Where the soul of Nashville never dies: the Ryman

We rolled into Nashville after mostly camping in rural areas amidst farmland for as far as our eyes could see. We could feel the energy of the Nashville, even though our campground was 20 minutes from the heart of the city. My first clue that we had arrived in a city that didn't sleep was when the lady who checked us in for our campsite handed me a menu and said, 'they have real good food and deliver late at night' I told her thank you and proceeded back to the RV to let Doug know where we are campsite was.

Once we had set up camp, I grabbed

the flier to see what they had on

their menu. 'Open 'til 5, that's not late

' I thought to myself, then I looked

again, 'oh they are open until 5am,

I guess they do deliver late at night!'

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!

The next day we hung out in our campground, knowing that we'd be heading into the big city that night to see The Blues Travelers at The Ryman Auditorium. My friend, Jim from our music group at MBYC told us about it. I'm so glad he did. The Ryman was originally a Union Gospel Tabernacle built in 1892, spearheaded by Thomas Ryman for the influential revivalist Samuel Porter Jones. Ironically Ryman met Jones when he went to see him preach in a tent with the intention of heckling him, instead he became a believer and wanted to build him a proper building to preach in.

Though the building was designed as a house of worship – a purpose it continued to serve throughout most of its early years – it was often leased to promoters for nonreligious events in an effort to pay off its debts and remain open. In 1904,

Lula C Naff, a widow and mother who was working as a stenographer, began to book and promote speaking engagements, concerts, boxing matches, and other attractions at the Ryman in her free time. She eventually transitioned into a role by 1920 as the Ryman's official manager. She preferred to use the name "L.C. Naff" in an attempt to avoid initial prejudices as a female executive in a male-dominated industry.

The first event to sell out the Ryman was a lecture by Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy in 1913. While being a trailblazer for working women, Naff also championed the cause of racial diversity. The building was used as a regular venue for the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1913, from nearby Fish University, a historically black college. The state's Jim Crow Law required Ryman audiences to be segregated, with some shows designated for "White Audiences Only" and others for "Colored Audiences Only". But period photographs show that, in practice, Ryman audiences were often integrated. Naff retired in 1955 and died in 1960.

It became the home of the Grand Ole Opry radio show in 1925 and in time it was televised. In 1974 The Grand Ole Opry moved to it's new location and is still there. You'll hear about that later in this blog, for we toured that amazing venue.

The stain glass windows are the first thing you notice when entering, they are simple and stately. Once you've found your row, simply look for your seat number on a small brass label on the back of the wooden church pew and settle in for what's ahead.

The warm up band was Vanessa Collier. She was really great and had some amazing musicians to back her up. She had played the sax for 25 years and played other instruments as well. I'm glad they went first, because although they were great, nothing could compare to the synergy that swept us away from The Blues Travelers. John Popper walked up and welcomed us. Then he said, 'you didn't come here to hear me talk, let's boogie...' and boogie they did. Two hours of non-stop groove. My favorite part was when they played 'The Devil went down to Georgia' and John played both the harmonica and pulled off the vocals in between. It was mind blowing.

Our friend, Drew recommended checking out The Lotz House and it ended up being one of our favorite tours. It was built in 1864 by a German immigrant, Albert Lotz for him and his wife, Margaretha. Lotz built his two-story frame house himself without the use of slave labor. The house is a four-column Greek Revival white frame building in Franklin. The construction and furnishings show details and woodcarving which attest to Lotz's skill: three fireplaces whose designs range from very simple to intricate; and a solid black walnut handrail that wraps around a staircase from the ground floor to the second floor. Lotz constructed furniture, cabinetry and made pianos.

In early 1864, the Union Army, expecting a Confederate attack at some point, began to mobilize large numbers of soldiers in the general area of the Carter and Lotz houses.

On the day of the battle, the Lotz family was at first surprised to see a seemingly endless line of troops and supply wagons going in front of their house. From their front yard, about 2 p.m., they could see in the distance a tidal wave of thousands of brown and gray uniformed Confederate soldiers covering two miles of open fields and took refuge in the cellar of the Carter house across the street. Lotz salvaged as many of his tools as he could before hiding.

