#24 Not the Tale of Two Cities, but definitely The Juxtaposition of Two Stays in One Place!

You’ve heard about “The Tale of Two Cities”…well our time in Tennessee might be described as the “The Juxtaposition of Two Stays.” Nashville is a must stop for anyone on a road trip; Bar hopping on Broadway; a trip to Thistle Farms, Backstage at the Grand ole Opry and more time with special friends; Fried Green Tomatoes, The Arch and a quick stop in Metropolis to visit Superman! This week has been busy, memorable, and so much damn fun!

The Juxtaposition of Two Stays

Montgomery State Park

We started the week at Montgomery State Park. This is a huge state park just 40 minutes outside of Nashville. It is 3850 acres of lush green trees, three lakes, bike paths, and a beautiful river that runs through the park. If you have ever eaten at the restaurant in Pirates of the Caribbean, you can envision our campsite. It looked just like that, complete with the cicadas and the fireflies. As we sat around our campfire, we half expected Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer to come rafting down the river and join us for some food and storytelling. So picturesque and peaceful! We had the most relaxing time enjoying only about half of all that this park had to offer. Long walks with Charlie, even longer bike rides with Peder and lots of journaling, reading and recharging our personal batteries.

Downtown Nashville

Little did we know that we would need those three days to prepare for what awaited us in Nashville just 40 miles down the road! This town is electric!! We stayed at a campground right next to the Grand Ole Opry and they provided a shuttle into downtown Nashville’s Broadway Street! The glitz, glamor, large neon signs, and energy kind of remind you of a mini Las Vegas-But this is so much better! First of all, it’s a lot smaller, they close the street off at night and you can walk the whole thing in just a few minutes…if you weren’t too distracted by the music and the uniqueness of each Honky Tonk. The Stage on Broadway is one of the most famous bars and we quickly figured out why-GREAT music and friendly bartenders and staff. Of course, like most of the bars, it has three floors with a bar and live band on each floor. We started at the RoofTop bar and worked our way down to the main floor. We had so much fun. The bar was packed and the band was fantastic. The energy was palatable and we kept saying that Nashville was better than we even expected-and we had high expectations!

Hot Tip #1 Embrace the juxtaposition that a city or town has to offer. No place is one dimensional-dig deep, appreciate the moment for what it is. We don’t always need to be go, go, go-its ok to stop and relax along the way…AND don’t be an old fuddy duddy and not take in the nightlife scene. Yes, we were some of the older people on Broadway in Nashville, but we hung like we were much younger! And there is something that comes with age: wisdom and art of pacing yourself through a night of clubbing and drinking. I have no doubt that we felt MUCH better on Saturday morning than most of those youngins! 🤣

The next morning, our friends Lisa and Scott came and picked us up for a day of sightseeing-and there are a lot of sights to see in Nashville. This town is packed with history and cool places! We started at this very cool cafe-Thistle Farms. Scott is the CFO for the nonprofit organization that supports the restaurant. The food was terrific, the ambiance was very hip and the restaurant was filled with love and joy! But the best part about this place…the mission behind this nonprofit organization who runs the cafe and store: “Thistle Farms is a nonprofit social enterprise dedicated to helping women survivors recover and heal from prostitution, trafficking, and addiction. We do this by providing a safe place to live, a meaningful job and a lifelong sisterhood of support.” Thistle Farms has been providing a sanctuary for women survivors for over 25 years. It is a two year program which provides healthcare, counseling and employment-all free of charge. They have 32 beds in Nashville and a network with more than 550 beds across the country. Every woman working in the cafe or the store are either residents of the program or graduates. The love, gratitude and sense of family permeated every inch of this building and was present in each person working or dining there. What a great way to start our day! Thank you Scott for sharing this very special place with us and for all that you do to support this very worthwhile organization!

Those are teacups that make up that chandelier. The story is that every cup represents survivors around the world. Each cup has a story, and every person walking through the door has a story. Everyone is welcomed with a cup of tea and an opportunity to share their story. You can read more about the teacups here.

