Welcome to Tennessee!
When last I wrote, we were leaving Alabama and headed to Nashville. Crossing state lines, we always try to stop at the first welcome center. It's interesting to me to learn how each state sees itself as represented by the style of the center. Tennessee's log cabin-style building and cozy interior call to mind its humble beginnings as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians and very much embodies the pioneer spirit for which the state is known.
Welcome center interior
We got settled in our campground and headed to the city with plans to tour a museum and the state capitol building, among other things in Nashville proper. Big lack of planning on my part! The last time I visited the city, in 2004 or so, I remember it as being a small "big" city similar to Denver in the early '90s. It's now over a million and a half in population and growing by leaps and bounds. It's projected to double in size by 2030 and judging by the construction going on everywhere, I believe it!
Ever driven in New York City? Downtown Nashville reminded me a lot of that fun experience, with narrow streets, parked delivery trucks taking up most of the lanes and limited, expensive parking ($20 a day - yikes!). While we had addresses and our handy GPS for finding the venues we wanted to visit, we had no idea where the parking lots/garages were and it was, of course, raining!
After driving around for a while, we decided that a hop-on, hop-off trolley tour was going to be best way of seeing the sites in the city. So it was back to the campground to do a bit more planning and try again another day. But, on the way out of town, we did manage to find this little gem.
For those of you that enjoy the prime-time soap opera called Nashville, this little venue plays a big part in that show. I was totally surprised to find that it's far from downtown, in a suburban strip mall! It's a very small place, only seats about 90 people at a time and is, in fact, one of the prime venues for performers hoping to be "discovered." Only open for two shows nightly, by the time I got to the internet to try to book a seat, the shows were all sold out during our stay in the area. But I did get to peek in the window and it looks very much like the set of the tv show. Check one more thing off the bucket list!
Until next time...
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