Day 7 August 30

Today we started our week long visit to Nashville. Ginny has lots on the agenda and her cousins are coming as well. Everybody thinks Grand Ole Opry when they think of Nashville. Our day started out with a back stage tour at the Opry. It was interesting to see how the show is put on and the facilities they have for the stars. Unfortunately for me, I don't recognize many of the performers, especially the newer ones. Country music is great and I enjoy it, but I am just not very familiar with it.

Second stop was the Belmont Mansion on Belmont College. It was built around the Civil War and was saved from occupation by the Union Army which captured Nashville in 1862. After it was sold by the family, it became a girls school which eventually morphed into Belmont College. It is fully furnished and over half of the furnishings are original. That is a good thing. Too many times an old building is furnished with "of the period" items.

Ginny decided that we needed some culture, so we went to the Frist Art Museum. When we got in and saw what the exhibits were, it was clear that none of it was interesting so we turned around and left. Unfortunately, we got stuck with a $10 parking tab for only 15 minutes. That was a small price to pay to get the hell out of there.

Next stop was the Tennessee Museum. We went to the museum six years ago and it had a very interesting display of American Indian items. There were several that I remembered and wanted to see again. Well, the museum was put into a brand new building and it has brand new displays. As with all modern museum displays, it is dumbed down. The items I wanted to see were not on display. Additionally, there weren't many items at all.

By the time we headed out for the hotel, it was at the height of rush hour. And it is a vicious rush hour indeed. Being a Friday afternoon probably added to the misery.

Today's photo is us in the circle on the Grand Ole Opry stage. It was taken by the staff, but we bought it anyway because they included the jpg which is what we wanted. As a matter of fact, that is the photo for today.