Nashville Night Life

Saturday night we went to the Grand Ole Opry for the first time.  One of Howard's high school buddies and his wife were in town, so we shared the experience with them.  What a riot!  It's a live two-hour radio show divided into four 30-minute segments, each hosted by a different celebrity and a different sponsor.  Even though we paid to get in, we still had to listen to commercials - bummer!

It's funny how you grow up hearing names like Charley Pride and Charlie Daniels but you never really know who they are or what they do.  Charley Pride is a country crooner with an amazing career.  In 1993 he was the first African American invited to perform as a regular at the Grand Ole Opry.  And Charlie Daniels - wow!  What a performer!  He looks like a Texan Santa, gigantic belt buckle and all.  Boy can he fiddle!  Howard was quite impressed with his bands' musicianship - so that says something.  

We also saw Little Jimmy Dickens - had never heard of him before.  He's a tiny little (4' 11") 89-year old sequined singer with great geriatric jokes.  Here's the gist of one of his jokes:

Patient:  Doc, I'm having trouble hearing.
Doctor:  Hmmmm, this is strange.  You've got a suppository in your ear!
Patient:  Thanks Doc, that helps a lot.  Now I know what happened to my hearing aid.

Before the show, we soaked up some local color on Honky Tonk Row, also known as Lower Broadway.  Honky Tonk Row is about four blocks of great old architecture covered in neon.  For music lovers there are musicians playing inside the many venues, and many playing on the streets too.  For the fashion-minded there are western apparel and boot shops a plenty.  And for the hungry, there are lots of places to eat, especially barbecue places.  We ate at Jack's - along with the rest of the world.  It's got a lot of character but Howard still has yet to find barbecue that compares to Famous Dave's.