One of the things that you should do when you visit Nashville is to take in a show at the Grand Ole Opry. Since that does not happen until tonight, that leaves us the day to do more exploring and eating.
After breakfast, we headed over to the Nashville Farmers’ Market. It is not a very big market but it does have restaurants, speciality shops, a greenhouse and open air stalls where you will find fresh produce and fruit. We walked around checking out the various vendors.
By now it was time for lunch, so we decided to hit another BBQ restaurant, Peg Leg Porker. If you google Nashville BBQ restaurants, Peg Leg Porker appears on everyone’s list. They have the usual BBQ fare … ribs, pulled pork, etc. But they have something I’ve never seen in any restaurant, Kool-Aid pickles. These are dill pickles that have been marinating in Tropical Punch Kool-Aid for a week. Love them.
It was probably the hottest day so far of our trip, so we went back to the hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon poolside. We had a quick dinner at Cracker Barrel before heading to the Opry.
We entered the building and started heading towards our seats. All of a sudden, a lady in a sparkly dress came out of a room and was walking beside us. We were pretty sure that it was Connie Smith, one of tonight’s performers. Because it happened so fast, we did not have a chance to get a picture with her. We got settled in our seats ($47 USD / person) and within ten minutes, the red curtain came up.
Tonight’s line-up included Connie Smith, Maggie Rose, Del McCoury Band, Marcus King (first time performing on the Opry stage), Sister Hazel, Jeff Allen (comedian), Ashley McBryde and Scotty McCreery. The show is just over two hours long including a fifteen minute intermission. This gives each artist about fifteen minutes for their segment. Because the show is broadcasting live, as they are setting up for the next performer, the announcer is doing live commercials. I really enjoyed the show and the acoustics are amazing.
When we booked our tickets, we also decided to do the Post-Show Tour ($33 USD / person). As the name implies, you get to go backstage of the Grand Ole Opry after the show. Our tour guide was Mary whose dad was a DJ in Nashville for many years. He is even in the DJ Hall of Fame.
We started the tour in the Family Room (green room). It is the room where the performers and their families/friends can hang out.
It was then off to see three dressing rooms … Mr. Roy (in honour of Roy Acuff), Bluegrass and Little Jimmy (in honour of Little Jimmy Dickens). Each of the dressing rooms has a different theme and are decorated according to that them.
It was then off to see the actual stage of the Grand Ole Opry. As I walked onto the stage, I thought about all of the great performers that have appeared there. While I was waiting my turn to have my picture taken on the famed wooden circle, I just kept looking around. There are pews on the stage for family/friends of the performers to sit during the show. The pews are from the original home of the Opry, the Ryman Auditorium. Soon it was my turn to stand where many country music superstars have stood.
The next area we got to see was the artists’ entrance. The first thing that Mary told us is that each performer has a parking spot that is blocked by a pylon. The performer has to move the pylon before they can park. How funny is that. Next up they have to show photo id to a security guard before they can go any further. Opry members have a post office where they can receive fan mail. It was funny looking into the boxes to see who has not picked up their mail. Mary pointed out a few performers mail boxes like Trace Adkins, Garth Brooks and Alison Krauss.
We then finished off the tour seeing the remaining dressing rooms. Mary was a great tour guide because she has always lived in Nashville and because of her dad, she has been around country music all of her life. She had a lot of great stories to tell.
Awesome!