Earthblog

Generally Outer Bankers vacation in the winter and would go south, maybe taking a cruise.

We had been planning on taking this trip for years, but earlier this year made the decision.
My daughter and husband wanted to come along as well.

We decided to visit Nashville taking in the Grand 'Ole Opry, some museums and nightlife.
In Memphis we wanted to see Elvis' Graceland, Sun Studios and experience the Civil Rights birthplace.

Booking early was a really great thing to do as when we reached the Grand 'Ole Opry we were
located center stage and third row back… there were only 2 better seats, those immediately in front !

We decided to drive as we're all fed up of airline travel; with continuous delays, being
charged for luggage and dismal food.

The drive to Nashville is around 750 miles so this is no small journey PLUS an additional 200 miles to Memphis.

We equipped the car with lots of snacks and set off. We had planned in staying part way, but decided to press on
to Nashville travelling the full 750 miles in one day. Since we had 4 adults in the car, we
rotated drivers and stopped frequently. We stayed in Marriott Hotels throughout the vacation.

check out lots of pics here http://tinyurl.com/mck62v

Next morning we went downtown Nashville and checked out Broadway. Broadway has loads of bars
playing live music. The quality was excellent and we checked out loads of bands. We had an
excellent lunch in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. During lunch we were entertained
by a guitarist playing favorites while we ate.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has loads of exhibits of Country musicians starting
with early roots (in English folk music) developing into the amazing quality and diversity
that Country music is today.

Later that evening, we went back to Broadway and listened to Country Music in one of the numerous bars.

Next day we visited the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. This place is enormous. There is a huge
botanical garden located in the center of the hotel and features all sorts of tropical flowers
and Orchids. We had lunch in one of the numerous but excellent restaurants.

After the Gaylord Opryland Hotel we checked out the Wax Museum which is adjacent to Cooters
(Cooter was the mechanic in the TV show Dukes of Hazzard County).

That evening it was the Grand 'Ole Opry. I have listened to the Grand 'Ole Opry on the radio,
but frankly it's nothing compared to the experience of being there. As I had mentioned, our
seats were center stage, third row and the view was superb. We heard some great performers.
I felt that Eric Church (an up and coming performer) was excellent.

But the highlight must be a few old timers that were performing that night. Little Jimmy
Dickens ("Tater") was amazing. He's 4'11" and has been entertaining for 74 years. He was
really funny and had the whole theater screaming with laughter - not bad for an 88 year
old entertainer !

I rate the Grand 'Ole Opry as one of the most entertaining evenings I've ever had.

Next day we were off to Memphis. In contrast to Nashville, downtown Memphis was tired
and grungy. We did not hit the nightlife.

We went to Sun Studios, where a great guide took us around and explained what happened in
the 50's. Sun Studios discovered Elvis, Johnny Cash and several other major performers. The
studio moved in the 50's and the old location was not used for recording until fairly recently
when Bono from U2 recorded a song there and the studio has now come back to life.

Graceland was a really interesting place to visit. Elvis purchased Graceland in early 1957
for approximately $100,000. He was 22 years old. He lived at the home until he died.

Memphis is also the seat of the Civil Rights movement. Also has the unfortunate legacy of
being where Martin Luther King was shot in Lorraine Motel at 450 Mulberry Street in 1968.
The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, was built around the former Motel.

Memphis had some interesting places to visit and I'm glad we went there, but a return trip would
probably just feature Nashville as the town is so much more inviting.

Surf's up, water's warm... what could be better !

Photo from cover of

http://www.outerbanksfreepress.com/

I have a friend that owns his own private twin engine aircraft.  He needed to take a trip from OBX to Dulles and back, and asked if I'd like to come along… well, I don't get asked twice so I said "sign me up".

We really like www.OuterBanks.org - great site with lots of good things to do in the Outer Banks. Here's a sampling of some of the regular work out events going on in July:

 Source: http://www.outerbanks.org/events/calendar_of_events/july.asp