's a lot of fun! We may not want to leave.....

Good night. Love&Joy, Mare&Rich