Friday, May 27th
A night at the Grand Ole Opry was certainly the crowning event of our time in Nashville. The Opry building was filled with several feet of water in January 2010, so the last year has been a long, hard time of recovery. The line on the wall that I'm pointing to in one of the pictures shows the water line that is still visible despite the restoration. The Opry members and workers are thrilled to have it up and running again. They did, however, maintain both the show and radio broadcast schedules throughout the renovation by holding events at the Ryman and at other facilities in Nashville. The huge mall next to the Opry is still not open following the flooding.
We began our evening at the Opry with a behind-the-scenes tour. We saw dressing rooms and the performer's last-minutes waiting room. We sat on the on-stage benches reserved for friends and relatives of the performers (Ellen is sitting on these benches in one of the photos.)
Between the tour and the performance, we went over to the Grand Ole Opry Hotel. It is a beautiful building with two large natural areas with water falls, streams, and huge trees. Absolutely gorgeous!
When we returned to the Opry building, we were greeted by the "new" Minnie Pearl. The original Minnie Pearl, Sarah Cannon, passed away. But, before her death, she chose three women to continue her Minnie Pearl character. Performers included Sunny Sweeney, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jake Owens, The Sky Ryders, Vince Gill, The Whites, and Lee Greenwood.
No comments:
Post a Comment