Wow. What a difference a day makes. And a good night's sleep. And a night off the ****. (Probably the latter two). We practically bounded out of bed this morning, my eyes actually felt alive and Stace was switched on from the moment she opened hers. This particular point shouldn't be underestimated. Woah! What's more, we bounded out of bed early! Considering Stace's alertness, I understand if you don't believe me. But it's true. We had to be because the walking tour we booked into this morning started at 10:30am, which on its own isn't that early, but we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to dawdle into town for its start, and we also wanted to actually utilise our included breakfast today, which digs into that time and does actually make it early. Particularly considering we're on holiday. It was positive news we made time for breakfast, because contrary to the last included breakfast we had previously (remember Disneyland? That **** wasn't the stuff of dreams), it was really good. Seriously. I'm talking A-grade waffles; the type you pour into a machine yourself and wait until it makes them golden, crispy, and ready for half the world's supply of maple syrup. The type that makes you forget that the rest of the breakfast was probably ****. The type that Stace still couldn't have, because she's all kinds of ****** up when it comes to breakfast - she can't have sweet until she's had 'breakfast food', whatever that means (be certain it doesn't mean waffles, even if they actually call the maple syrup for them 'breakfast syrup'. Or sausages, oddly). Like seriously, she can't even taste something sweet till she's had something savoury! Weird, but I still love her. Waffles wasn't the only thing I had, but was really the only thing memorable, and therefore worthy, of making my blog, even with the random waffling (hehehe) I do at the best of times. Once breakfast was done, and I had a new layer of sugar coating my insides, we headed back to the room to quickly gather our stuff and get ourselves ready for the day. As sure as day follows night, that obviously meant sunscreen for me (it was a sunny day outside), and junners for Stace (we were walking around). This was seriously becoming a bad habit. Within five or so minutes, we were off for the day, giving ourselves about half an hour to make it downtown to where our walking tour started. And we needed it too; keep in mind this walk crossed over a rail yard so I could quickly become distracted. The walk also crossed through some roadworks, and despite there being pretty easy detours for pedestrians, it didn't stop there being a policeman manning the detour to assist us across the road. That was pretty nice of him, and he was really friendly, but I can't help but feel it must have been a slow work day! We walked a different way into downtown this morning along Demonbreun Street, which caused all kinds of disorientation issues for Stace (and that's saying something because it was the exact same street we were staying on), but luckily she had me with her because we still found where we needed to go. To be fair, that was pretty easy for me because the streets were a grid pattern, so they all basically led the same places anyway. The different route proved to be fruitful too, as we located the Country Music Hall of Fame, so we knew where to go later on as we did want to visit that. And it took us around the back of Bridgestone Arena, the ice hockey stadium, which was useful given the start of our walking tour was at the front of the it. With all that, we still arrived at the meeting place at about 10:20. That's 10 minutes early. And it involved me. See, I am punctual! Looking every bit the tourists - two people just standing around, me with a backpack, Stace in junners - a man approached us and introduced himself as Ryan. At this point we could've thought either drug dealer or scammer, but we didn't, mainly because he asked if we were here for the walking tour, as he was the guide. We confirmed this and introduced ourselves, and got to chatting a bit about our adventures so far while we waited a few minutes for anybody else to show up. In one way we were hoping that more people did show up in case it was awkward with just the two of us, but in the other we were sort've hoping we'd get the tour to ourselves! Unless he was an expert scammer. We did end up being the only ones on the tour, and that worked out perfectly. There was no need to worry about any awkwardness, as Ryan was the perfect host (this is not a paid advertisement for Ryan's Really Interesting Tours). In no time we were all chatting like best friends, and having a great time with him showing us around. He was super friendly, funny, and really knowledgable on everything Nashville. We pretty much all got along like a house on fire. We started at the forecourt of the Bridgestone Arena, where the Nashville Predators play in the NHL. Stace and I were spewing a bit because we'd have loved to have seen an ice hockey game, but it was playoffs at the moment, and while Nashville was in them, their next match at the stadium wasn't until after we leave. If you haven't noticed, I like puns, so I really liked that they had big posters advertising the finals and calling the team Smashville. The arena used to be called Gaylord Entertainment Centre, which I thought was pretty funny. It should be noted that Ryan didn't tell me that; I found it out when I was googling the stadium. It probably isn't even that funny in hindsight. Anyway, after pointing out the stadium and talking a bit about the tour, Ryan led us down Broadway, pointing out some famous bars, music venues and music shops along the way. That wasn't hard, because practically every single building was either one of those, or a cowboy boot