Diversion to Country Music HQ...

Stylised musical footpath marker in Nashville downtown.

A last minute decision had us deviate from the river road and dash 300miles through southern Illinois, cutting off a corner of Kentucky, so we could visit the famous Nashville TN. This was a tedious but nerve-racking drive along busy interstates, crowded with speeding cars and trucks. It really is much more relaxing and interesting to avoid freeways if you have the time!

Giant guitar outside Hard Rock Cafe at bottom of Broadway, Nashville TN.

Nashville downtown (on a rainy day) was just as you would expect it to be as the country music capital of the world. The main street Broadway, and the cross street 2nd Ave S, are lined with honky tonks and bars which, each of which from midday (every day, we understand) attract customers with live country music. The music is "free", but customers are expected to buy a drink or a meal, and, of course, are invited to tip the performers as well as the bar staff. To be a bar-hopper and get a good cross section of the acts thus requires generous consumption of food and booze, something we are trying to avoid on this trip! And we had to drive back to our hotel too. So we sampled the various premises minimally, and poked our head through the door at many!

Country duo Katie Marie and Bo live at Legends Corner.

We were there on a wet winter Monday afternoon, surely the least popular time, yet all solos, groups and bands we saw and heard were really good - we imagine the poor ones don't get gigs, don't survive long! By all appearances, the business model is that the performers get to keep their tips - we assume they seek time slots at the venues and get them according to reputation - and no money changes hand between the venue and the performers. Any day here, there are a myriad of good performances by aspiring musicians with rather little chance of being "discovered" and getting rich.

The lower part of Broadway, Nashville is lined with dozens of bars and cafes with all-day live music.

As is our habit, we sought out the old railway station, Union Station. Here, it's well up Broadway in yet another magnificent building, and yet again, the station has been saved by being used as a hotel. It has the most glorious lobby, which would have been the station's main concourse back in the heyday of railway travel. Goods trains still go by, but it looks as if Amtrak has abandoned Nashville although it still runs routes along the eastern and western borders of Tennessee.

Elaborate and beautiful Union Station terminal in Nashville, now a hotel lobby.

The tablet app "Yelp" guided us to the best coffee in downtown, at "Crema". Actually it was several blocks out of the centre. The cappucino here was the closest thing to a Sydney coffee that we have discovered so far - delicious, strong, low on milk and froth, pretty cocoa pattern on top and (wait for it!) delivered in a cup and saucer! Nirvana - such a delightful change from a 16oz takeaway paper cup. Crema was pretty popular - they obviously have the formula right.

Broadway streetscape on a grey day in Nashville.

Out of town is the suburb of Opryland, and the main attraction here is the Gaylord Opryland Resort. This is a gigantic Marriott hotel (2800 rooms!) clustered around 4 or so great atriums, populated by numerous restaurants, bars, ballrooms etc. It makes so much sense to have the rooms facing inward to a sculpted environment rather than outward to an ordinary view (and freeway and carpark). The impression is one of a large theme park, but it is very, very impressive! It was very quiet during our visit, obviously deep into the off-season, but we helped them by enjoying our daily beverages in the Cascades bar.

Cascade atrium at Gaylord Opryland Resort

"Resurgence", blown glass sculpture by Ludek Hroch at Gayland Opryland Resort, Nashville

Being here in the off-season has many benefits but some downsides. The Grand Old Opry, a famous show we would have gone to see, was closed the entire time we were in Nashville! In winter, they only have reduced performances in the original smaller venue downtown, rather than the newer theatre in Opryland. C'est la vie!