Howdy y’all!!! So Mum was meant to be doing this installment, but she has written all about the last 24 hours several times, in her own journal as well as emails back home and is now sound asleep…I think I’ve worn her out already.

So we arrived here yesterday afternoon and after checking in to the Sleep Inn just a little way out of downtown, we got ourselves showered and headed out to work out how the bus routes work, so we could get ourselves to the world famous Bluebird Café. For those who don’t know, this little place is where some of the most incredible artists have been discovered, to play there is an honour, to get tickets to watch people play there a rarity. They go on sale just 7 days beforehand at 8am local time. This worked well for me because it was 2pm UK time so I managed to secure some on my first time of trying.

The Bluebird is very modest, from the outside it’s easy to miss, just a small shop front with an awning, no flashy lights or huge signs. If it hadn’t been for the people outside we might have walked right past it. We joined the reservations queue to one side of the door, on the other is where people without tickets wait and see if they are going to be lucky enough to get in. Every show is like this and often people are turned away. For us to be inside was just incredible, a total dream come true, especially as we both loved the TV series, Nashville, and so much of that was centred around the Bluebird. We saw 3 fantastic female solo artists and a mother/daughter combo. Mum won a t-shirt in the raffle and then we got to mingle a little and talk to the artists too.

The plan was then to find some WiFi to either check the bus times or order a cab if it wasn’t going to cost too much. The problem was that by the time we came out everywhere around had closed and there was no WiFi to be found. We discovered that we could get a bus back to the main terminal if we waited 30 mins but there would be no connection to get us back to our hotel until after 5am!!! We walked a little way down the road and found a small doughnut shop that was still open, and with the idea of asking them to help us with ordering a cab we went in. The mother/daughter combo from the Bluebird was in there with a couple of their fans who had travelled from Nebraska to watch them. We explained the situation and unbelievably not only did they offer to order a ride for us, but insisted on paying for it too. We couldn’t believe it. Ladies from The Belles, if you ever read this, not only are you super talented, but amazingly kind and generous too. We still can’t get over what you did for us 😘

Our late night meant we slept in a bit this morning and almost missed breakfast. Once we’d eaten and sorted ourselves out we jumped back on the bus for the 10/15 mins ride into downtown. We walked the short distance to the Country Music Hall of Fame and spent the next couple of hours seeing some amazing stage costumes, instruments, awards, gold and platinum records belonging to some of the biggest names in country music from the original artists through the years up to the likes of Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves, Little Big Town and Shania Twain of today. We even saw a gold plated Cadillac that belonged to Elvis Presley.

At 2pm we hopped on a tour bus and went a couple of miles out to the RCA studio B tour. We got to experience what it was like in the studio where some of the most iconic and memorable records have been made by some of the most famous artists who have ever lived. Elvis’s favourite piano is still there, has been since 1943 or something like that. You could feel a magic sort of energy in there, almost like the music has sunk into the walls and left something of itself there. To think that we have stood on the same spot where the likes of Elvis have recorded!

By the time we’d done that we were ready to have a coffee break. We passed the Bridgestone Stadium on our way to find something to eat, where the sound check for Elton John playing tonight was happening. Once refuelled we chose to venture along Broadway. This strip of shops and bars is like nowhere else I’ve ever seen. From the moment they open (if they even close to begin with) every one of these bars has live country or rock and roll music playing. We decided to go into Nudies Honky Tonk bar, which is known for having the longest bar in Nashville (100 foot long and covered in silver dollars). We stayed for a drink and listened to an all male band playing, then moved on. We may have stumbled upon a shop selling cowboy boots on a buy one pair, get two pairs free deal (still not quite sure how that works) and possibly, by accident, may have ended up buying ourselves some boots.😄 We did a little souvenir shopping, listened to a lot more music and once I’d managed to get the photos I wanted of the street lit up after dark, we headed back to the bus terminal and then the hotel.

Hopefully I’ll manage to keep Mum awake long enough tomorrow evening for her to tell you all about our activities tomorrow, but we have another busy day lined up, so who knows?!? So far Nashville is living up to everything I had hoped it would. I can’t wait for another day exploring tomorrow so I’d better get my head down now too. Night night, H xx