A few years ago, my mom and I started a tradition of marking things off her bucket list for her birthday each year. This year's item was: Experience the Music in Nashville & Memphis.
Mom flew into Nashville on a Tuesday, where I picked her up after my drive down from Cincy and dropped off our stuff at Ralph's, who we'd be staying with for our time there. Ralph was my neighbor my last 2 years in Austin, who ventured to Nashville (with a pitstop in Cincy at one point ;)) for bigger and better things :) Then first things first: BBQ time. Headed to Wild Horse Saloon for some brisket and pulled pork buns and thankfully left just before they were going to start making us do two-step on stage ;) Went back home, met Ralph's wonderful roommie Jim, and then they took us out to 5 Points for some great live music and cheap beers!
The next day before we headed out to do our touristy sightings, our musical trip became even more complete with Ralph's drumming lessons. Note: I can't multitask. Apparently. Then headed to the Grand Ole Opry... whiiiich, honestly, kinda a disappointment. 1) New mall-like building (there's actually a mall next to it), 2) You're not even allowed to go inside without a ticket to a 'spensive show or a $30 "tour ticket", and 3) tours were cancelled that day for a private event anyway. Pshh. So the highlight was rummaging around their gift shop. Dissatisfied with THIS Grand Ole Opry, we realized what we were looking and hoping for was the Ryman Auditorium, where the Grand Ole Opry radio show FIRST debuted in this once-congregation-hall. Bam. Way more impressive. THIS was where all the country stars became famous and it became known as the "Mother Church of Country Music".
We hit up Broadway st, and after getting ice cream and shakes at Diana's Old Time Sundae Parlor, deciding not to spend more money at the Country Hall of Music Museum (we only had half an hour left anyway), we plopped ourselves down at Tootsie's, got some beers, and listened to a red-headed country singin' gal and some impressive fiddle music. Too bad I forgot my country boots.
We had promised the boys dinner for their hospitality, so we hit up Kroger, and mom made her famous chilli dinner for them (enough to feed 8). Another night of good quality late night chats, then we hit the sack.
Our last day in Nashville, the boys joined us to the Belle Meade Plantation, which is known for owning horses that spawned many of the famous Derby winners. We toured the mansion and its grounds, tasted their wines at the winery, then headed out to Memphis. Crazy rain storms hit us while we were driving, where I think I was drifting more than my wheels were on the ground. Eek. Got to our hotel in Downtown Memphis and thankfully we had bought a bottle of champagne prior in order to toast to mom's birthday at midnight :)
The next morning we make our way to see the Peabody ducks. Cutest. thing. ever. For the past 50+ years, there's been a "duckmaster" that leads the ducks from their "penthouse" to the elevator to the fountain in the lobby. Adorbs. We then make our way to the Rock n Soul Museum, which besides all the information and history on the music, had a collection of old time jukeboxes since the 1930s. Neat!
Then... it's Graceland time. What my mom's been waiting for ;) The mansion itself is pretty modest (compared to today's lavish mansions) and you get a good feel of what Elvis was like at home. In the end, he was just a small town boy who wanted the best for his momma. Well... and then owning over 40 cars later. And 2 planes. After Graceland (and its many many exhibits -- kinda has that Disney feel to it), we hit up Sun Studios -- where it all started for Elvis, BB King, and so many others. This was my favorite part of the day. It's riveting to be in the same space where prior "nobodies" recorded their first songs. So cool.
For dinner, we ate at a Chinese restaurant where our waiter was Balinese and mom got to practice her Indonesian (and I got to understand about 50% of it!), and then headed to Beale st for some more live music. However, we didn't stick around too long... being a tourist is exhausting, so we called it a night ;)
On our way back to Cincy, we spent a night with mom's old childhood friend in Clarksville, IN, and were spoiled by them. More birthday celebrations and then the next day headed home!
We took a one-day break, then headed to Berlin, OH with Kris & Maria for Amish country. Turns out it's not so Amish after all. Amish women driving cars, cheese factory with electricity and machines, and hardly any buggies. Whaat the hell. *Disappointed in the unfulfilled stereotypes*. Oh but still a fun time with friends. ...And we stopped at a vineyard on the way home, so that helped ;)
Mom flew into Nashville on a Tuesday, where I picked her up after my drive down from Cincy and dropped off our stuff at Ralph's, who we'd be staying with for our time there. Ralph was my neighbor my last 2 years in Austin, who ventured to Nashville (with a pitstop in Cincy at one point ;)) for bigger and better things :) Then first things first: BBQ time. Headed to Wild Horse Saloon for some brisket and pulled pork buns and thankfully left just before they were going to start making us do two-step on stage ;) Went back home, met Ralph's wonderful roommie Jim, and then they took us out to 5 Points for some great live music and cheap beers!We hit up Broadway st, and after getting ice cream and shakes at Diana's Old Time Sundae Parlor, deciding not to spend more money at the Country Hall of Music Museum (we only had half an hour left anyway), we plopped ourselves down at Tootsie's, got some beers, and listened to a red-headed country singin' gal and some impressive fiddle music. Too bad I forgot my country boots.We had promised the boys dinner for their hospitality, so we hit up Kroger, and mom made her famous chilli dinner for them (enough to feed 8). Another night of good quality late night chats, then we hit the sack.
Our last day in Nashville, the boys joined us to the Belle Meade Plantation, which is known for owning horses that spawned many of the famous Derby winners. We toured the mansion and its grounds, tasted their wines at the winery, then headed out to Memphis. Crazy rain storms hit us while we were driving, where I think I was drifting more than my wheels were on the ground. Eek. Got to our hotel in Downtown Memphis and thankfully we had bought a bottle of champagne prior in order to toast to mom's birthday at midnight :)
The next morning we make our way to see the Peabody ducks. Cutest. thing. ever. For the past 50+ years, there's been a "duckmaster" that leads the ducks from their "penthouse" to the elevator to the fountain in the lobby. Adorbs. We then make our way to the Rock n Soul Museum, which besides all the information and history on the music, had a collection of old time jukeboxes since the 1930s. Neat!Then... it's Graceland time. What my mom's been waiting for ;) The mansion itself is pretty modest (compared to today's lavish mansions) and you get a good feel of what Elvis was like at home. In the end, he was just a small town boy who wanted the best for his momma. Well... and then owning over 40 cars later. And 2 planes. After Graceland (and its many many exhibits -- kinda has that Disney feel to it), we hit up Sun Studios -- where it all started for Elvis, BB King, and so many others. This was my favorite part of the day. It's riveting to be in the same space where prior "nobodies" recorded their first songs. So cool.
For dinner, we ate at a Chinese restaurant where our waiter was Balinese and mom got to practice her Indonesian (and I got to understand about 50% of it!), and then headed to Beale st for some more live music. However, we didn't stick around too long... being a tourist is exhausting, so we called it a night ;)
On our way back to Cincy, we spent a night with mom's old childhood friend in Clarksville, IN, and were spoiled by them. More birthday celebrations and then the next day headed home!
