Taking My Stand In Dixie

[Noel Mugavin]

Crossed the bridge and made it to another state.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

On the way back







Abraham Lincoln Memorial. Had to be wary of my angles, couple being a little amorous on the grass.
Lincoln was born in and spent his early childhood in Kentucky.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Happened upon this place on my walk and as someone who has devoured more than their fair share of ice cream in their time, this is up the top. No time to take a photo of the ice cream, my snout was buried too deep.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Late afternoon went to the top of the apartment building and watched the plane action overhead on their final approach.
Think the building was a hospital of some description in a past life (recall reading it somewhere but for the life of me can't find the information on the net anywhere).
Chapel on the top of the building.



View up 3rd Avenue, becomes very leafy green and part of the heritage district, along University of Louisville then spits you out into Churchill Downs



Towards the Big Four Bridge


Outdoor seating, bit blowy to stay up here too long


Dinner at Smash burger. Quite good, really strange tasting vanilla shake though. Also brussel sprouts on the menu - didn't partake



Apart form waking up and driving out the next morning, that was it for Louisville. My thoughts - 1 day is probably enough to see what the city itself has to offer, another one if you are a bourbon connoisseur or horse/horse racing fan. Only if a die hard baseball fan is the Louisville Slugger museum/factory worth going out of your way to see. It is a good base for bourbon distillery visits, there are tour companies based in Louisville, also a decent base if you're looking to visit the horse ranches. Extremely picturesque towards Lexington,.
I wouldn't go out of my way to visit but it did the job for what I was after.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Apartment had 2 elevators, 1 of which was out of action for the duration of my stay. Except for my last morning when the second elevator went out in sympathy. As I was on the 7th floor, had a bit of exercise that morning. Up and down when getting breakfast, up and down x 2 when taking bags to the car in the garage across the road.

Stop over the border in Tennessee











Hit the outskirts of Nashville and traffic came to a standstill, eventually arriving at Centennial Park at about 11.00am. Had organised to drop my bags at the Air BNB at midday, so killed an hour having a bit of a wander.









Phoned my host, all good to drop the bags and car and off I went. 5 minutes past Vanderbilt University, leafy green suburbia.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Off to lunch, lyft down to Arnold's
This is the line when I left, was only at the door when I arrived.



About 15 minutes until getting to the counter




Roast beef and mashed potatoes good; Macaroni cheese bland as always; fried green tomatoes not as good as Gus's; bread pudding not for me


Short walk to Broadway and the tourist area
Side of Country Music Hall of Fame


Hatch Show Print is in the Country Music building and are responsible for a lot of the art you find in the hotels and such. Unfortunately couldn't find anything that took my fancy on this occasion



Bridgestone Arena, Nashville Predators play their NHL games here



Rear of the Johnny Cash Museum

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Planned to visit the Johnny Cash museum


Unfortunately it was packed to the brim inside and I'm not one for crowds. Took a few photos in the gift shop.
fortunately, lots of Johnny Cash memorabilia and information at a couple of other places I visited the next day, so don't think I missed anything by not doing the museum.







Back on to Broadway





Then along the riverfront


Replica of Fort Nashborough


More walking


Outside the Ryman Auditorium

 

[Noel Mugavin]

By the side of the Ryman


The front of the Ryman


Mid-afternoon and things were starting to get lively along Broadway






No Broadway for me tonight, I grabbed a Lyft and checked in to my Air BNB









Shower, change of clothes and then another Lyft to tonight's entertainment

 

[Noel Mugavin]

The Grand Ole Opry, live radio performance.


Grand Ole Opry House, show moved there in the early 70's after formerly being held at the Ryman Auditorium (there are still some mid-week shows every now and then held there)




Was there a little early, headed over the road to the Opry Mills Mall, bit of a wander then into a Bass Pro Shop

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Couple of tasting samples at this place


In a sports store and I must have been wearing a polo with the WA Football Commission or AFL logo on it, young fella working there came up and asked if it was an Australian Rules Football shirt. Answered in the affirmative and had a chat for a while, turned out a big fan of the game started from late night surfing on the net and got himself hooked. Collingwood fan unfortunately.

Back to the Opry and picked up my ticket



Few people dressed to the nines, others slumming it like myself. Cowboy boots were once again a big hit with the ladies.





No big names tonight but something you have to do when in Nashville

 

[kermatu]

Collingwood fan unfortunately.

Ship 'em all off to America, I say.

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Woke up to a beautiful Saturday morning



Out the front of the house waiting for my Lyft to arrive gave a G'day to a bloke walking his dog.
'Australian'?
'Yes mate'
Turns out his sister married some Australian fella, now living in Perth. He was short on details on where exactly they were living, nice dog though.
Wildlife on the front lawn




Broadway slow waking up


War Memorial Auditorium


Would be visiting a little later, a bit perturbed by the crowd


Capitol Building


Walked up to the Capitol building







Bicentennial Mall

 

[lakeman]

Wow!
Long time coming ,but epic trip !

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Walked down to the mall






Heap of these year markers, information about the year on the wall opposite. Information overload, didn't hold my attention for too long


Farmer's market off to the side of the mall, pumpkins the flavour of the season






Had some ice cream inside the market, then back out. Map of Tennessee on the ground

 

[Noel Mugavin]

To the Musicians Hall of Fame

 

[Noel Mugavin]

 

[Noel Mugavin]

a few of the places I had been to had notices along with the seniors and military discount there was also a teacher's discount. i'd never thought to inquire about it, figured it was for US citizens and also I don't have anything in my wallet that would identify me as a teacher. Anyway, when paying the fella asked if I was a teacher. Told him 'Yes, but not in this country'. He said 'That's okay, you can have the discount'. $25 down to $22, then asked if I would like to donate a dollar to some junior music fund or the like, had given him a 20 and a 5, so told him to put in the $3 change.

Back to the museum.
Young Jimi











Threads






Johnny Cash Museum within the museum

 

[Noel Mugavin]

That was that for the Musicians Hall of Fame, goos way to spend a couple of hours

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Broadway was starting to ramp it up








Off to get some lunch, unfortunately took a wrong street.
Didn't want to be here



Where I wanted to be was near Arnold's where i was yesterday, and things weren't quite how they were the day before. Railroad bridge further away, less people on the street and then some unsavoury looking types a little further up. Back to whence I came, then took the exit I should've taken. Railroad bridge was closer, more people and eventually arrived where ai wanted to be



Something about freight trains and the south


Something about Nashville and lining up for food


Well worth the wait. outstanding ribs, good potatoe salad, apple pie okay, but the baked beans - sensational


Highly recommended

 

[Noel Mugavin]

Walked back to downtown after lunch and through the Country Music Hall of Fame building. Another Johnny Cash gallery







Stroll along the pedestrian bridge for some more photos of the city








Went into a few bars, listened to some music, by about 5 I was done
Last photo of Broadway



Lyft back to the house, lots of college football on tv, good sleep, early start the next morning for a long stretch of travel coming up