Category: Nashville

BBQ AND BASEBALL TOUR 2017 DAY #13 “ “Time for the Grand Ole Opry”

by reissmd, posted in Nashville, Uncategorized

Patrice continues to torture me.  This morning she again forced me to go to the hotel gym.  But she rewarded me after that.  Get your mind out of the gutter.  We went on a food tour of Nashville which unfortunately was a walking tour.   First off we were given a pulled pork sandwich which was not up to Memphis standards.  Then a luscious cupcake which preceded barbecued brisket.  I guess they consider cupcakes an appetizer in Nashville.  The brisket was better than any of the beef I got to judge in Memphis. Unfortunately neither of us can remember the name of the place so I can’t give you a recommendation [I did some work.  The place is called Butchertown Hall and is located at 1416 Fourth Avenue North].  We followed that with macaroni and cheese which was just okay but then some amazing chocolate.  I was ready to just stay in the chocolate shop, not because the chocolate was so good (it was) but because the air conditioning was fantastic.  Yes it is hot and humid in Nashville.  After the tour we decided to take a side trip to Prince’s Hot Chicken.  This has been recommended as a can’t miss place in Nashville.  So Patrice and I decided we would get a two piece meal and each have a taste.  It was like having just one more stop on the food tour.  The place is a dump (see below).  But we have had great food in dumps before.  Unfortunately this was an exception to that rule.  The chicken was good but not spectacular as I had been led to believe.

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Sorry, not a prince to me.

After a rest stop at the room we went to the famous Grand Ole Opry.  I am not a big Country Western music fan but this is an iconic place and I just had to go.  I was not aware but the Opry shows are actually a radio show.  The performances are simultaneously broadcast on WSM 650 AM Radio in Nashville (and also online at WSMONLINE.COM).   I was not expecting to enjoy it very much but felt if we are in Nashville it was just something we needed to do.  My friend, Gary, went so far as to predict we would leave before the show ended.  Quite the contrary.  We had a fantastic time.  I didn’t know any of the performers except one, Charlie Daniels.  He is now 80 years old and didn’t look a day over 79.  He was spectacular.  He played a couple of tunes and then said “We recorded this song in 1979 and have ended every show since then with it.” He and the band then played “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” (the only song I recognized all night).  If you don’t know that song then you didn’t see Urban Cowboy.

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80 year old Charlie Daniels rocking out.

Paul Schaeffer (from the David Letterman show) was also one of the performers.  He said he was very excited to be playing at the Grand Ole Opry and it was like a second bar mitzvah.  No one laughed and I leaned over to Patrice and said, “Wrong audience for that joke.”  After the show I spoke to my friend, Gary to tell him that he was wrong and that I loved the Grand Ole Opry show.  His analysis, “You love shrimp and grits.  You love BBQ. Now it appears you love country western music.  Okay, seems to me that you are becoming a redneck.”  I told him he was way off base.  But after further consideration he might be right.

Tomorrow we are off to Atlanta.

BBQ AND BASEBALL TOUR 2017 DAY #12 “Why I Love the South”

by reissmd, posted in Nashville

The humidity has dropped a bit so things are much more comfortable.  We still have the dilemma of what to wear.  It is warm enough for a t-shirt and shorts outside but once you go inside (restaurant, museum, other attraction) the A/C is set for an “Arctic Experience” so long pants and a sweatshirt are needed.

While outside I found a couple things I wanted to share about the community.   I found this sign that showed me that in spite of what many people might think, the people of the South don’t necessarily have an aversion to people of Arabic ethnicity.  See below:

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A place of worship for those of the Islamic faith here in Nashville, Tennessee.

But apparently the acceptance of Arabs did not come without a price.  Oh yes, the Nashville community needs to see your commitment to what is important to those who live in this city. See below:

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Nashville Predators won tonight so I guess everyone is safe at the mosque.

We also found some other things of interest.  Here is a picture of a machine connected to a cupcake bakery.  The machine will take your credit card information and in exchange will dispense the cupcake of your choice.  Yes, there is a video display that shows the available products and then dispenses your cupcake.  See below:

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Open 24 hours a day.  Sometimes you just need a cupcake.  This is the place to go!

In spite of the humidity, I love traveling in the South.  People seem surprised by that but all I really need to say is Shrimp and Grits.  If that isn’t enough I add BBQ.  But one other thing I like about the South is the economy of speech they practice here.  I love the expression “Y’all”.  In addition to the endearing sound of the contraction (just makes you want to relax in a rocking chair when you hear it said) it changes two words into one and provides a wide variety of expressions.  For example it can make you feel at home, “Y’all c’mon in” or make you want to return immediately “Y’all come back real soon”.   Sorry but I subscribe to George Carlin’s theory about language, “Why use 10 syllables when one will do.”   For example in medicine we used to say a patient was “gay” but now in order to be politically correct you are suppose to use the terminology “men having sex with men”.  I don’t get that at all.  What was wrong with gay?  I understood the switch from homosexual to gay because people had shortened the word to “homo” and it had developed  a negative connotation.  Also by moving from homosexual to gay we got to drop the syllable count from 5 to 1 which of course made me very happy.  Also the change from Black to African-American really made me nutty.  That was a major increase in the syllable count and confused the hell out of me.  What do you call a Black person who lives in Spain or England?  And what if an American moves to Canada and eventually becomes a citizen are they then an African Canadian?  Sorry, I am digressing too much.  In reality I am just trying to have an excuse to not go to the hotel gym to work out.  Patrice is saying get up now or I’m going “withoutya”.  Boy do I love this woman!

So until later.  Y’all c’mon back real soon.