We spent Saturday, Feb 18, at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Even though it is off-season at the park they were really pretty busy for most of the day considering the weather (low 50s, overcast & light showers) but then I'd forgotten that this was a holiday weekend (President's Day) which explained the crowds. So even though we'd arrived at 10am hoping to get tickets fro the 11:30am tour, we found the next available tour was at 1pm. (Dolores had called the week before we left to inquire about making reservations but was told that they probably weren't really needed this time of year.) So we got our tickets (and my lifetime, Senior pass for the National Parks!), grabbed a trail map and did some hiking on a few trails near the Visitor Center. We hiked down to the Green River which flows through the park which I guess explains the name. A plaque by the river said there used to be a dock there where riverboats would bring tourists on a river cruise to the caves. There were a few old cave entrances along the trail - the River Styx Springs (the water flows into a deep, dark hole) and the Dixon cave. We also saw the "Historic Entrance" to Mammoth Caves which was apparently the original & only well-known entrance to Mammoth Cave until 1921. The cave system has been explored and mapped to about 405 miles & several hundred feet deep. Constant exploration keeps adding to the cave's known length. They think it could extend to 600 miles or so. If interested, you can find more about Mammoth Cave at A Brief History of Mammoth Cave
After the tour, we left Kentucky behind and drove on down to Nashville, TN. The home of country music. We didn't do anything on Saturday evening other than grab a bite to eat since we were pretty tired from the hiking, cave tour and the drive. But we did get in touch with some old friends, Blaine & Cindy Strock, whom we hadn't seen in about 25 years (the last time we were in Nashville). They used to live in our development and Dolores & Cindy became good friends before they moved here about 30 years ago. They invited us to dinner at their place on Sunday night and it was great catching up with them.
On Sunday, we went downtown to Honky Tonk Row and the the museums. We spent most of the afternoon at the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. Lots of great exhibits and memorabilia from country performers old & new. Even Elvis' Gold Cadillac! We also sat in on a music demonstration of the old upright bass and the steel guitar. If you have any interest in country music it's a must-see. Then we made an obligatory stop at one of the Honky Tonks for a beer and listened to some music. Obviously there are lots of places to choose from, sort of like Sixth Street in Austin or Bourbon St in New Orleans (but a lot cleaner!).
On Monday, we went back downtown and toured the Johnny Cash Museum - if you liked the "Man in Black" you have to go to this museum if you get to Nashville. Lots of great exhibits, videos of his concerts and TV/movie appearances. Cash is widely recognized as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Johnny's 2000 music video, "Hurt", is without a doubt the most moving music video I've ever seen. (If you've never seen it: "Hurt" music video)
Factiod: His birth certificate records his name as J. R. Cash (no first name) and that's what was in his high school year book as well. When he was enlisting in the Air Force and they told him they needed a first name not just an initial so he choose the first name of John.
We then went on a tour of the Ryman Auditorium, the birthplace of the Grand Ole Opry. It was originally built as a house of worship (Union Gospel Tabernacle) but had to book other events as well to pay off the construction debt and operating costs. In the early 1900s, it started to book many of the big-time stars and acts, such as W. C. Field, Caruso, Anna Pavlova, Charlie Chaplin, etc to earn the nickname, "The Carnegie Hall of the South". But in 1925 it became the home of the Grand Ole Opry and remained the Opry's home until 1974 when the Opry moved to it's new home, the Grand Ole Opry House at Opryland, The Ryman was/is the place where ALL of the big stars of the Opry have played. A lot of history. The Ryman was in really bad shape and facing demolition but in the 1990s a group of Opry members along with local citizens, politicians and the Opry's owner, Gaylord Entertainment, banded together to rehabilitate the theater. In October 1998, the Grand Ole Opry returned to the Ryman with off-season shows from December to mid-February. It would've been a crime to have not rebuilt this auditorium which is rightfully a National Historic Landmark.
We rounded Monday off with a trip to the Bluebird Cafe on a recommendation from our friends. It's a very small venue (not downtown) and on Mondays they have an "open mic" early show with about 25 waiting-to-be-discovered singer/songwriters who each get an opportunity to take the stage to perform a single song. The catch is that there are no reservations - it's first-come, first-served. We got in line about 4:15pm (doors open for 1st show at 5:30pm). As our luck would have it, we were the 1st couple in line when the place filled to capacity! But we hung around and were able to get in before 7pm when another couple left. The wait actually passed fairly quickly as we got to talking to some other couples and made some new friends. It was a really enjoyable show with a variety of talent. Mostly your typical blend of country music except for this crazy group of young guys from Baltimore - weird & sort of funny. Anyway, we had a really good time.
This afternoon we went to a local plantation, Belle Meade Plantation. At one time it encompassed 5,400 acres and had its own train stop. It wasn't a traditional plantation in that the main business & source of wealth was not farming. In reality, in the mid-1800s it became a premiere stud farm. Belle Meade was home of the great racehorse, Iroquois, the 1st American bred horse to ever win the prestigious Epsom Derby in England. It was also home to a horse named Bonnie Scotland which is considered one of the American Thoroughbred's foundation sires. In fact, the lineage of all the horses who won the Kentucky Derby between 1972-1996 can be traced back to Bonnie Scotland. Other notable racehorses from the bloodline include Man-o-War, Seabiscuit, War Admiral, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Funny Cide and Affirmed.
Tonight we went to the Grand Ole Opry for a show tonight - first-timers! It was a really great show and we both enjoyed it! A great mix of stars both old (Bill Anderson, Ricky Skaggs & Steve Wariner) and new (Kristian Bush, Chris Janson, and RaeLynn & Justin Moore) along with comedian, Henry Cho (really sunny!). If you're not familiar with the format, each performer comes on for about 15 minutes and does 3 songs with a short intermission between the 4th & 5th act. Every show is broadcast live on WSM radio, same as always. A definite must-see if in Nashville!
Tomorrow is a travel day. We'll be heading to Memphis by way of the Natchez Trace Parkway. In Memphis I expect we'll do some more sight-seeing (Sun Studios, Beale St, and Elvis stuff). I'll try to provide another update on Friday.
That's all for now ..... Dan
[I'll add some more pictures later when I get some time!]
Love these blogs..enjoy visiting the places along with you.
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Happy to hear that you like the blog so far, Paula. I'll try to keep it interesting!
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