We left Nashville tuesday morning, and were on the road by 8 am, heading for Alabama. The previous day we'd driven into the city to see the sights, and what sights did we see? A full scale replica of the Parthenon, a bow of a ship made out of concrete with steps leading up to it, and a sculpture of a giant clam-- all presented without further explanation or flare in Nashville's Centennial park. It was raining, so we headed to the bar and were drinking by 2pm. From there we checked out the new library, because why the hell not? It was huge and beautiful, but we couldn't use the internet without a library card, so it was a futile endeavor. We got back in the car and drove to Opryland, meeting up with Evan and his girlfriend Jesse there.
Opryland is the country's largest hotel without a casino attached, and ostensibly it exists because of its proximity to the Grand Ol' Opry, but the hotel has long sinced surpassed the Opry as an attraction in its own right. The Grand Ol' Opry is a structure built to commemorate the original Grand Ol' Opry, which was a radio show that featured the hottest country acts of the day (Johnny Cash, June Carter, Hank Williams, Emmylou Harris, etc) and from the photographs in the museum, back in the day it looked pretty damn fun. Today the Grand Ol' Opry is a tacky looking auditorium that advertises its gift shop more than its acts, charges 15 dollars for tours (no way in hell I paid that) and hosts such shitty acts as Big n' Rich. For ultimate consumer gratification, there is a large Mall of America style mall directly adjacent to the Opry, called The Opryland Mall. The way the place is arranged, it looks like the mall was put there first, and then the Opry auditorium was added off to the side as an afterthought, as a way to draw in patriotic country-loving suckers.
Maybe I'm being harsh. I don't know why I care. I don't even like country music.
Anyway, the Opryland hotel was pretty neat, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
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