Here's a little history of Nashville as I was told. With population of 1 million, there is one millionaire for every 750 people of Nashville and very few are country music artists.
The largest leading industry in order:
1. Printing/Publishing of the bible (yep, this is the bible belt)
2. Insurance Companies
3. Banking
4. Music (50 recording studios)
5. Tourism
Nashville has several nicknames, but the two that really resemble the town are “The Country music capital of the world, and the one that surprised me was “Athens of the South”. They earned this nickname because of its abundance of educational institutions and classical architecture. In the twentieth century no building has contributed more to the aptness of this description than Nashville's Parthenon, the world's only full-scale replica of the ancient Greek temple.
Parthenon replica
State Capitol
We stopped for 45 minutes to tour the Ryman Auditorium, which was the original Grand Ole Opry, till 1974. The auditorium was in need of a face lift and sat for almost 20 years before being restored. In 1993, the 8.5 million dollar renovation began and was completed in June 1994. The restoration stayed true to its historical appearance while creating a performance hall that meets today’s high entertainment standards.
Today, the auditorium is a state-of-the-art facility that continues to pay tribute to its impeccable entertainment history.
With the opening of Opryland USA, and amusement park dedicated by President Nixon on March 16, 1974, the Opry moved into a new $15 million theatre, the largest broadcasting studio in the world, with a seating capacity of 4,400.
We than stopped at the Country Music Hall of Fame for 1 ½ hours. I needed a whole day. The original Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum opened on Music Row on April 1, 1967, and closed December 31, 2000. The new $37,000,000 Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum celebrated its grand opening on May 17, 2001. This facility features the Hall of Fame Rotunda, where the bronze plaques are displayed for future generations to honor and enjoy.
Minnie Pearl
My tour of Nashville has ended and the driver was kind enough to drop me off at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. The largest structure of the center is the Delta Atrium, and is really all I wanted to see. The atrium's glass roof has a peak of 150 feet (that's 15 stories high), spans four acres, and weighs 650 tons. According to Glass Digest Magazine, it is the second-largest skylight in the nation. The Delta even has its own river running through it--more than a quarter of a mile long and they offer a river boat tour, which I took.
Guest Rooms
Delta Atrium
Well, that ends my tour for the day.
Johnny was paired up with two other golfers and had a great time. The weather was a little hot, just like his game, he shot a 90.
