... without the motorcycles. And, instead of biker types, it was more like mass quantities of brides and bridesmaids having bachelorette parties. And, instead of black t-shirts and jeans, it was short-shorts, tank tops, and cowboy boots.
Today, we went to downtown Nashville, to get the "Broadway experience." Joan was told: "You don't get the real Broadway experience unless you are down there late at night, especially on a weekend."
Well, one other thing I wanted to do downtown was tour the Ryman Auditorium - an historic event venue in downtown Nashville that was once the home of the Grand Ole Opry.
Rather than hunt for a parking spot, we took a shuttle from the RV park to downtown. Pretty slick: they pick you up at the park and drop you off a block off of Broadway. They will pick you up, on the hour, at the same spot. Waiting for the shuttle...
Turned loose in downtown...
The girls in this wagon (being pulled through downtown by a tractor), were drunk and dancing. I'm only assuming a bachelorette party...
After lunch, we walked to the Ryman Auditorium for a tour...
The tour started with a nice A/V presentation, telling about this history of the Ryman and the resurgence just days before we was scheduled to be torn down...
A lot of music and entertainment history in this place...
Us on stage...
Like everything we've come into contact with here, there is quite a bit of pandering - each venue trying to sell you something. Yes, I know that's another way they make money. I was surprised when I went to use the men's room and they were selling t-shirts in there that said, "I Peed In The Ryman!"
Yes, that's a joke. ;-) Until someone with a Nashville venue reads this.
Back on the streets...
While it may not show in these photos, the bars were packed... room to walk on the sidewalks, though. I can imagine it only gets worse after dark. I was surprised at the number of places that have bands playing in their front window... well, if there was glass in the window - so much sound blasting out of each place as you walk by (or in). Some places had more than one band playing (one on each floor). The sheer volume of the sound was sonic overload...
It wasn't all drunk people wandering about. We saw a Segway Tour roll by, and plenty of guys with guitar cases or gig bags...
And, did I mention: lots of bars...
A guy rolling by on a powered unicycle...
Occasional street musicians...
A topless bus full of guys...
Maybe a bachelor party? Maybe we could fix these guys up with the girls in the wagon being pulled by a tractor. There seemed to be groups of guys trying to woo groups of girls as they moved in packs from bar to bar. Maybe this is more like Mardi Gras in New Orleans than Sturgis? Spring Break on SPI? Well, I was influenced by the volume of the sound.
We were told that Tootsies Orchid Lounge is the original honky-tonk in Nashville...
The band in Tootsies playing on a stage the size of a postage stamp...
There is one extra person on the stage - the girl in the middle...
Yep, wearing a short veil - that would be the soon-to-be bride. Not really adding to the music, but she did get several shots passed to her up on stage (while she sang into a beer bottle).
Late afternoon, and we had as much fun as we could take... we weren't going to make it until "after dark for the real Broadway experience." ;-) This was enough. It was tough work just getting out of that place... I'm guessing they may have exceeded their occupancy limit a bit. I am not particularly claustrophobic, but was a bit more "chummy" than I care to be with hundreds of drunk people that I have just met. ;-)
Back to the designated spot for the shuttle - they were dropping more people off and picking up those of us who were done. Hours earlier, we had that same, "Hey, this is gonna be fun!" looks on our face as those people just getting off the shuttle. ;-)
-------
On the hurricane front back home: Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 with the eye coming over the top of Rockport. Early reports are telling of a LOT of damage, with winds in excess of 130 mph. This is being called "the strongest hurricane to hit Texas since the 1960s." The rain with this storm is expected to be over 30" in that area.
All the forecasts for our local area had been overstated, and it appears that 40 to 50 mph winds were as high as it got there, and rain totals so far of less than 2". We have been mostly spared (the weather alerts have been cancelled), but the area north of us (where it came in) has already been declared federal and state disaster areas... and the current predictions are that the storm will sit over the area for days.
No comments:
Post a Comment