Mamas don't let your babies stay at Motel 6....but the Grand Ole Opry is great!

2nd row seats at the Grand Ole Opry! (no AA), and no one sat in BB!!

Continued……

Well 80 minutes turn out to be optimistic. The state of Tennessee was working on I-40, so it was more like two hours until we got to our Hotel, a Motel 6 off of exit #87 on I-65. It was very hot and humid. We were tired and needed a rest before we saw our show, but first we had to deal with the hotel. We were supposed to have adjoining rooms. I made the reservation, over the phone, months prior. It made it easier on all of us this way. But, they weren’t. The rooms were also tiny.

Porter Wagoneer. Me MCed the show for years. He just passed about in Dec 2007

While not the hotel’s fault in the least, the local oxygen company had not made the delivery. I had called and confirmed before we left. I called them and they sent someone out. The delivery guy said they were just behind schedule. Whatever, they didn’t even bring what we ordered. Grrrrrrrrrrr. This is not what you want after a long day of driving. But, we got everything settled and grabbed a nap.

Naps are a wonderful invention.

Jeann Shepherd, Dad's favorite

Porter Wagoner (he just passed away this year) opened up. I should have written down the songs that he and the other performers did, but it didn’t occur to me at the time. I was too busy enjoying myself. I took a lot of pictures, but my digital does do well in low light.

Bering Strait

I was particularly impressed with the band Bering Strait. I think I had heard of them in passing, but I knew nothing about them. As it turns out, they are all Russian! Country music in and from the Soviet Union!? Stalin is probably trying to scratch his way out of his grave. (Hopefully they buried him face down.) They did a very spirited rendition of Alan Jackson’s song “In a Mercury”, and then a Russian Folk Song.

Little Jimmy Dickens and Jean Shepherd doing a comedy sketch

I was a bit worried about Dad, as the show is a long one. He and I took a rest break twice, once in the first half and then once in the second. He had walked in, no wheelchair, and both breaks were the same. As we were all the way up front, these were a bit of a hike. The second rest break was my idea. I had the feeling he was not going to get up in the middle of the show, again. He hates to draw any attention to himself. So, with about 20 minutes left in the show, I got up and told him I had to go to the bathroom and asked if he did.

Josh Turner

Everyone enjoyed the show, but I was starting to worry about Mom. She is nodding off every time she sits down for more than a few minutes. When the Osborne Brothers played a slow bluegrass number she fell asleep and I had to nudge her awake. Their next selection was “Rocky Top”. No danger of sleeping though that one.

The show finished, and we all reunited. The rest of our group hit the restrooms and we bought a few of the requisite souvenirs. Then it was time for the hotel. From there I went though my nightly ritual dealing with the money. I track how and what I spend so as to stay on budget and help to forecast for future travels. And we can’t forget this journal entry. So it was well after 11 before I finally got off to bed.