Day 13: Mammoth Caves National Park, KY to Lynchburg, TN via Nashville

Today was our day to experience North America’s finest country music. I grew up listening to the likes of Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, and Garth Brooks so I was really excited for today and goodness - did Nashville deliver!

We started out at the County Music Hall of Fame. Compared to its Rock and Roll counterpart, which we visited last summer in Cleveland, the Country Music Hall of Fame was underwhelming. I did enjoy the “New  Traditionalists” section where we saw Randy’s fancy jacket, Alan Jackson’s guitar, and Garth’s cowboy hat. We also saw the great Hank William’s guitar which my Grandpa Ed would have thought was cool. I will say that if you don’t know much about the country music greats, the simple placards would have given a decent overview but for BIG FANS I wanted a deeper dive into my favourite artists.

Belonged to Hank Williams

Next was a daytime visit to the honky tonks on Broadway. These are three story bars with rooftop patios and live music in each. Kids aren’t allowed in the evenings - apparently they can get pretty rowdy - so we made the most of the afternoon. If nothing else, the incredible talent of the musicians we saw performing emphasized the element of luck associated with making it big in country music. We saw multiple supremely talented musicians who honestly were good enough to be famous already. In particular, the young artist Sheldon Tison was ridiculously good. Look him up if this is your style of music. We heard so many good covers, some original music, made a request (Liam wanted Country Roads (Take Me Home)), and Ali loved handing over the tips. I could have stayed in the honky tonks forever - but according to the songs, this can get you in trouble!

Alistair was great at giving tips!

Bike bar

Lunch was also special - we had hot chicken from Hattie B’s. The cheesy grits - oh my word! We did some cowboy boot shopping (well, looking - since they are $300US/pair), customized our own combination confection at Goo Goos, and taste tested the ice cream, as well as samples of freshly made pralines and caramel popcorn, at Savannah’s Candy Kitchen.

But our adventures didn’t end there. We were lucky enough to attend a sold out show at the Grand Ole Opry. Seeing artists perform on that wooden circle on the floor certainly brought me back to times listening to this show with my own father. He was definitely with us in spirit today and would have loved everything we did. The boys were the best behaved, though Ali did catch a cat nap at one point during the mariachi band portion in honour of Cinque de Mayo. The concert ended with Jon Pardi getting the hall rocking like a honky tonk. It was a day and night to remember. I sure love country music.