A Venture into the Country...music that is.

Welcome to the Music City. Tennessee's capitol and one of the birthplaces of country music, Nashville is a lively town with plenty goin' on. We started our day by heading to the Country Music Hall of Fame and picked up some audio tours to explore the 3-story historical complex. Everything from learning where country got its origins to listening to clips of the first bluegrass and honky-tonk singles, the Country Music Hall of Fame and museum was a pretty jam-packed place with things to do and sights to see. There were plenty of exhibits on the instruments used to make the unique country sound that was heard in the earlier part of the 20th century as well as exhibits highlighting the pop/rock combination that melded its way into the country sound that you hear today on the radio or from your TV screen.

Kelsey was content as there was an entire exhibit dedicated to Taylor Swift and we lost Dad for a long time in the Hank Williams tribute displays. I enjoyed watching old footage of Jerry Lee Lewis and Charles Perkins as "Blue Suede Shoes" played on repeat in the beginning exhibits and a cappella groups such as the "Jordanaires" had a hand in taking the feel of a barber shop quartet and adding a country flare. There were video montages documenting country music's impact on television and other compilations showcasing the impact of country music when the lyrics depicted present day issues and problems. Once again, I made sure to get plenty of photos of the exhibits, one of my favorite being a quartet of squirrels that had been shot by Hank Williams himself and sent to a taxidermist who mounted them to look like a band (a piano playing squirrel, a guitarist, bassist, and drummer). We actually spent about 4 hours touring around the museum and watching the media there. The museum ends with the Country Music Hall of Fame and as we exited the museum there was a live guitarist playing in the common area for a bit.

Since we all split up during the museum itself, we took about 45 minutes to regroup and decided to get a view of the city from above, so we climbed up to the apex of the pedestrian bridge that crosses the Cumberland Bridge and had a quick photo shoot with the Nashville skyline before making our way back to the car and heading out of town. Already 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we were pretty hungry and our eating schedule has been all out of whack this whole trip, so we went to a local restaurant right outside of town known as the "Loveless Cafe." A friend of mine recommended the place and said it had the best soul food in Nashville and he sure was right. Dad cashed in on the blue plate special of "Watermelon Ribs" and Kelsey got a breakfast plate for lunch. I had the famous homemade fried chicken and Mom tried the homemade meatloaf, all of which was absolutely delicious. All the way down to the homemade biscuits with personally crafted jams and preserves. Talk about great food, the Loveless Cafe is one of the best places I've ever eaten when it comes to good ol' fashion southern cuisine. As you can imagine, the Tate Family took our time enjoying ourselves, probably overeating in the process too but the meal was very worthy it.

Following our late lunch, we hopped back in our car and hit the road again for Memphis. In the morning we'll have a flight out of Tennessee and on our way back to good ol' Virginia. We'll be wrapping up the Tate Family Adventure and head back to Harrisonburg for our vacation recovery. Here's an update track list for you to enjoy and we'll be happy to sign copies of our Tate Family Adventure CD's, DVD's, T-Shirts, and other Tate Family Adventure paraphernalia following the trip for a small fee. Cheers.

~Josh

Songs to add to your Ipod:

New Orleans: "New Orleans" ~Kid Rock
Bourbon Street/French Quarter: "Easy Street" ~Annie Soundtrack
Graceland: Insert Any Elvis Song Here
Sun Studios: "I Walk the Line" ~Johnny Cash
Memphis: "Walking in Memphis" ~Bruce Springsteen
Nashville: "Rocky Top" ~Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Country Music Hall of Fame: "Today was a Fairytale" ~Taylor Swift