Kevin and I are traveling. He has been to Nashville before, I have not. I have been through Nashville but always on the way to somewhere else.  Kevin wanted to share his good experience there with me, so here we are on the 8^th floor of Holiday Inn Express cooling off.  There is a record setting heat wave in progress. We have been walking down Broadway visiting famous places and listening to music. Let me tell you what it’s like.

We made our way in traffic and found parking about a block off Broadway. Parking fees were done with an app on Kevin’s phone and an attendant came to make sure it had registered. We put on our sunglasses and set out. 

We walked the shady side of the street past vintage looking buildings, all with bright signs and lights. It was before 11 am so not many of them were open. There were many well known names, even I recognized some of them. Kevin is much more familiar with country music of all kinds and can identify songs and singers when he hears the music. He knows a lot of the city history too and is a pretty good tour guide. 

We made our way up the street and crossed over to the Ryman Auditorium. Large vans parked in the street were unloading all kinds of band equipment. One of the workers said there was going to be music non-stop for the next few days. Life size bronze statues of the famous old timers were along the sidewalk. We decided not to pay for the tour but went into the gift shop. I now have a nice sweatshirt souvenir. 

Going back to Broadway we stopped in at Legends Corner. A four man band was playing country songs (loudly). The walls were covered with posters of the many well known singers who had played there. One of the singers joked with us in the audience and asked where we were from. They took requests. It was still before noon and there were only half a dozen of us listening. 

This kind of place is what this section of Broadway is all about. There are dozens of these bars and each of them has live music going on. All the musicians are quite good.  I suppose some of them are on tours of their own and maybe some are hoping to be discovered. If you stay very long it’s kind of assumed that you will be tipping the band and buying something to eat or drink. We did quick stops at quite a few – you can only consume so much before it’s enough. 

There are shops interspersed between the bars, mostly for western clothes and boots. I shopped a little at a Boot Barn while Kevin stopped in at Nudies to listen to a band and wait. This bar had a vintage car hanging on the wall. A real car. Don’t worry, no one there was nude. 

According to the weather app, it is currently 97 degrees in Nashville and feels like 104. That is why we have made our way to the hotel to cool down. It was a bit surprising to find that there was no actual parking for the hotel. There was only a small sign on the side of the building to identify it. Kevin did a temporary street park and went in to find out where to go. He came back out with two men who put our luggage on a cart and took our truck somewhere for safekeeping, for a hefty charge. Life in the city. It’s crowded and space is at a premium. Nice place to visit but I like home better for living. 

We have plans to eat Italian at a place 9 blocks away. We’ll walk. Tomorrow we want to find the Natches Trace and walk some more, and then the Grand Ol’ Opry in the evening. What an adventure!