Day 8 August 31

This morning we visited the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. This was a very important venue for many different things over the years. The opera, John Philip Sousa, Charlie Chaplin and loads of other famous people made appearances here. The Grand Ole Opry actually started in 1925, but at other places in Nashville. In 1943 it moved to the Ryman Auditorium and stayed there until 1974 when a new location was opened. That is where they are today.

We toured the Ryman. It was a self guided tour where they gave free run of the building. Lots of displays and videos to watch. We spent about 1 1/2 hours there. Included in the price of admission was a photo standing at the microphone. They provided guitars to add to the ambiance of the photo.

Ginny decided it would be fun to have a walk down Broadway, so we had a walk down Broadway. This was at 11:30 in the morning and all the honkey tonks were busy with musicians. Every single one of them had music going on. It was a party day because the University of Georgia was in town to play Vanderbilt. Lots of read shirts roaming around. There were also lots of party buses and other conveyances transporting people on their way to a massive hangover tomorrow.

We headed back to the hotel where we met up with Ginny's cousin Jan and her husband Terry. The afternoon was spent snacking and talking. We then headed out to church where we met up with Ginny's cousin Debbie and her husband Ken. After that it was to a local BBQ joint where we lingered over dinner for a couple hours and had a great time talking about stuff. Ginny and her cousins are very accomplished in talking about stuff.

I had mentioned previously that I bought a couple bottles of George Dickel 13 year old bottled in bond Tennessee Whiskey and that I was a little concerned about the quality. Well, today I sampled a sufficient quantity to determine that it was pretty good.

Today's photo is of us on the Ryman Auditorium stage.