When we left Thistle Farms we headed to downtown Nashville and played tourist as we made a whirlwind tour through the streets around Broadway, learning about the history and snapping pictures along the way. The most moving stop was at the old Woolworths that has been turned into a theatre. The renovated building and new theatre is beautiful without a doubt, but that’s not what makes this place historic or moving. It’s the lunch counter that holds a critical piece of our country’s history.

Here is a link explaining more about the story, but the Nashville Woolworths had a lunch counter like many other Woolworths across the country. It opened in 1925 and was quite popular. It was also at a time when this part of the country was still operating under the Jim Crow laws and customs of the 1890’s. African Americans were prohibited from eating at public lunch counters. But on Saturday, February 13, 1960, a group of students began the movement to challenge this decades-old practice of segregation. Students from three universities held “sit-ins” at downtown lunch counters across Nashville asking to be served. They were denied service but remained seated at the counters after being asked to leave. This would be the first of several “sit ins” that led to the arrests of several protesters, including US Congressman John Lewis who participated in a “sit-in” on February 27, 1960. Congressman Lewis would go on to be arrested almost 50 times for nonviolent protests, but this his arrest at Woolworth that day was his first. The protesters were berated and beaten, but they did not fight back and remained peaceful-all protesters were arrested that day, while none of those inflicting violence were arrested.

Of course we had to visit some of the famous murals in downtown, including the WhatLiftsYou Wings mural.

Our site seeing tour culminated with a behind the scenes tour of the Opry House! Thank you Scott and Lisa for arranging this unique and incredible opportunity! To actually walk through doors that receive the artists each night, to touch the wall of gold plaques commemorating each member of the Opry, to see the mailboxes where living members of the Opry can receive mail (in case you are wondering…Dolly and Garth had the the most letters in the box!), to get a glimpse of the many dressing rooms, to actually sit in the Green Room (which btw, they call the Family Room) where the stars await their moment on stage and then to be able to stand on the set of Hee Haw and finally to stand on that famous circle on the stage of The Grand Ole Opry show! WOW! Talk about a bucket list day! Only to be topped off with attending The Saturday Night Grand Ole Opry show! FANTASTIC! I’m exhausted just writing about it!

We are off to moochdock for two nights on the driveway of Lisa and Scott before we head to Lynchburg. Can’t wait to see what our incredible hosts have planned for us next-hopefully some rest…for us old folks! We were welcomed with a snack of Fried Green Tomatoes! Another first for Peder & me!

Hot Tip #2: Go Ahead-Be a Tourist!

We had so much fun playing tourist. There is a reason why these stops are so famous-because they are fun, unique and interesting. Go for it! Who cares if everyone knows you’re a tourist! You don’t need to pretend to be a local, enjoy all that a city has to offer. Learn from its history and appreciate all of it!

The week also included a drive across multiple states to get to Tennessee: Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and even a small piece of Illinois, where we stayed at an adorable Harvest Host (Tarsha’s Homestead). A quick glimpse of The St Louis Arch and a stop in Metropolis, Illinois to see the largest Superman statue! Yep, sometimes you just have to call an audible and pull off the freeway and check out the cheesy attractions!

Lesson Learned: Visiting big cities is fun, but also expensive and exhausting! 🤑😴

Bummer of the Week: We definitely could have enjoyed a few more days at Montgomery State Park and in Nashville. The week went by so fast!

Highlight of the Week: Being hosted by Lisa and Scott. They were the ultimate tour guides and hosts. Lisa had done so much research to ensure that we made the most of our time here. And did I mention that she makes a mean Fried Green Tomatoes-another first for the Norby’s! Thank you to Nora, their daughter for making this adorable welcome banner for us! No doubt our experience was enriched because of their hospitality and the extensive planning that went into our visit with them. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

A couple more days here in Nashville and we head to Lynchburg-Can't wait to visit my buddy Jack Daniels and then travel to Kentucky to compare whiskeys and bourbons! Cheers!