Taking in the Tunes in Music City USA

Nashville is all about the tunes and a trip to Music City USA would not be complete without a visit to the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium.



First stop - the Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday night. This year celebrates the 85th anniversary of the Opry. We took advantage of the new guitar displays for a photo op!











The line up for this show was not quite as star-studded as on our previous visit (no Garth Brooks!). We did get to see a number of famous country music artists, as well as some up and comers including ....








Big Kenny (of Big & Rich fame)







The headliner - Josh Turner

and Josh Thompson

As well as the father and son performance by George Hamilton IV and George Hamilton V

A performance at the Ryman Auditorium was on the menu for Thursday night and Opry Country Classics hosted by Larry Gatlin. Now if we thought the Grand Ole Opry performances were spontaneous and relaxed, the Opry Classics show was an old fashioned kitchen party.

First we were welcomed with a great big "how-dee" from Minnie Pearl.

Then during the first set, the host, Larry Gatlin, came down off the stage and started dancing with a lady from London, England who had been sitting in the front row. Imagine her surprise!

Even the star, Lorrie Morgan, had to restart a song because she started in the wrong key. Everyone was so laid back. It was great! And the sound in the Ryman was as good as everyone said it would be.

For the rest of the week we did some serious shopping, and toured downtown, which included stops at the Wild Horse Saloon for a dance and a horsey photo op ,

Tootsie's for a drink

and the Old Cracker Barrel for brunch, which was followed by an intense game of checkers. Ken and I battled to a draw (LOL).

All good things must come to an end and on Saturday, Ken and Tracy headed home - something about having to go back to work (poor Kenny). Tomorrow we head to the derby state - yep goin' to Kentucky. Have a great week.

Alabama Sun and a Hole in One

What a beautiful week we had in northern Alabama. Temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s (80s and 90s for our US buddies), sunny skies, met new friends, Leo and Lori, who are from the UP - that's Upper Pennisula, Michigan, and a hole in one. Yep - got a hole in one on the 16th hole at Broken Arrow Golf Club. It's a little 90 yd par 3 across a ravine. Used a nine iron and actually saw it go in this time.

Course is very similar in design to the one at Clear Lake. Not a flat lie to be found anywhere!!

On Friday we headed a little further north to the home of country music - Nashville, Tenneesee! Even here, Zoe is still trying to catch the elusive squirrels. If only she could climb that tree.

Ken and Tracy flew in on Saturday to spend the week with us. We spent a quiet weekend catching up on the last four months.

And first order of the day for Ken was to get his eyebrows tweezed (LOL)

Did a little sightseeing yesterday but today we start in earnest! Headed out to Opry Mills Mall to do some serious shopping, downtown to the Wildhorse Saloon for supper and a "scuff" (that's a dance for you folks from "upalong" (that's anywhere in North America other than Newfoundland)). And you thought blogs weren't educational.....(LOL)!!!!

Talk to you next week!

On the Road - Again!!

It's been a quiet week. We spent Monday taking care of the truck. Turns out it wasn't a blown head gasket. Instead the Engine Gas Regulator (EGR) cooler had blown. So the repair job only cost $2K instead of $4K. Oh well, what are you supposed to do! You're either making monthly payments on a new car or putting money aside to cover maintenance costs on an older vehicle. The pilll that was hard to swallow with all of this is that we were only 4K km over the 160K km warranty!!! We took in the sights around the town of Rome and got in a round of golf before heading to Alabama on Wednesday.

We're sitting on the side of Lake Guntersville in northeastern Alabama. Another jewel for boaters, fishers and golfers. Unfortunately the championship course that is closest to our park is not yet open. It went through a huge renovation this past winter and the season was so poor for growing that they have delayed the opening for another month. So...we went to the next closest course. When we called they told us there was a tournament on in the morning but if we came any time after midday we could get in a round. Great!! The web said it was a links style course. Well!! Again a picture is worth a thousand words....

This is the fairway not the rough! On hole #2, a little par 3, I thought I had to shoot over a sand trap to reach the green. When we got up to the trap, it wasn't a trap at all - it was the green! Needless to say, Jim and I had a good chuckle. Remember, there was a tournament held there in the morning. Hopefully, the course for tomorrow's round will be more like we're used to!

Have a great week. Next stop - Nashville!