Oot & Aboot: How ya'll doing?

So I got up at the crack of dawn; well it wasn’t even the crack, it was the middle of the night. 4am to be exact, to get my airport shuttle. I was already in the lobby waiting for the shuttle wishing to get to Nashville fast just so I could go to bed! The shuttle came on time, as one would given there wasn’t much in the way of traffic, and I got to the airport about 10 minutes later. Surprisingly, the shuttle was full; I had expected to be the only idiot getting a flight that early. The reason for the early flight? A flight to Nashville from DC isn’t a popular route so it pushes the price up. At the time I booked the flight it was already costing me $400 plus a stop over in Detroit. So a flight at a later time or a direct one; well that would have cost even more which I just didn’t want to have to pay. Ironically, the flight all up isn’t that long, like a bit over an hour.

So I got to the Northwest Airlines counter to be told my luggage was over the limit. It was over a whole two pounds over, which by the way is barely one kilo. I’m so over airlines and weight hassles. I did some moving and shuffling which meant putting my toiletries in my carry on and got through and headed to security. Once at security I’m told I’m to have a secondary security check. Are you freakin’ kidding me! Again! I’m asked to wait in what can only be described as a Perspex cage, until security was ready for me. They wouldn’t even touch me, I had to pass documents through a slot in the cage. I felt like a criminal. Once they were ready I ws moved out of my cage and told to stand, legs apart, and get patted down. Obviously I freaked out, and thought, ‘geez, I hope they don’t find all the cocaine strapped to my body’ They also tested my carry on bags and opened them up and looked through them. It was at this point I realized I had stupidly packed my toiletries in my carry on because of the weight and forgot that you can point liquids in your carry on. Now I am beyond pissed off. I had the choice of checking in again or ditching some stuff. So bye bye almost full cosmetics bottles. I could have cried.

After the drama and security wishing me ‘a good day’, ha, I boarded the plane. The plane was full, probably because so many people take it before they have a stop over to go somewhere different. After a short time I got to Detroit airport and had to wait for about an hour and a half until my flight to Nashville. So I got out the laptop and buggered around. My time finally came and I was on my flight to Nashville. Yah. After a short time I had got in the air as fast as I was descending into Nashville. I head through the small airport that is Nashville. It hits me straight in the face walking through the airport what Nashville is about. The country music posters and music notes covering the walls kinda gave it away. I picked up my luggage and searched for a airport shuttle. I got to the counter ordered my shuttle and got straight into the Nashville heat to get my shuttle to downtown Nashville. So far I’m loving it because all I can hear is Southern accents and it’s just funny. I got to my hotel about 15 minutes later at about 11.00am. Unfortunately because it’s so early they aren’t ready to check me in. So I have to hang around for a couple of hours. I just cruise the net and get some lunch at the adjacent deli. I also confirm a tour I have for the afternoon. I’m extremely tempted to do the tour another day because I am so tired, but I decide to forge on so I don’t waste the afternoon.

I finally get into my hotel room and have enough time to change before I have to go back to the lobby and get picked up for my tour. I booked a Discover Nashville tour that goes to some of the big attractions of Nashville. My tour arrives and the tour guide is so friendly. A nice change compared to my DC experiences. The tour goes through Music Row where our guide highlights some of the bigger recording studios like RCM, who looked after Elvis and other studios where big country names like Dolly and Reba record. The first stop on the tour is the Parthenon in Centennial Park. Nashville decided to build a replica Parthenon where they house various changing exhibits. It’s a must see when visiting. Personally, I think it’s totally tacky and does not suit Nashville at all. Well I take a photo and we move on. Our next stop was Ryman Auditorium. I had no idea what the history was of this place until we did the tour. The Ryman used to hold the Grand Ole Opry every Friday & Saturday night from the 30’s and it was crazy popular. All the best of the best in country music played there. The Grand Ole Opry moved from the Ryman in the 1980’s but the Ryman is still used for big name concerts and the Grand Ole Opry moves there in the winter. It was good to learn about the history of the place and get some insight into country music, given I had no clue. After the Ryman, we head to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. We have an hour and a half to check it out. I start at the museum which looks at country music from it’s roots until now. It focused heavily on the 30’d to 60’s, more than today. It showed lots of costumes which were great, sparkly suits that are crazy and there were heaps of opportunities to listen to music also. At the end of the museum, the hall of fame sits. Hundreds of country music stars are entered there, and I even recognize a few, like Shania, Dolly, Cash, and Willie Nelson.

After checking out the museum we headed to Broadway, which is Nashville’s main street of Honky Tonks. We went to Legends bar to watch some live country music and enjoy our free soft drink. The music was great, and it soon becomes apparent that all the bars along Broadway offer free country music. Seriously, Nashville IS country music. It was time for the tour to wrap up so we took the scenic route to my hotel through 2nd Avenue, another street where most of the partying happens at night and had a look at Printers Alley, more music there too! I got to my hotel a few minutes later. I had scored again and booked a hotel very close to the action. I headed to my room and got myself some sleep before waking up about 9pm starving for some dinner. I’d remembered passing a Hooters on the tour so I walked down to Hooters and got myself some food. After dinner I wondered around to see what was going on. Just down the road Hootie and the Blowfish were playing and they are the bomb. I went to see if I could get in and they wanted $50 a ticket, and I’d missed half the set. Given I’d missed half the set I opted not to pay the full ticket and left that one alone.

So I went to Coyote Ugly Saloon, the original that existed before the movie. It was ok, nothing special. I stayed for a drink and then headed back to my hotel.

What I learnt in Nashville today:

Being an Australian is quite a novelty here. No one can quite believe I’d travel so far to go to Nashville. People just love the accent.
Everyone is so dam friendly.
It really is Music City, you can’t escape country music if you’re in Nashville!