dual personalities

Nashville sure has changed since we first went in 1996! And even in the five years since we last went in 2018–wow! So many tall glass buildings, so many tourists, so much partying and traffic and noise. You used to be able to walk around in the two square blocks where everything was, but now you really can’t. It is a real scene. Yes, Uber was a real good idea and daughter #1 is a whiz at getting around.

On Friday, after checking in to the very swanky Omni Hotel, we went to dinner at Bakersfield, then Uber’d to the Opry, which has not changed. We saw Ricky Skaggs, Deana Carter, Jeannie Seely, and Vince Gill, along with some up-and-comers.

It was a treat to hear good live music. However the Uber/taxi scene after the show was what I imagine Saturday night in Calcutta is like, but we managed.

On Saturday morning, we walked over to the Diner on 3rd Avenue that is 5 stories high.

We walked around on Broadway…

…and then went back to the hotel and to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum which is actually attached to the Omni. We saw the new Patty Loveless exhibit (and the Whispering Bill Anderson Exhibit) and then walked through the rest of the multi-level museum. It was full of great stuff!

We had tickets for the Patty Loveless sold-out concert/interview and daughter #1 got in line where she stood with Patty’s most devoted fans for good seats when the doors opened at 2:30–about an hour and a half. I came down after taking a quick nap in our room.

I was really surprised by my emotional reaction to seeing Patty.

The tears sprang to my eyes when she walked out (and they played a few notes of “How Can I Help You Say Goodbye”) and I literally did not stop crying as she sang through four songs. It didn’t help when a man yelled “We love you, Patty!”–reminding me of the boy in a similar moment back in the day. Thankfully I had a Kleenex in my purse. Why am I never prepared? Why do I bother to wear mascara?

Patty was crying during “Too Many Memories” and there weren’t a lot of dry eyes in the house. She is my age and she still looks great and sounds terrific. Quelle lady. After the mini-concert she was “interviewed” by one of the museum curators and talked for an hour and a half about growing up in Pikeville and her journey to stardom.

We thought about trying to shake her hand at the end, but I didn’t want to make a spectacle of myself, so we left.

We went to Husk, which is super hip, for a drink.

Then, exhausted, we went back to the Omni where we got a glass of wine for the room and watched The Fate of the Furious (2017). I really enjoyed it–Vin Diesel, the Rock, Jason Statham, Ludicris, Kurt Russell, Scott Eastwood, Tyrese Gibson, et al–over-the-top ridiculousness, but fun.

On Sunday we drove home (during a series of fierce rainstorms) and listened to the playlist of the “Western Edge: the Roots and Reverberations of Los Angles Country-Rock”, which was great too.

Love those Kentucky rest stops!

We had a great time in Nashville, but, boy, was Mr. Smith glad to see daughter #1 when we got home!

Thankfully, the OM did not burn the house down but Mr. Smith did chew up my vintage bicentennial rug in the kitchen. C’est la vie.