Road Scholar Nashville to Memphis Music Trip

A record of our 4th Road Scholar Trip taken March 26 thru April 1, 2023.

23 travelers from various states. (Just us 2 from the Midwest while 8 from California.)
 
Sunday March 26:
Arrived in Nashville via road trip, after stopping for 2 nights to visit daughter Anna and grandson Jacob in central Illinois.
5:00 pm orientation at Hyatt Place Downtown, Nashville Tennessee.

6:30 pm buffet dinner in hotel. Overview by guide Denise. Abundant food choices.
Walked the music streets. Listened to music genres spilling out from open doorways and windows.
 
Monday March 27:
Breakfast at hotel.

8:45 am. Group walk to Country Music Hall of Fame (CMHOF). Self directed. Chris Stapleton was the current main exhibit. (Not a follower but well displayed)
I dwelled on the old stars from 1950's to early 60's.
Surprised some like George Strait and George Jones were not in a larger exhibits. Figuring that stars who are not accommodating to Opry rules, are then not displayed as much at the Hall of Fame.
Lunch on our own in CMHOF front cafeteria.
 
1:30 pm: Motor coach downtown tour with Anchor Bus line. Vanita was our driver throughout the week on same motorcoach.

4:00 pm. Private tour of Studio B.  The original piano was in corner from the early stars. Recording studio still in use.
Dinner on our own. We chose Allen Jackson's 1893 Feed Mill restaurant.
Walked the streets again tonight. Music ranged from hard country pop to old country to blues.
 
Tuesday March 28:
Breakfast at hotel.

8:45 am: Group walk to Ryman Auditorium. Back stage tour (lucky no one played today so backstage was open for touring). Ryman changed this area in later years to allow stars to be on same floor instead of using staircase still in place. Got professional photo snapped on front stage center.
Ryman is a fine auditorium holding all its charm from country music's start. Walked through all the named back rooms where early stars readied to perform and walls layered with their photos.

Walked across the street to National Museum of African American Music. We chose. Was not on our tour. A delightful, thorough history of plantation Black music as it crosses over to White interpretation, and ultimately blending into sounds of blues, country, pop, jazz, soul. Enjoyed the early black and white films running on walls. All music decades displayed.
Lunch on our own. Decided again for CMHOF front cafeteria.

1:45 pm: Bus trip to Grand Ole Opry. Back stage tour. Walk to dinner at The Aquarium Restaurant in nearby complex. Filled with aquariums.

7:00 pm show. Riders in the Sky, Travis Denning, The Whites, Della Mae, The Malpass Brothers, Alana Springsteen, Niko Moon, Maggie Rose. Excellent center lower front seats.

3 tunes each performed by all. Players added in stories about their Opry experience.

9:30 pm return to hotel and bedtime.
 
Wednesday March 29:
Breakfast at hotel.

9:30 am. Buss trip to Belle Meade estate, an original plantation site now reduced to a few acres.

11:00 am. House tour and grounds tour. Light lunch in horse stable barn all sitting around one long table.

12:00 noon. Bus trip to Memphis.

On route, bus stopped at a museum featuring cotton making, land management, and a Tina Turner museum wing. Her simple wood sided grade school sat nearby with more memorabilia. A one room blues artist home rested nearby. I lost his name.

4:00 pm.  Hotel check in at Hampton Inn downtown near Beale Street. One of two elevators not working during our stay. Stairs up were located behind front desk. Stairs down took us unto the street. Quite inconvenient, but smack downtown.

6:00 pm. Walk to B.B. King's restaurant on Beale Street. I had a delicious rib plate with coleslaw. beans, and desert. Sat along side stage with entertainment by 2 blues/soul groups til after 9 pm.
Evening walk around downtown. Music area mostly located on Beale Street, hence a smaller outlay then Nashville.

Thursday March 30:
Breakfast at hotel.

8:00 am. Memphis history with Dick Cockrell, a local historian.

9:30 am. Bus ride to National Civil Rights Museum. Self guided tour. Heavy security check here. The site of MLK's shooting. Walked across the street to see part 2, the shooter's site, with detailed timeline of his movements and on to the arrest. Conspiracy thoughts also discussed.

A walk to see Mississippi river bluff and back.

12:00 noon. Lunch at Central BBQ near Museum.

1:45 pm. Bus to Sun Studio. Guided tour of this 2 story small building against a street corner, with question and answers intermixed. I squeezed the original floor mic held by Elvis, Cash, Lewis.

3:00 pm. Bus ride to Rock n Soul Museum. More of a repeat here from already viewed topics. Additional collections from Sun Studio and other museums seen. Good quality displays.

Walked back to hotel for short break.

Dinner on our own. We chose Hard Rock Cafe.  A safer menu tonight than the fried goods found in other restaurants.

Another walk to Mississippi River to find the walking bridge. Inadvertently walked to south roadway. Desk clerks seemed unaware of it. Sun was setting so we returned to downtown. A walk through Beale Street music with return to hotel for the evening.

Friday March 31:
Breakfast at hotel.

8:30 am. Bus ride to Graceland. A larger area displayed than I thought to be. Toured home, backyard, airplane area, and large mall building with displays of Elvis's belongings: Cars, motorcycles, so many personal items, running movies, TV shows, and poster memorabilia. Another room filled with later stars memorabilia that say were influenced from Elvis. Saw horses out back in fenced yard and then saw home film of Elvis riding in that same yard.

12:00 pm. Lunch in Vernon's Cafeteria on mall site.

1:45 pm. Bus ride to Slave Haven house. A small home thought to hold slaves, 2 blocks from river. Questionable according to outside sign. Long detailed talk by 2 guides that disappointed as we were squished into rooms to discuss each wall photo. No adequate stairway from basement. I reached out my hand and pulled a few friends up where railing ended short. Noticed some in group returned to bus earlier so did not finish. 

Bus ride to a parallel road nearest Mississippi River for a few blocks. Noticed probable walking bridge on north road bridgeway. Never got chance to use it. Much landscape work being done with this street closed farther south. 

Bus returned us to hotel.

Walked to dinner at Majestic Grill on Main Street. Main Street had little traffic. A trolley used it on 2 tracks. Street made for a quieter walking retreat. Elvis's Blue Hawaii played on wall. Laughter at table talking how Elvis made each movie his own.

Walked back to downtown music and returned to hotel.

Saturday April 1:
Breakfast at hotel.

8:00 departure by same bus to Nashville airport and lastly to our original hotel. About 3 hours. 8 traveled back. 6 were dropped off at airport. Just Rosie, myself, and our guide Denis returned to hotel.
Loaded luggage into truck and drove for home. We earlier put Nashville luggage and purchases in truck before leaving for Memphis. Stopped overnight in Tuscola, Ill. again. Hotel parking charged us for 3 night truck stay and not the 6. Oversight or just being gracious.

Sunday April 1:

Continued home on Sunday April 2 to Appleton. Totaled 1,500 plus miles on truck. Some miles were in Tuscola, traveling to Newman, Camargo, and back.

Glad we finally journeyed to see Country music's roots.

End.