DAY 12: A LITTLE BIT COUNTRY
We took the foot off the pedal for our day in Nashville. We're staying at the Hilton which is perfectly placed in the centre of downtown. Across the street in front of us is the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. Behind us is Broadway St, the entertainment hub of Nashville, meaning we didn't have to walk further than a block for anything we wanted to do today.
First up we hit the museum. I'm going to admit now, I'm hardly the biggest fan of country music, but this place was impressive. Three floors of outfits, instruments and even the odd car used by famous musicians from yesteryear to current day.
The real treat though came when we boarded a shuttle bus outside the museum for a personalised tour of RCA's nearby 'Studio B'. All the big names in music have recorded here, led by the King himself. For this tour, we didn't look at the recording studio from behind a glass window or even behind a rope - we sat right inside the room itself, surrounded by instruments used by the artists. It was quite eerie sitting there looking at this blue 'x' marker on the floor just a foot away (where Elvis and other vocalists stood) while listening to the actual audio out takes taken of their recording sessions in the very same studio.
When we returned to downtown, we headed to Broadway St for some lunch. There are only three types of tenants on Broadway - boot shop, souvenir shop or bar. Walking down the street, live music hits you from every angle - you can't help but shuffle the feet a little as you pass each one. We picked 'Honky Tonk Central' to sample some bbq and musical delights.
With the past few days of pavement pounding starting to have an effect, Nic and Josh returned to the hotel to rest up a little. I decided to hang about to do some 'bar-hopping' to sample a bit more of the live scene.
For dinner tonight, we went to the Wildhorse Saloon at the end of Broadway. It's a huge family restaurant / music venue that also throws in some line dancing lessons for good value. Let's just say Joshua's enthusiasm for the dance floor knows no bounds. He loved the joint!
Our checkout tomorrow isn't until noon, so given the close proximity of everything, we still might squeeze in a little bit more sightseeing before we begin our road trip.
Next stop: Memphis!