shop. We were surprised with how much cultural history there is in the city, and entertained by how Ryan made it really interesting and even funny. He refused to go inside buildings, because he didn't want people flogging their wares to his clients, so liked to stand at the windows and wave inside as he was talking about a particular location. One of those times we found ourselves out the front of the Hard Rock Cafe gift shop, which is inside a historic 3-storey (trust me, the amount of storeys is relevant) building on the corner of Broadway. Somewhat surprisingly, given we'd recently been in casino heaven in Las Vegas, it's actually illegal to gamble in Tennessee, but this building had a story to tell. Back in the day, drinking and prostitution was also illegal, but people found ways to do it anyway, hence the relevance of the 3 storeys. The ground level was a kind of entry and facade for what was really going on in the building, because it then gave way into a bar. Once people were suitably under the influence, they moved to the next storey to gamble, before really hitting the jackpot with the prostitutes on the top floor. And now it's a gift shop for a restaurant. How boring. Perhaps if it still had its old uses, Ryan would've actually taken us in, but I don't blame him for staying outside now. Moving on, our next stop was by the Cumberland River, which was 15 metres below us down some steep banks. This location used to be a boarding point for a gambling riverboat, which allowed people to jump on board and cruise down the river to gamble. They really went to some extreme lengths to gamble, so I'm surprised it's still illegal! With such steep banks, it was never thought that the river could flood enough to break its banks and end up in the city. But of course it did; just a few years earlier there was so much water that the football stadium across the river was underwater. It also washed away some historic riverside buildings, which Ryan was pointing out did exist behind the temporary fence in front of us. He also pointed out that the temporary fence was put up as it's now a construction site so the buildings could be rebuilt. But that was over 2 years ago, and despite there being a promise by the local council that it would be finished now, it hasn't even started. Being local government, nobody is surprised by that. That line of conversation led into a 10-minute *****fest between Ryan and I about the woeful inefficiency of local government, which was really good fun. It also helped fill conversation as we walked to our next stop in Bicentennial Park, which had a lookout platform in the public square which was overlooked by the Davidson County Courthouse. It was a beautiful building built in the 1930s, in the solid granite that was apparently common just up from the river. Call me a geologist for knowing that. Or a good listener to Ryan. Or good with visual cues; the pit showing the thick layer of granite was a good indication. The top of the viewing platform offered great views over the Nashville skyline, including the AT&T building. Hilarity ensued when Ryan lined me up perfectly with the building in the background to make it look like I was batman, as the building has spires that look like his ears. I'm batman. It was tacky, but we knew it was tacky so it made it funny. Stace probably rolled her eyes, but she was wearing junners so that doesn't count. Ryan was really good in getting a few more photos of us up there before we moved on, back towards the downtown area. Ryan took us through some laneways, until we reached Printer's Alley, a historic part of Nashville that, unsurprisingly, used to be home to newspaper publishers and printers. Not sure you could tell that from its name! It was also the location of Skull's Rainbow Room, an apparently world famous bar, though Stace and I had never heard of it. Back in its day it had some big names play there, including Elvis, Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan. Then the owner, Skull (probably a nickname), was killed in a robbery in 1998 and the place closed for a bit, and apparently now it's haunted. Ryan, not a big believer of the supernatural, was skeptical. And so was I. For ***** and giggles, he asked a worker at the bar what he thought, and he 'confirmed' it was true as he'd heard the piano play without anyone in there. I call that ********, and possibly even marketing. I also wanted to point out that there are devices that allow pianos to play automatically without it necessarily being haunted. Notwithstanding that ****, Printer's Alley looked like a good place to come and have a few drinks later; somewhere a little bit different to Broadway's bars. We made a mental note to come back. Next on our walking tour was the Tennessee State Capitol. Along the way we walked through a little mall, and past a Walgreens mini-mart and pharmacy. Ryan pointed out that this was an important place in the history of racial equality, with a woman a few decades ago making a stand against racism by refusing to be kicked out for eating there, even though African Americans weren't allowed to at the time. Again I was somewhat surprised by the fact Nashville has a lot more history than boot-scooting country music. This history became even more evident when we got to the Capitol; a beautiful building built in the 1800s. Nashville was an important post during the American Civil War, playing a vital role in that battle, but also post-war when the Capitol was built and America was really developing as a country. And after all that, it turned to country music. Weird. The Capitol really was a beautiful building though, which excited Ryan enough to get photos of us for us. I think he wanted them too; Stace and I are so cute together he could see that