Nashville

I've been in Nashville since Monday night and having a great time. Tuesday night I went to the Grand Ole Opry, and all of these performers were on:

Connie Smith
Shelley Skidmore
The Gatlin Brothers
Eric Paslay (what a voice!)
Easton Corbin
Pam Tillis
Aaron Watson (his Opry debut)
Charlie Daniels Band

Such a great showcase of "established" and new talent. They say you never know who will show up backstage at the Opry, and sure enough, Steven Tyler paid a visit and was called on stage (didn't perform though - that would have been something!)

I spent plenty of time downtown and visited the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, walked around to see the river park and the capitol building, and ducked into many honky tonks & bars to hear the musicians. The cherry blossoms in Nashville are spectacular. I got to see them at their finest before today's thunderstorms started beating them up.

Speaking of storms, I've been trying to figure out the best timing for traveling to Memphis, as the area west of here been under severe storm watches and warnings (like 2" hail-and-tornado-type storms). The best plan I've come up with is to leave early tomorrow, when the storm threat is actually supposed to be worse here in Nashville, and spend a sunny Saturday and Sunday in Memphis. Unless something else catches my fancy, I'll probably start a speed-run Monday morning towards New Mexico to get across the tornado states ASAP.

Historic Ryman Auditorium, built in 1892 and original home of the Grand Ole Opry until 1974