Nashville, Tenessee

 After our nasty experience of Memphis, we actually considered skipping Nashville, but eventually decided that we would stop over there, seeing that we were in the area – and were we glad we did!! Two Rivers Campround was great, sites level, pull-through, and trees, alive with the song of the cicadas that had made their 14-yearly appearance just prior to our arrival, and we decided to stop for two days, which eventually extended to five.

 On the day we arrived there we had the pleasure of meeting a South African couple about our own age, who actually live in the park – Pieter and Margie du Toit were generous with their time, showing us around places in Nashville we would never have found on our own. We also spent some time chatting to Judy, my friend met in the laundry room at the Park,  and when we left we felt that we were saying goodbye to old friends!

Nashville is a beautiful city, full of trees, with the Tenessee river winding around it, and two years ago it  was badly flooded, with the RV campground next door to where we were, completely flooded out, big rigs covered up to roof level. The same flood drowned the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville’s famous Country Music hall, and the magnificent Gaylord Opryland hotel that is in the same grounds, and the damage ran into millions of dollars. The folk of Nashville rallied with amazing resilience, and rebuilt their city, and when we went to the Grand Ole Opry on Thursday evening there was no sign of the damage – in true showmanship style, the performance was polished and most entertaining, with various well-known Country Music stars appearing, and by the response from the full house, they are much loved! We also had the pleasure of going twice to the Nashville Night Life Supper Club, right next door to the RV Park, where the ticket included a delicious, true Southern-style meal and a music show, really rocking, with the artists chatting to everyone in the lobby after the show. The Country Music artists are nowhere near as sad as their songs would have one believe – they are lovely warm, friendly folk, and we were privileged to make the acquaintance of the entertainers at the supper club, and were made to feel really welcome.

Our new South African friends took us on a tour of the Gaylord Opryland hotel, a well-known Nashville landmark, and we could not believe that it had been flooded only two years ago – the opulence and splendor of the place is breathtaking – it covers something like nine acres under cover, and the whole hotel is a giant terrarium under a glass roof seven stories high, with controlled temperature and humidity and its own river, gardens and musical fountains. We spent two hours wandering through, amazed and fascinated by the sights and sounds we experienced there.

The weather continued to be extreme, with daily temperatures soaring to 103’F (39’C) and only dropping a few degrees in the evening, with the humidity at 106%, but this  did nothing to deter the enthusiasm or the influx of visitors to the RV parks and the city in general, in preparation for the annual CMA music extravaganza, when all the famous Country & Western artists return to Nashville to perform in their home town and mingle with their fans. We watched the preparations, with barge-stages being built in the river and streets closed off for free street concerts, and were sorry that the park was fully booked, so we were unable to stay and left the day it all began. Nonetheless, we left with our ears ringing with country and western songs and our hearts warmed by the friendly hospitality and joyfulness of Nashville!