he could use that for promotional purposes for his tours. We're pretty special. There was even more history to come on our way to the final stop of our tour, when we stopped outside the upper-class looking Maxwell House Hotel (didn't think of booking this for us did you Jo? We not good enough for this?). Once upon a time, many moons ago, President Theodore Roosevelt visited Nashville, probably doing some nation building **** or something, and stayed at this hotel. At the time, the hotel served a special house blend coffee, which the President loved, and proclaimed that it was "good to the last drop". That drop became Maxwell House Coffee, which is now a major brand around the world and it still uses the tagline of being 'good to the last drop'. Yet still, they push country music as their historical draw card. God help me. But there is a good reason for that, as our final stops were deeply entrenched in country music history. The Ryman Auditorium, a former church in the 1800s, was made famous as a music venue and the home of the Grand Ole Opre - a weekly country music stage show - for many decades. And Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, a honky-tonk bar located directly behind it, where the stars would come and drink and up-and-comers would try and be noticed. Both these places hosted their fair share of music royalty which really helped to build Nashville's credibility as a country music mecca. While the auditorium was closed, Ryan took us through the back entrance at Tootsie's and into the bar. This tour had been so awesome we were keen to sit down with Ryan and buy him a beer. Hell, we would've bought him a massive afternoon on the **** if he was keen, so good was the tour and so entertaining was he. But alas he was also the consummate professional, and wrapped up the tour out the front of Tootsie's and back on Broadway. Before departing, he gave us some recommendations for things to do for the rest of our stay, and we ensured to exchange contact details so he could text some information and some photos for us. And we ensured to give him a decent tip, not having even felt pressured to do so, but really genuinely wanting to show our appreciation of the tour. It was a love fest. Still would've preferred beers though. They were to come soon enough though, because the tour had taken up the rest of the morning so next on our agenda was lunch! At the suggestion of Ryan, we headed down Broadway to a place on the corner right next to the river called Acme Feed & Seed. Apparently it had some pretty good food and a great rooftop bar overlooking the river which, let's face it, are two pretty big weaknesses for me. It was a good suggestion by Ryan too, because the food was really delicious, particularly the pulled pork tacos I had. Stace thought so too; liking them so much she took half of them in exchange for her less exciting meal! And the rooftop bar was very relaxing, apart from the fact they served drinks in plastic cups. The view over the river was nice, and we saw a riverboat paddling up the river right past us. We could definitely have stayed there all afternoon but for the sun starting to punish my poor skin, so after a couple of drinks we decided to move on and continue our sightseeing ways. Next stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame, so we journeyed back up Broadway in its general direction. Although I bet if it wasn't for me Stace would likely have headed in the other direction. We stopped by some shops along the way, which really meant that if they weren't bars, they were cowboy boot shops. It was amazing how many different cowboy boots there were, and how intricate some of the designs were, like they were actually fashionable. I'd hazard a guess that Nashville may be the only place in the world where they are fashionable, and even then I still don't think that they could be. But who am I to say; I was glistening from epic sunscreen and hanging with a junners girl. We eventually did make it to the Country Music Hall of Fame right back where we'd passed it at the start of the day (surprise) and went inside. The Hall of Fame (I'm dropping the Country Music part of the name; it's too long to continue writing, and really interrupts the flow of my sentences. Unlike random sentences inside brackets that serve no storytelling purpose. Besides, you know what I mean when I just say Hall of Fame) is one of the largest museums and music research centres in the world, and has the world's most country music artefacts in a single place. Stace and I spent a good few hours at the Hall of Fame having a look through, and for good reason. The main exhibition, which is permanently on display, was called 'Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music' and, despite my continual nagging of country music previously, it was quite extraordinary. It wasn't just an amazing display of country music history (as its name suggests), but as we worked our way through the interactive, light and sound displays and artefacts, it became clear it was just as much a story about Nashville as a city and the 'pop-culture' culture of America. We learnt the histories of massive entertainment names like Elvis, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, and even Bob Dylan. We saw Elvis' gold Cadillac limo and heaps of other rare items. And we even experienced an American take on Australian history, with a temporary exhibition on Keith Urban. All told, by the time we'd checked out the actual Hall of Fame part, we'd spent the whole afternoon immersed in a pretty impressive complex. Once we got back outside, we thought it was good timing to head back to the hotel for a quick rest ahead of the next part of our day (can you believe this blog isn't even over yet!?), so we went off