Grand Ole RV Park
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It was a long day driving from Alton to Nashville. After
about 6 hours, we arrived at the Grand Ole RV Park. I chose this park due to
its low price. It was located about 15 miles north of Nashville in a suburb
called Goodlettsville. The park was adequate with full hook ups and other
amenities. The owners also had free entertainment under a large party tent,
with local musicians and gospel singers performing and hoping get their name
out there. The owners were very friendly and helpful. The only real down side
was that the night before a horrendous storm went through the area and there
was flooding in some of the low lying parts of town. This RV Park was very wet
and muddy, despite the gravel roads and grassy areas. We found our site and got
setup in the rain and wet ground. At this point, I just gave up trying to get my
clan to not track mud and water into the RV. Oh well, it will get really
cleaned up when we get home. We were very tired from driving so long and stayed
inside the rest of the evening to have dinner and relax. It rained lightly most
of the evening and night, so we really had no choice.
We had planned to only stay one night, but after looking
into the activities that we wanted to do (we were able to get tickets to the
Grand Old Opry), so we would have to stay one more night. That was fine, as it
would be impossible to see most of the things we wanted to in one day. Kurt had
never attended the Grand Ole Opry, so I wanted him to experience this. Back in
the mid-1990’s, I was able to attend this event while in Nashville on business.
However; when I went, the show was at the Ryman Theatre, which is the original
auditorium for the Opry. A new Opry House had been built later and the Ryman is
only used in performances during the winter. Anyway, I was excited that we were
able to get the tickets; the main performers for the evening were Larry Gatlin,
Craig Campbell and lastly Carrie Underwood. The tickets were selling fast, so
we had to get two seats that were not together, but they were one row and four
seats apart. The second night we would attend the Opry.
The next morning, we headed into Nashville to look around
and see downtown and the special places. We went down to the riverfront and saw
that the Cumberland River was several feet higher than normal. The main street
area was filled with bars, souvenir shops, retail stores and restaurants. We
also saw the Ryman Theatre, but did not take the inside tour (which cost more
money). We scoped out the Honky Tonk Row and decided to come back later in the
evening when it was really hopping. After leaving downtown, we drove to “Music
Valley”, where the Opry house is and the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. I had also visited the hotel when I was there
on business, but I wanted Kurt to see the amazing interior, which is a huge
atrium filled with fountains, gardens, streams, waterfalls and a shopping
village. It’s so beautiful to walk through, you feel like you are outside. When
I went there years ago, it was three weeks before Christmas and the whole place
was decked out in Christmas lights and flowers like I have never seen in my
life. It was truly amazing. After touring the hotel, we stopped by the Opry
auditorium to pick up the tickets I had ordered online. We didn’t want to have
to wait in line the next night to get them (turned out to be the best idea). We
then headed back to the RV to get some dinner and change for the evening in
downtown. We drove back downtown and found a city parking garage that was
reasonably priced. We headed down Honky Tonk Row and visited four different
bars. They all have country music playing all day and night. There was no cover
charge, but the pricey drinks made up for that. We really had a great time and
the music was really good. There are so many talented musicians in Nashville
looking for their big break. The places were packed, as it was Friday night and
there were many visitors and locals. We finally left downtown around 11pm to
get some rest for the next day.
We awoke early the next morning to get ready to head to
Lynchburg, Tennessee. This was an 85 mile one-way trip, but it was worth it to
us. The Jack Daniel’s Distillery offers a free, full tour of the distillery. We
chose to take the Sampling Tour, which cost $10 and we were able to sample the
Old No.7 and Gentleman Jack spirits. It was an amazing tour and the tour guide
was quite knowledgeable and humorous too. He showed us the whole process in
producing Jack Daniel’s whiskey. Jack Daniel uses an uncommon process of
filtering the liquor through charcoal. This mellows the flavor and enhances the
oak and vanilla flavors. Jack Daniel’s is still made with the same process used
since the beginning, over 100 years ago. It’s so hard to believe that all Jack
Daniel’s whiskey is made right in Lynchburg Tennessee and it distributed throughout
the whole world! After the tour, we visited Lynchburg Square and shopped. Kurt
bought a Jack Daniel t-shirt. There were so many amazing JD souvenirs, but most
of them were very expensive. For example, there were Adirondack chairs made
with the used whiskey barrels, so many cool items made with repurposed
materials. (They only use the whiskey barrels once, and then they are sold for
many other purposes.) After the trip back to the campground, we relaxed for
awhile and then got ready to go to the Opry.
We made our way to the Opry theatre. The parking lot was
very full, as there was a 7pm show before ours. After finally getting into the
theatre, the show started about 20 minutes late and the Opry began. This program
has always been broadcast on live radio and is more like a variety show. There
are commercial breaks and emcees change every 30 minutes or so. We saw several
classic country artists, who also emceed. A newer artist, Craig Campbell, sang
a couple of his songs that are becoming big hits. Then Larry Gatlin hosted the next segment. The classic singer/artists are quite
amazing, some well into their 70’s and 80’s. Then finally Carrie Underwood
performed. There were a lot of very young ladies in the audience who really got
into her performance. But they seemed to be disappointed that she only sang
three songs. But that is the Opry! It was a very enjoyable evening and it was a
great way to spend our last night in Nashville. I would love to go back there
again someday and spend some more time; would love to see some of the museums
and learn more about the history of the city.
The next morning we prepared to leave in the rain and drove
out through rain storms. It was another long day of driving to get to the Smoky
Mountains in North Carolina. 
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