The battle raged on for five hours and is considered one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. When the two families emerged from shelter, the area was a wasteland; hundreds of bodies in their front yard was the harsh evidence of the brutal hand-to-hand combat.

The Lotz house was still standing, although damaged. The south wall had been blasted away. Cannonball holes, burns and bloodstains can be seen inside the house to this day. Lotz was quick to repair the house, but was saddened that the repairs were done so hurriedly that the craftsmanship was shoddy. The house became a field hospital after the battle. This tour really brought this piece of history to life for us and is something I will never forget.

We left there and headed out to find another friend's recommendation,

The Loveless Cafe for our late

lunch. Betty was spot on with this tip

as it was an iconic cafe that reminded

us we were in Nashville and possibly from days gone past. I had the

chicken and dumplings which were delicious. We headed home in hopes

of being back to our campground

by sunset, for our 6 volt lights were

hard to notice by modern motorists.

Thanksgiving was the next day and although we did have a can of cranberries that I had thrown in the RV back in San Diego, for just this day along with sliced turkey that we had bought for sandwiches recently, thankfully Doug leveled up our meal by making us delicious steaks, asparagus and potatoes.

Our next outing was to Warner Park

to take a stroll amidst the beautiful scenery. The creek that ran through

it was the cherry on top! We came

upon two deer that were frolicking through the area that I was able to capture on my phone.

On our way home we took a drive through Belle Meade, which was picturesque. Imagine beautiful

sprawling mansions on large

palatial lots and that is what we

took in when cruising our White Mouse through the neighborhood. Both of

these outings were Betty's recommendations. It's always

fortunate to have a friend from these parts to guide you. We rounded out our

day by having our late lunch at a diner near Belle Meade. Charmed life all around us!

One of our first days in our campground we met a bus driver for the band, Chancey Williams named Aaron. He recommended a few venues that were off the beaten path, which is our preference. One of them being The Local.

We went for lunch which was much more mellow than the nighttime energy, but again our old car likes to be home before dark and we weren't mad about it. We had a server named Amara who had great energy. Her boyfriend was a guitarist in a trio called 'Old Hickory'. It was a wonderful way to celebrate Doug's birthday with good food and meeting new friends.

The next morning we set out to tour the Grand Ole Opry, but our car wouldn't start!

You know it's cold when Doug has added hat, gloves, closed toed shoes and long sleeves to his shorts!

Fortunately, it wasn't far from our campground so we Lyfted over there and walked around the humungous campus. We are so glad that we decided to take the guided tour for the history of this theater was fascinating.

My favorite fact about the Grand Ole Opry is that they cut out a large circle of dark wood flooring from the Ryman that was stage right, where the various talent stood with great anticipation before going on stage. At the new Opry they inserted this wooden circle center stage, to bring the energy from the Ryman with them. That's why they refer to being in the circle at the Opry,

We also toured the house that was adjacent to the theater. They had built it for Roy Acuff after his wife had passed away. He lived out the rest of his life being the camp host, so to speak. Once he passed they respectfully turned it into a museum.

If you've never experienced a 'Hop on/Hop off' tour bus in a city that you would like to explore, I highly recommend it. IYKYK. This is how we spent our last day of touring Nashville. It allowed us to see a long list of sights with the ease of having a driver the entire time. The busses come in 20 minute intervals, so we would hop off, set a timer for 1-2 cycles and jumped back on. We covered a lot of ground and had a fun day of exploring.

Knowing that we would not be in our RV for most of December, we had a day of deep cleaning and laundry, so that we'd have a nice place to return to. We also appreciate having down days where we aren't out exploring and can just hang out, go for a walk and reset our batteries.

Speaking of batteries, the next day we lyfted to an auto parts store to get a new battery for White Mouse. Although we charged the old battery, then brought it into our RV to warm up for a couple of days, she had seen her better days. Once we got her back to her usual spunky self, we spent the last day seeking out a women's AA meeting while Doug walked around. Turns out this meeting space has been there for over 50 years and has been going strong ever since! After the meeting Doug showed me that we were just blocks from the Parthenon, which was a delightful stroll. Then we had lunch at a renown BBQ joint called Martin's.

I apologize for being a little behind in my blogging. We are actually on a plane headed back from San Diego to North Carolina, so next I'll share about North Carolina, then San Diego!

With love and peace, Shari