Nashville, Grand Ole Opry (Day 2)

Posted on May 26, 2013 by maysestomp

Day 02:  Brenda’s post:

Yesterday we visited Belle Meade plantation near Nashville.  The family that owned it was named Harding (no relation to the guy who became president) and they made their big bucks in race horses.  The patriarch, William Harding, was so good at spotting horse talent that most of the Kentucky Derby winners to this day have direct genetic lineage to horses bred at Belle Meade plantation, including Sea Biscuit and Secretariat.

The plantation was known as “the house of sorrows” because of the bad luck (aside from horse-related endeavors) that plagued the family from practically day one. William’s first bride was named Cecelia and they married when she was just 17.  She died at age 24 from complications after giving birth to her 5th baby.  Three years later William married another lady and had 9 children with her.  Of the 14 children, only 3 survived into adulthood.  His second wife developed asthma in her early 40s, and the doctors of the day prescribed heavy smoking of tobacco as a great treatment.  This, of course, made her condition worse.  Their second recommendation was for her to get a hobby to take her mind off her breathing troubles (because they’d decided it was all in her head) so she decided to have the dining room remodeled. Dust and debris from plaster demolition ended up killing her.  Then the Civil War hit them pretty hard; partly because they relied so heavily on slave labor, and partly because the general population was broke and quit betting on horses.  Baseball, which was much cheaper, pushed horse racing out of the #1 most popular sport spot.

In spite of all that, the family managed to hang on to their wealth through the Civil War (although most of their slaves ran off and fought for the Union) but when the patriarch died, his idiot relatives mismanaged and squandered the family fortune and lost it all within just a few years.  That story is sadly common.  Someone famous (I can’t remember who and can’t look it up right now) said that fortunes generally last only three generations:  one generation to amass the wealth, one generation to start spending it, and one generation to finish it off.  We heard basically the same story at The Hermitage with Andrew Jackson’s family.  When Andrew died, his idiot son — who was a terrible gambler in every sense — lost the family fortune in a very short time.

After Belle Meade, we went back to the hotel and relaxed for the afternoon in anticipation of our big evening of dinner out and The Grand Ole Opry.

The Grand Ole Opry was a lot of fun.  The show started at 7:00 p.m. and ran to 9:15, which turned out to be too late for both Holden and Josie.  They were so tired they didn’t enjoy being there at all, and tried pretty hard to ruin it for the rest of us.

I didn’t realize it was the longest running radio broadcast show (since the 1920s) and would be airing live while we watched.  They had the show split into 4 thirty-minute sections, complete with commercials.  The talent was, indeed, amazing.  Vince Gill was the biggest name there, followed by two of the three Gatlin Brothers.

Isabella was most interested in a young woman named Ayla Brown who placed within the top 16 in season 5 of American Idol — and by far the youngest performer of the evening. It was her big debut at The Grand Ole Opry and she choked up during her performance because it was such an overwhelming honor.  It was really sweet.

Since it was Memorial Day weekend, they did a bunch of tear-jerker songs for the troops, and for patriotism in general.  Billy Dean announced that earlier that day he’d been at his 18 year old daughter’s high school graduation ceremony, and performed “Let Them Be Little.”  They really know how to emotionally manipulate a crowd.  (There wasn’t a dry eye in the house aside from Holden, who was so tired he wasn’t paying attention.  Every time a song ended and the performer said, “Thank you, everybody, and have a great evening!” Holden would stand up amidst the sobbing audience and say hopefully, “Oh good, NOW it’s over?”)

Isabella loved the experience and spent her own money on the special poster they print up each evening listing that night’s performers.  She’s excited that her poster is Ayla Brown’s premier at The Grand Ole Opry because that makes it special.

Adam’s post:

For breakfast, we hunted down a famous local spot called the Loveless Cafe.  This restaurant has been serving eggs, country ham, biscuits & gravy to patrons since 1951.  On a Saturday morning, it was packed.  We got there fairly early and still had to wait 40 minutes for a table.  By the time we left, the waiting list was up to 2 hours, and people were happy to wait it out on the restaurant’s grounds, enjoying the morning sunshine.
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Want to know when summer has begun?  When the hordes of motorcyclists lay siege at every tourist location.  (That and the enormous RV’s that dominate the right hand lane on every highway.)
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  The girls working a puzzle while they eat biscuits and drink tea before our main dishes arrive.
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 After breakfast, we visited the Belle Meade Plantation Mansion.  This house was constructed in 1835 by the Harding family – who were the kings of horse breeding in the 19th century.  This plantation is unusual in that they didn’t grow food crops on their 5400 acres – their focus was in horses, racing and breeding.
Their most famous (and lucrative) horse, Bonnie Scotland, commanded stud fees of $2500 in the 1880’s.  Horses such as Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Funny Cide, Seabiscuit, Giacomo, Mine That Bird, and all of the last 12 Kentucky Derby winners are direct descendants of Bonnie Scotland.
Enjoying the weather out front.
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Afterwards, we did some shopping at The Container Store for some luggage storage supplies and then headed back to the hotel to rest up for the evening.  Prior to leaving this week, I purchased tickets to attend Saturday’s showing at the Grand Ole Opry.
Three of us had a great time (the two little ones were first bored, and then got tired..)  I was worried that Isabella might find the entertainment not to her liking, but as it turns out, two of her friends are “into Country music” and so Isabella was curious enough to find out what all the picking and grinning and slide guitars was about.
Last night’s performance was standing room only – capacity in the Opry is 4400.
Headlining last nights performance were Vince Gill, Larry Gatlin and Steve Wariner but there were 13 acts in all over 2 1/2 hours.  The show mixes new talent with some pretty old, old school performers.  Everyone there that night was top notch, but I most enjoyed some of the older cajun and bluegrass performers who really know how to play.  The best surprise of the evening was 83 year old Jesse McReynolds who played his Mandolin at such a frenetic pace, without fail, that all the young cowboy hat wearin, boot sportin young next generation country singers were humbled.
Here’s a youtube performance of McReynolds to give you a sense of his talent:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_pV5cSAafw
Isabella bought a performance poster at the show, and the two tired little one’s broke into tears because I wouldn’t let them buy commemorative harmonicas (another road rule – no noise makers in the truck).  We crashed back into our hotel after 11:00 and went straight to bed.
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