Nashville: The Grandole Opry, Kenny Rogers, Cracker Barrel and Tales Untold. Winky Wink!

Yes, I loved the half-marathon through Nashville, though the hills taunted me.  Upon finding Bruce Smith in the family lot, we headed back to our hotel so I could shower and girly up for lunch with his family. We were off to celebrate his granny’s 70^th birthday.  We headed to Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse http://www.yelp.com/biz/tokyo-japanese-steak-house-nashville

On the way there, Bruce explained that this would be a surprise for his granny. She was NOT expecting him to be there, nor was she expecting the family members who were headed in to celebrate with her. We pulled up in the lot just as the family members were arriving and one of the gang asked his granny if she knew who was there to celebrate with her. She kept staring at me, so she was really confused. Not until Bruce stepped out of his car, did it register.  We made introductions all round and headed in for some good old fashioned Japanese Steak House grilling.  Brooke Guffey, Bruce’s cousin and her roommate Melissa were there along with Tammy Lee, his aunt and Julia Lee, his cousin. Janelle Masiongale (granny, the birthday girl) was there with her daughter and Bruce’s aunt, Jeanine Guffey.

We settled in for lunch (alcohol free) and chatted about the menu. Brooke and Melissa had never had Sushi, so Tammy and I were trying to provide some guidance on a sushi roll that would be palatable. Raw fish was NOT an option. Finally the girls settled on a refreshing cucumber roll. Needless to say, the wasabi put the kibosh on their epicurean experimentation.

From there, it was up to the chef to entertain with the egg in the hat trick, the onion volcano, and all the oddities performed at a Japanese Steakhouse. Bruce explained to me his granny was hard of hearing. Hmmm….me thinks she just lets them believe that, because she doesn’t miss at trick. Hi Granny!

We ordered and enjoyed the lunch which was topped off with a green tea ice cream of sorts with a sparkler in it for granny…sorry Janelle, I just love calling you granny…no harm meant.

With full tummies, we headed to the Grand Ole Opry to tour the Opry House

http://www.opry.com/about/History.html I’d toured the Opry several years ago and was interested to do the tour after the floods of 2010, which left over 4 feet of water in the Opry House. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/flooding_in_tennessee.html

I was in Nashville, this year, to run the Rock n Roll 2011 half marathon, which was scheduled during the same period last year. The half-marathon in 2010 could be completed, but due to enormous flooding, which crippled the city, the full marathon was cancelled and the full marathon runners were instead directed through the half marathon route. Kudos to Competitor Group http://competitorgroup.com/ for mailing the full marathon medallions to the full marathon runners who showed up and completed the half in spite of the overwhelming weather conditions.

The Opry tour now includes an overview of the destruction of the 2010 floods. A water level, which is marked on the walls, and an explanation of how the Opry House treasures were saved, restored, and returned to the new and improved facility have been added to the tour. Most depressing and very stark is the Opry Mills Mall, which is still closed. Recent reports indicate the mall may open in the spring on 2012.

We had a blast on the tour. We wound up on the stage, as the tour always does, and we’d already prepped our tour guide that Janelle was celebrating her milestone birthday.  While on the stage listening to our guide, we noticed several gents tuning the grand piano. While they were working on the piano, one of the gents remarked to no one in particular that the streets had been blocked by a bunch of crazy marathoners. Huh? You talking about me?

I walked over and joked that I was one of those runners and a funny dialogue carried on until the tour guide then called us back to order. She pulled the group around the six-foot circle of dark, oak wood in the Opry House stage. The circle is cut from the stage of the Opry's famous former home, the Ryman Auditorium, this circle gives newcomers and veterans alike the opportunity to sing on the same spot that once supported Uncle Dave Macon, Ernest Tubb, Patsy Cline, and others.

While standing around the ever so famous circle, the groups of tourists were asked to sing Happy Birthday to Janelle. It was a special moment for all of us in the birthday party. Our guide then remarked that we could brag about performing at the Grandole Opry.

Bruce had arranged the days activities, so next on our agenda was to return later in the evening for the show that made country music famous, Grandole Opry. With time to kill: we headed to the tourist trap, I mean the gift shop.  It was there that Bruce decided to test two signature fragrances, Cowboy or Outlaw. Ummm…we decided Outlaw! LOL…have I said how much I LOVE my adopted son Bruce!

We still had time to kill, so we headed to a local eatery; Bob Evans I think and ordered huge crazy desserts. Don’t know what I was thinking, I got artichoke dip.  Finally it was time to head to the Opry for the show, and what a show it was. I have never attended the Grandole Opry, The Grandole Opry began just five years after commercial radio was born in the United States. In 1925, the National Life and Accident Insurance Company built a radio station as a public service to the local community and with the hope that the new medium could advertise insurance policies. The station's call letters, WSM, stood for the company's motto: "We Shield Millions."

When sitting in the audience of the Opry, one is actually watching a live radio show being aired. I loved the show. Audience members ARE invited to the foot of the stage for photos, and notes can be handed to the announcer to read out anniversaries, births, and birthdays among many. The show is segmented and each segment has a sponsor. The sponsors are Bass Pro Shop, USBank, Dollar General Store, and Cracker Barrel. 

Bruce and I both have a wicked sense of humor. So when the Cracker Barrel commercials were being read live on the air the “notable” nugget was the new Kenny Rogers album entitled, “Love of God.” This album is only available at Cracker Barrel, and of that we were reminded many times. This ad was repeated four or five times and every time the announcer mentioned it, Bruce and I howled in laughter.  Remember folks, the Cracker Barrel is half store, half restaurant: all country.  But that isn’t what made us guffaw. No it was the name of the album by Kenny Rogers, “The Love of God.”

All of us in our party agreed the original title was, “For The Love of God” as exclaimed by Kenny Rogers when he awoke from the face-lift that has transformed him. Hell yes, I’d a been shouting that too when I pulled the bandages from my face and looked as he does now. For the love of God Kenny, WTF did you do to your face? Seriously, I believe this album was created when he was hiding from the public trying to figure out how to present the “scary” face. For the love of God!

So, in honor of Kenny, yes, you guessed already didn’t you? We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast the next morning, but not before we sent the family to bede and Bruce and I headed to downtown Nashville for wings and beer. Ok granny, I drank the beer: Bruce had a soda.

So, Sunday morning we walk into Cracker Barrel and observe Nashville’s finest handcuffing a young lady at the gas station and subway shop across the street. Holy Running Blisters…it is Sunday…Nashville shuts down for church and you are in the next episode of cops? LMAO!

And to our delight, there it is, aaaaaahhhhh (orchestra swelling) the CD only sold at the Cracker Barrel: for the love of God, it is “Love of God.” Bwahahahah…no we didn’t buy one, but we had more fun than two friends can have by snapping photos and remarking about Kenny’s face re-do. For the love of God, what was he thinking?

So, there we were again: Bruce and me at another race, finding humor in all things around us and sharing the moments only close friends can with a wink, a nod, a curve of the lip, and a late night excursion in to the heart of Nashville. EW said thanks for taking care of me. Winky wink…

I don’t race for a few more months. I have a break, but have no fear, the fun never ends with the widow. Stay tuned for the landscaping adventure from hell…or Tampa…you decide.

Seriously…Kenny, what were you thinking? For the love of God!