Our tickets were in the PIT and we were right in front of the RAM Side Stage
May 30 - June 6, 2019: Nachez Trace Parkway and
Nashville, Tennessee
Today was out last day of driving on the Nachez Trace Parkway. We started in Nachez, Mississippi at mile marker 0 and ended near 430 and Leiper's Creek. The Trace goes to mile marker 444, however, we wanted to avoid downtown Nashville around rush hour, so we hoped off the Trace early and skirted around the city.
Again, what an amazing Parkway. So very serene and peaceful with so much history. It would be way cool to ride this entire Parkway on a motorcycle!
We stopped at the mile markers and sites below.
We crossed from Mississippi into the North West corner of Alabama
If you look real close at mile marker 346.2 is Holly, a picnic area : )
The crossed into Tennessee
Crossing the Tennessee River
At mile marker 350.5 is the Sunken Trace. Of course, we had to walk for a ways in their footsteps. Very cool trail.
At mile marker 385.9 we stopped at Meriwether Lewis campground and grave site of Meriwether Lewis.
Although this says Pioneer Cemetery, we did not realize it other people were also buried here until we started walking around! You can see the small concrete monuments below and one of them up close
We stayed at the Seven Points Campground on the J. Percy Priest Lake which is about 14,000 acres. We had an awesome spot right on the water and were booked for 6 days. However, we decided to stay in town for one more day and were able to secure another spot on the water for the extra day.
First camp spot for 6 days
Second camp spot for 1 day
If you look close at the cooler, you can 'teeth' marks by the handle and all along the side. We had the cooler under the camper with only a few nuts and chips in it. Who...do you think the culprit is? My $ is on the squirrel and not the duck : )
Well, they say that Nashville, Tennessee is Music City, so...we took advantage of that fact! I am the Country Music fan in the family, so of course I wanted to do EVERYTHING. Craig was a good sport and put up with all of my requests : )
Before we left Mantachi, Mississippi, we discovered some concerts in Nashville that we wanted to attend so we bought tickets to Della Mae on May 30 and Carrie Underwood at the Grand Ole Opry on June 5. And...after we arrived in Nashville, we discovered that the CMT Music Awards were being held on June 6 so...we bought tickets to attend that and extended our camp spot for one extra day. And...as part of the CMT Music Awards, there were multiple free concerts around town starting on June 3 leading up to the event.
And...to top it off, there were even more concerts we wanted to attend. June 6-9 was the annual CMA Festival that I really contemplated staying for. However, we already had other commitments and reservations scheduled for June, so we needed to move on. If we stayed and attended every concert I wanted to...we would never leave Nashville!
I can tell that we need to come back to Nashville and spend...a few months : )
May 30, 2019
Venue: 3rd and Lindsley
Artist: Della Mae with Dori Freeman
Awesome concert! Our friend/cousin Heather introduced us to Della Mae last year when when we were in Littleton, Colorado. Little did we expect to see them in concert!
So much energy and the lead singer Celia has a very powerful voice. What a talented group of women.
The last couple of songs, they invited fellow artists from the audience to come and sing/jam with them.
June 3, 2019
Venue: Top Golf - The Cowan
Artist: Runaway June, Morgan Wallen, Jordan Davis
Free show as part of the CMT Awards
This day we parked at Top Golf, rode our bicycles downtown to the Country Music Hall of Fame, then hit balls at Top Golf, then attended the free concert. Fun filled full day!
June 4, 2019
Venue: CMT Block Party - Downtown Nashville
Artist: Cassedee Pope
Wendy's sponsored the CMT Block Party's and they had free food, frosties, shaved ice, and games. There were two days of block parties with 3 artists each day. We only attended Cassadee Pope on one day. Just too many other things to do : ) What a fun time!
June 4, 2019
Venue: Grand Ole Opry
Artist: Whispering Bill Anderson, Travis Tritt, Riley Green, Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker (surprise appearance), Micheal Ray, Josh Turner, and Chris Janson
Whispering Bill Anderson
Travis Tritt
Carrie Underwood
Announcer Keith Bilbrey and Josh Turner
Riley Green
Darius Rucker
Michael Ray
Chris Janson - he really rocked the house and is a great performer!
June 5, 2019
Venue: CMT Music Awards
Artist: Too many to name : )
It was pretty cool to see all of the prep and behind the scenes stuff that goes on with this type of televised production. The celebrity audience moving around and chatting, the announcer telling the audience what to do during the next artist performance, etc. There was also a stage set up outside of live performances in addition to inside the venue (Bridgestone Arena). A very cool experience.
Little Big Town was the host for the event
Zac Brown Band
Brandi Carlisle, Tanya Tucker, Trisha Yearwood, Lauren Alaina, Carly Pearce, Martina McBride, RaeLynn and Deana Carter signing Delta Dawn
Morgan Wallen
Keith Urban signing autographs
Jimmie Allen
Brett Young and Boyz to Men
Runaway June
Maren Morris and Sheryl Crow
Kelsea Ballerini
Kiefer Sutherland
Toby Keith
Notice the artist all looking down? They are on their cell phones : ) Just off to the left of this group were 4 of Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders in uniform
Of course, any trip to Nashville would not be complete without visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Below are random pictures, be sure to zoom in to read the plaques.
Notice the hood ornament, door handles, etc. Awesome car owned by Web Pierce
Elvis Gold Cadillac
Look at the venue for The Judds - Boise State University, BSU Pavilion, our home State and university!
The Hall of Fame - some of Holly's favorite artist. We could have spent hours in this section alone!
When we were not attending a live music even, we spent time riding our bicycles around downtown Nashville, golfing, and people watching. Below are random pictures from those activities.
I love the huge open space that surrounds most of the homes and they have long driveways usually with fences and elaborate gates. The houses are mostly brick with very few wood or stucco (different than Idaho) and some of the fences are stacked rock. Way Way Way cool looking!
The Music City Green Way trails are all over the place. A lot of them do not connect together and you need to ride parts of the street between them. Really easy to get around in Nashville.
Jack's BBQ - YUUUUUMMMMM
Good day golfing - course was marginal, but we had a good time anyway
State Capitol Building
Creative architecture. From Google Earth the shape of this building is a guitar
Tennessee Titans Football Stadium
You can rent scooters, bicycles, and these funky little cars downtown. Also look in the background at the tracker/wagon combo you can rent and travel to the bars partying
Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint - notice where the potatoes come from? As you walked in the door, there were BOXES of both type of potatoes that lined the aisle and wrapped around the cash register. Great BBQ!
I loved the Bootleggers Moonshine sign
We hung out downtown on a Saturday and people watched. Oh man...crazy people galore! Saw about 10 bridal shower group. The Kid Rock bar was filled with people spilling out the windows, people every where on rooftops, huge party area!
Nashville Sounds Minor League Baseball Stadium
Notice Craig in the far right corner? This is where the CMT Awards were and a great place to park the bikes and walk around downtown
We took a drive over to Loveless Cafe which is famous for their fried chicken and biscuits.
Oh my gosh, was it good. Of course, I had the fried chicken, biscuits, and grits (first time for grits) and Craig had their smoked ham, eggs, and biscuits. It was all YUMMY!
The Smoke House
We had an awesome time in Nashville. Everyone was so friendly, it is pretty easy to get around although it could take you an hour to cross the city, and the list of things to do is HUGE. Too many concerts and too little time. We will come back here again and spend a few weeks or month just soaking in the city vibe.