Grand Ole Opry House – Nashville, Tennessee 10/29/2013

OCTOBER 29, 2013 (Tuesday)

Lazy morning for Lexi and I. Michael was busy working down in the lobby trying to get the blog up. The internet here is very frustrating. Sometimes you can get on and most of the time you get kicked off after a few minutes. The lobby has a better connection.

Anyway, we got moving around noon and left for Nashville, about a two hour drive. Our first stop was the Frist Museum. Kathy had told us they had an exhibit of art deco automobiles. When we got there that exhibit had been gone for a couple of months. Currently showing was an exhibit called 30 people, and another one dealing with abstracts. On November 1, they were starting a Norman Rockwell exhibit. Would have loved to see the Norman Rockwell but the others didn’t wow us so we left.

Grumpy old man and pretty woman with a Norman Rockwell in the background.

The whole of the building is a delight to the eyes.

Don't look too long. — Don’t look too long.

Pretty woman pointing to a pretty picture.

We were all captured by the "fate hunts luck" piece. — We were all captured by the “fate hunts luck” piece.

When we left, we didn’t go far as the cafeteria in the museum is wonderful. The prices were very affordable and the food was excellent. Michael and I had a cobb salad and Lexi had a Caesar salad with chicken. I also splurged and had a small piece of delicious carrot cake. Everything was fresh and yummy.

Everything at the Frist Center was beautifully designed and displayed, functional and efficient.

Lex's Caesar with chicken. Edie's carrot cake. — Lex’s Caesar with chicken. Edie’s carrot cake.

After leaving the Frist, we drove a few miles and found the Ulta store that Lexi was wanting to visit. Being a 21 year old female, she wanted some makeup. She got her face done (she doesn’t need it but…) and then got some makeup to take on the road.

Church of Scientology building. We opted not to get a free personality test.

Back in the car, we put Grand Ole Opry into our GPS and found out it was about 15 miles away. We were surprised it was that far but drove and found it easily. It’s across the street from a huge mall. We parked in the mall parking lot near Dave and Busters and walked over to the Grand Ole Opry. We were able to get our tickets quickly at what was supposed to be will call. We then walked back across the street and went looking for a place to get a little something to eat before the show as we knew we would be getting hungry.

Picking up the tickets for the Grand Ole Opry.

I like the windows at the entry to the Opry.

Shopping Mall across the street from the Grand Ole Opry.

We looked at a place that was very interesting. It was like an aquarium with dinner. Prices were way too high tho so we decided on Claim Jumper. They were having happy hour pricing so Lexi and I got a margarita, Michael got an iced tea, and we each got a salad – Lexi and I got the chicken BBQ salad, and Michael got a California chicken citrus salad. It was all excellent and huge portions. Lexi and I could not eat all of it so we got it to go.

Unusual and expensive restaurant. We opted for the Claim Jumper.

Lemon pepper zucchini with ranch dressing as an appetizer.

Edie's Chicken Caesar salad, with a twisted margarita. — Edie’s BBQ chicken salad, with a twisted margarita.

Lex's BBQ chicken salad with a twisted Margarita. — Lex’s BBQ chicken salad with a twisted margarita.

My California Citrus salad with blackened chicken. — My California citrus salad with blackened chicken.

We left the restaurant around 6:00 PM and headed across the street to the Grand Ole Opry. They had a Minnie Pearl and a Hank Williams look-alike outside, taking pictures with the folks. The area was very busy with tours and people waiting to get inside. At the entrance are two huge guitars. Fun.

We sat and waited for a few minutes before the doors were opened. When we did get in, we headed straight to the bathrooms before we looked for our seats. Our seats were near the back on the bottom and to the side. Not the best but we did have a good view of the stage. We enjoyed talking to the people who were seated in front of us. They were from Nova Scotia, Canada and are on the road in their RV for a few months each year. This was also their first time to the Grand Ole Opry.

Looking back from the stage. We were on the main floor, left center, near the back. Not great, but we still really enjoyed the show.

Before the show the Minnie Pearl look-alike came out and told us a little bit of history of the Opry, and also explained about it being the longest running radio show (something like 88 years). She explained that there would be a lot of things happening on stage. Also, so many groups from all over – even a few FFA groups from California.

Minnie Pearl look alike. Very entertaining.

The show started right at 7:00 PM and it was wonderful. They had really, really old timers (don’t remember their names), then Maggie Rose, Dustin Lang, Del McCoury Band, TG Sheppard, Larry Gatlin, Montgomery Gentry, Barry Gibb, Kelly Lang, Ricky Skaggs (with Barry Gibb). It was amazing. We all loved it. Michael even said he was glad he was “talked into” going, that it was much more fun than he thought it would be.

Larry Gaitling. He knew how to work a crowd. Went into the audiance, danced with women in the isles while he was singing. One woman kissed his cheek and he said into the mic, "Brazen Hussy" He was a good singer and funny. — Larry Gatlin. He knew how to work a crowd. Went into the audiance, danced with women in the isles while he was singing. One woman kissed his cheek and he said into the mic, “Brazen Hussy” He was a good singer and funny.

Barry Gibb. He was excellent. His first song was good, but sad. He and his brothers put up such a sound wall, now with just him, you can't help but miss the others. He looked and sounded in really good shape. — Barry Gibb. He was excellent. His first song was good, but sad. He and his brothers put up such a sound wall, now with just him, you can’t help but miss the others. He looked and sounded in really good shape.

Ricky Skaggs playing the mandolin so fast he is a blur.

Barry Gibb joined Ricky Skaggs at the end and it was excellent. They did a great job.

After the show (around 9:40 PM), it was all about the safe journey home (another two hours). On the ride home we talked about our favorite parts of the show, we did our “gratitudes” for the day, and just had a lovely ride home.

That was our day. Hope yours was fantastic!