In June, I went to Nashville, TN, with my friend, Hamp Shuford for four days with a City of Hickory senior group. It was a fantastic time! We headed over by bus and had time to do a lot of fun things!

We toured the Belle Meade mansion, which was established in 1806, with the main house being built in 1819 and added to during the following years. We toured the house, stables, and huge gardens. The history was really amazing!

We saw the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. It is the 9th largest hotel in the US and the largest that is not connected to a casino. It has 9 acres of gardens, hundreds of rooms, an atrium with lots of glass, and fish ponds.  It was quite a sight to see!

We went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was really impressive, with the story of how country music started through the years of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, and now through Taylor Swift. We saw all kinds of things like Elvis’s gold-plated car and Mini Pearl’s hat!

Another fun part of the trip was going downtown to the honky tonk area, where you could listen to music from all kinds of up-and-coming artists.  We went into Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge to listen to some music. The back door of the old Ryman Auditorium, the former home of the Grand Ole Opry, backs up against Tootsie’s.  Famous artists like Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and more would hang out there. We listened to some live music and enjoyed ourselves.

A big highlight of the trip was visiting the Grand Ole Opry and taking the backstage tour. The Opry is America’s longest continuously-running radio show. We also visited the Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline Museums and the Madame Tussauds wax museum of famous celebrities.