Postcards from Nashville
Music, tastings, laughter, and fun!
Hello friend,
What is the best way to remain young, or at least young at heart?
Travel with a group of college-aged women celebrating a twenty-first birthday. Where did the years go as my blonde-haired, blue-eyed granddaughter went from dancing on her tiptoes to two-stepping in her boots and jeans?
Three generations plus friends celebrated her right of passage with a trip to Nashville, Tennessee. The younger set took in the nightlife and music along Broadway while Mom and Nana toasted the July 4 fireworks with wine and shared memories from the rooftop of our Airbnb.
We tasted Nashville’s Hattie B’s hot chicken, whiskey, bourbon, moonshine, and wine—fortunately, not all on the same day. Along the way, we learned the process for making these spirits and their history.
Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery began in 1835 with hard-to-believe circumstances mixed with misfortune and determination. In 2006, two Nelson brothers, Andy and Charlie, stumbled across a sign and a butcher leading them to their heritage and destiny. You can’t make up this kind of story.
The sounds of fiddles and guitars, the poetry of song lyrics, and art wrapped the city like a well-worn sweater. The music and murals celebrated humanity on nearly every street corner capturing love, loss, and life.
My love of music began in the front seat of our 1949 Ford waiting for my dad to get off work and listening to Kitty Wells, Earnest Tubb, and the humor of Minnie Pearl on the WSM radio show. I couldn’t leave Nashville without a visit to the Grand Ole Opry House.
A backstage tour, a show including up-and-coming artist Chase McDaniel, the legendary Bill Anderson, The Isaacs, and Vince Gill were memorable. This music lover reveled in the spotlight, standing with a microphone in hand singing a few lines of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” on the six-foot circle of wood from the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Opry.
Dreams do come true!
For seven marvelous days and every step of the way, we followed the advice of Brad Paisley: In this life, it’s not about the money you make, it’s about the memories you create.
We made a few and then some.
Strong women: I spent the week with five who live how to be your best.
Learn more about the history of the Opry.
I would be Crazy to pick only one song. I Walk the Line because Can the Circle Be Unbroken (or listen to The Carter Family 1935 version).
No, this is not a misplaced photo from Greece. A replica of the Parthenon sits in Centennial Park, a remnant of the 1897 Centennial Exposition in Nashville.
“I remember always looking forward to listening to country music in the car with my mother, and it wasn't even something I enjoyed in the sense of music, but just being around music itself was enough.”
—James Vincent McMorrow
"May your mornings bring joy and your evenings bring peace"
—Willie Nelson
If you want to read more from me, visit my website. I’ll be there waiting for you.
With gratitude,
Kathryn
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What a lovely adventure 🥰 Thanks for sharing it with your readers.