Day 4 - Pigeon Forge to Nashville

The day started early cos we had a long drive ahead us to get to Nashville - just under 4 hours. We had a quick breakfast at the motel, I had a guava and cheese pastry I got from Publix last night and K had 2 krispy kremes from the motel.

The drive through Tennessee was largely uneventful but very pretty. We had country radio on to prepare us for Nashville. We saw a lot of God billboards, my favourite was a quote from God him/her/their self "All I know is...... Everything" - God. We also saw a lot of gun shops, including one which offered machine gun rentals. Super useful if you want to save money before that murder/suicide spree. There were also a lot of roadside sex shops, handily they seemed to recognise their Christian market "check out our new Adam and Eve wall display".

We stopped en route for a beverage (it's roasting today) and K got a massive cup of French Vanilla flavoured iced coffee, we soon had to stop again so she could pee! Luckily we changed time zone before arriving in Nashville which meant we arrived just after 11 instead of 12. We drove straight over to the hipster enclave of East Nashville where we had a wander about, looked at some murals and then went for lunch.

I've wanted to go to Mas Tacos Por Favor for a long time so I was super happy to finally get there. It's a super fresh taco joint with freshly made corn (soft) tortillas double wrapping delicious fillings. We went bang on noon cos we needed to have an early dinner but it was still pretty busy. We both got 2 tacos and shared some fried plantains. I got a pork taco and a sweet potato and quinoa taco and k had a chicken one and a battered avocado one. They were incredible, I genuinely can't overstate how delicious they were.

Next we headed to the car park next to the Nissan stadium so we could head up to the pedestrian bridge for some cityscape shots. The walk over the bridge was lovely and we took a lot of photos. However,  it was so super hot that I melted and died and it's my ghost writing this. So hot.

We went a wee quick wander down Broadway and there was live music coming from every building,  it truly is music town. We went to the Hard Rock shop to get the obligatory gifts for John and Lorna, I was so happy it was air conditioned.

Back over the bridge in the pounding sun to the oven like car and we were heading to South Nashville. It was a wee bit early for our air bnb so we went to find the famous Bluebird Cafe. It is closed during the day but I got a wee snap of the outside and we were on our way. I'd have loved to have gone to a show at the Bluebird but sadly we won't have time.

It was time to check into our air bnb and it didn't disappoint. It is a lovely wee house split vertically. The owners live on one side with their kids and they rent out the other half. It's decorated beautifully and has a porch swing - a southern dream. We regrouped and I had a shower to cool down then we headed out. We met Mary the owner of the house and spoke to her and her kids for ages. They told us that Nashville didn't vote for Trump and it's frustrating being surrounded by a red state so their votes didn't matter which we compared to the Scottish brexit situation. They told us that Trump visited recently and on the day he did the awesome (see photos) I believe in Nashville mural had tar thrown over it. K banned me from talking about politics on the holiday incase we get murdered so I really enjoyed the chat. The kids were so friendly and polite (8, 12 and 14) and joined in the conversation with the 14 year old telling us how ridiculous Trump's views on climate change are.

After our chat we went to Edley's BBQ for an early,  pre-show, dinner. K had burnt ends on grits with coleslaw and I had the pulled pork roll with 2 sides. I chose mac cheese as my first side and banana fricking pudding as my second one. The whole thing was delicious but my pudding was the highlight. After dinner we went a quick walk round the 12 South neighborhood but we had to head to the Opry.

The Opry was everything I'd hoped for and more. It is massive! So basically the Grand Ole Opry is a radio show thay goes out live twice a week with at least 8 guests and it's filmed in front of a (massive)  live audience so between acts there is a host who reads out dedications and adverts and the likes. Our acts were all great and ranged from wee old men (Bill Anderson) to pop country starlets (Kelsea Ballerini) and a bluegrass harmony group (Del McCoury band) to modern rock country (Tyler Farr). The other acts were Pam Tillis, Terri Clark, Easton Corbin and our favourite band Little Big Town. Everyone gets a 15 min slot so they mostly did 3 songs and had some bantz.

After the show we headed back to the air bnb and manged to navigate the billion motorways to get back. We're leaving the car at home tomorrow thankfully!

Night y'all