in that direction. From long before this day, Stace and I had identified tonight as being a big one. Last night was recovery, tomorrow night we knew we'd have a really early start the following morning (not that that stopped us in New Orleans), so tonight was the night to hit the legendary Nashville nightlife. When we got back to the hotel, we freshened up and made ourselves classy for a night we fully intended to be be anything but. Stace looked really beautiful, just sayin'. Once we were ready, we decided to catch an uber back into town to save our feet for dancing. It turned out to be a good decision because just when we would've been stepping off on foot, the heavens opened and it poured with rain, to the point that we still got fairly wet just getting to the uber across the road. The ride in was uneventful, except for the confusion Stace and I always get in knowing whether to tip an uber or not. In this case we did, because he got us to Printers Alley and was friendly, and continuing that good news, the rain had stopped by the time we were there. In the best news of this sentence, Stace and I got a cute as all hell selfie when we got there. Seriously, check it out as part of this blog. Keen to soak up the history of the location - not so much anything to do with some ******** haunted story - we went straight to Skull's Rainbow Room. It was classy as all hell, with dark lighting, stone walls, low ceilings and a massive wooden bar. There was also a grand piano (not playing itself) and a little jazz band playing some smooth jazz as background music to patrons. Classy as. So classy that we were actually worried if we'd fit in appropriately, or even be able to afford a drink. Probably because I was with Stace, we did look the part, and we sat down by the bar where we would've looked like we belonged. While we did have a couple of drinks, in that time we also decided we wouldn't eat there as it wasn't quite the vibe we were after. There was a burlesque show happening there later on, but even still it just wasn't the right mood for us. And besides, we probably would've been broke by the time it rolled around. So with that we finished our drinks and left; keen to get out before the band asked for tips. It wasn't so much disappointing, but not exactly what we were expecting, so threw us out a little bit. Not to be languishing too long though, there was an English themed pub just down the road! The Fleet Street Pub was downstairs in a dingy basement, and making our way down there, it made up for this feel. At first we were excited - it was busier and much livelier than Skull's - but it didn't take long to actually be disappointed in it. As I lined up to get us drinks, Stace took the opportunity to go to the toilet, and by the time she was back, I still hadn't been served. Actually, I hadn't even been acknowledged, even though the actual bar area was basically empty. This annoyed me, and when I still wasn't acknowledged for a few minutes after that, I was really annoyed. Plus everyone was smoking inside, which is the first time we'd seen this allowed not only in Nashville, but the whole States, and it was pretty disgusting. So we left, pretty disgruntled and ready to write bad TripAdvisor reviews. I actually don't think I've done that yet, so I might get onto it. This time we were a bit more thrown off. Having looked to promise so much, Printers Alley delivered so little, so instead of heading out of there late at night and very drunk, we hadn't even eaten dinner. Maybe it's because it was a Wednesday night it was quiet, but it still wasn't what we hoped. Oh well, lucky we were in Nashville where there were plentiful options of bars and music venues. Back on Broadway, someone forgot to tell them it was only Wednesday because the street was heaving, and we went back to our old trusty - the Tequila Cowboy! It was going off, with an awesome band, welcoming staff, no indoor smokers, and a couple of seats right at the bar. It also had comparatively cheaper drinks and a decent burger menu, which was our weakness at the best of times, and at this moment when we were hungry and ready for a big night, it was decidedly positive! As you can imagine, we had an awesome burger and proceeded to get epically drunk. Whoo! After a couple of hours though, we thought we'd check out some of the other bars, particularly Tootsies from earlier, and Honky Tonk Central which we'd been told about from a friend. Stumbling out of Tequila Cowboy, we made our way up Broadway and joined a short line to get into Tootsies. When we got in there, it was insane; absolutely jam packed to the point we could barely move! While it was going off, we didn't really feel like being sardines so we only had a couple there before going to Honky Tonk, which was almost just as busy. So after just another couple there, our hearts were only for one place again - the Tequila Cowboy! And in the company of a trusting joint like that we sang and we danced and just wrote ourselves off. At one point we caught a bloke taking photos of the bar tenders **** too, and we made sure to let her know because she was looking after us pretty well! He didn't get served again. By early morning we'd had more than enough to drink and decided to head home, which was a very long journey when you're drunk. Luckily there was a Macca's on the way back to the hotel so we got supplies. And by supplies I mean half the menu between us. We probably took an hour to eat all that food when we got back to the hotel, and by the time I'd finished 3 burgers, taking my total to 4 this evening alone, I was ready to pass out from both alcohol and a food coma. Stace was the same, and as we laid down on the bed, it didn't take long for Nod to welcome us back to his land. Nashville had taken us.