FOOTBALL ON BOXING DAY

Boxing Day in the UK started as way of giving gratuities or “Christmas-boxes” of money and/or food to servants after Christmas and giving them the day off. That’s close enough an explanation I think for what has now become a bank holiday, where you can find shopping deals that rival the USA’s Black Friday. It’s basically a day off now and a reason to party. It’s also a big sporting event day in the UK. Many of the football teams, from the top tiers down have matches on the 26^th of December. We tried to get tickets this year to our host’s favorite team, Everton. They were playing Chelsea at Everton’s home pitch in Liverpool. To see a game at that level of play in person, with spirited fans all around us would have been quite the experience. Sadly, though we were able to get tickets, they were all singles and our little group would have been scattered around the stadium, so we opted out and instead we went with the next best thing….THE GREEN ARMY!

THE DABBERS

Nantwich Town has their very own football team called the Dabbers. They are a semi-professional squad and currently a member of the EVO-STIK Premier Division and colloquially known as the Green Army because of the color of their home kits. After drinking a few pints at the Vine (of course), we marched down to Weaver Stadium on a raw cold afternoon, to join 337 other hearty souls to watch the match. It was fun to attend and though the level of play is definitely a number of tiers lower than the Premier Leagues, we watched a football match at “the grass roots” level, according to our favorite in-law Colin. Those in attendance were spirited in their cheering and we heard some vociferous curses. “F***ng cabbages,” was somewhat confusing, perhaps referring to Nantwich FC’s colors, but we giggled to ourselves each time the deep gutted harangue was launched into the air and we felt like this was no tourist outing, but a great way to spend Boxing Day . Being immersed in the local culture is what every cabbage traveler should seek. Perhaps next time we'll see a goal. The match ended nil to nil. 

The best part was the price. General admission was 10 pounds, but as old cabbages we got in for 7!

You can read about the match report here:

NANTWICH vs SUTTON COLDFIELD BOXING DAY MATCH

WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE

ORGIES AND TRUMP

Your favorite world travelers haven’t been getting much further than Nantwich, Chesire in the United Kingdom lately and that’s quite okay. Family is involved of course and that makes it really easy to return here again and again. Yeah, I know, it’s a big world out there, and there is a lot to see, but Nantwich has become a second home and Janet has been kind enough to share her family with me.

Janet visits this little town, south of Liverpool and Manchester and a few miles east of Wales, about twice a year. Her daughter lives here now with her husband and young children. I don’t make it here quite as much, but I have become quite familiar with the town. I have been here enough that people are beginning to recognize me from the last visit.

The in-laws are wonderful and we adults go out often for a drink at the pubs.

NANTWICH

I’ve been here often enough to know lots of things about Nantwich. I know the town had been a center for salt cultivation dating from Roman times. I know that the people who live here are called “Dabbers” which may or may not have something to do with the tanning industry that once flourished here; it all depends on who you ask. I know a WWII American airman is revered here for putting the town before his own safety when he veered his troubled aircraft away from Nantwich and crashed in a nearby field and that there is a memorial to his brave sacrifice.I know there are several festivals and events in Nantwich that are well attended. There’s the Nantwich Cheese Awards, and The Worm Charming Championships (actually held just outside Nantwich in Willaston). There’s the Nantwich Jazz and Blues Festival and the Nantwich Food Festival. I know that the best fish and chips takeaway is found at Coral Reef on Pillory Street.

WHAT IS A DABBER?

INTERNATIONAL CHEESE AWARDS

WORM CHARMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

NANTWICH JAZZ AND BLUES FESTIVAL

NANTWICH FOOD FESTIVAL

THE HEART OF ENGLAND

Now, I am here like Janet to visit the kids. I love this precious family time in this lovely little town, but I have to admit I also look forward to going out to the pubs; although not necessarily for the beer, (I can’t keep up.) Pubs, short for public houses are the focal point of social life in England.  Men, women, children and dogs all gather at these drinking establishments for beer, cider, wine, sodas and food, games like darts and dominoes and pool. They gather at the pubs to watch games on the television. They pop in for a quick pint in the afternoon, or for an evening of 8 or 9. They go to free houses and tied houses. The free house pubs choose what beers they want to sell and the tied houses serve beer from a particular brewery. I’ve been to Nantwich so many times now that I’m a regular in a few of the pubs and this humble “Yank” is no longer a novelty. I’m just another patron.

In fact, just the other night at the Nantwich Club, located in the center of town right by the 14^th Century St. Mary’s church looming beautifully in the evening air, I was approached by an older woman who recognized me from the New Year’s celebration a couple of years ago as “the Yank”. She was waiting for a place at the dominoes table and she shook her shoulders as she sidled up to me and reminded me that on that night they got to “really rock and rolling.”  I feigned embarrassment and said, “Ah, jees….,” which she took to mean orgies. The rest of our time there she kept fawning over me. I may be a regular, but I still can’t speak the language properly. (I gotta work on my accent.) 

Indeed, many things are lost in translation, even though we are all speaking English, and over the years I’ve learned some “American” words that are commonplace are absolutely rude over here. The other day one of the kids was trying to climb on the front window sill of the house and I said his mom would get pissed if she caught him.... Janet said getting pissed means she's drinking. Well...I don't know if she needed a naughty boy as an excuse to start drinking, and I won’t go into the English interpretation of some other words, but you don’t really talk about “fanny” packs or “growlers” or “trumps” in polite company. 

Well, if you must know, “TRUMP” is the English word for fart.

St. Mary's Church, Nantwich

GOING OUT OF OUR WAY

Again England awaits your illustrious team of intrepid travelers and we are willing to go out of our way to get there. Our motto should be: “Anything to save a buck.” We have done some silly things in the past to save money, but on this particular trip we have scored big. The normal flight for us to get to Manchester England, the airport nearest to Nantwich, our ultimate destination in England, is to fly from Philadelphia, but costs were quite steep at $1.400 each. We are still flying from Philadelphia, on the same day we intended to go, but paying only $700 each for the tickets.

How? I asked the same thing of Team VFH’s Grand Poo-bah Janet. “How,” I asked?

Turns out we are flying out of Baltimore’s BWI on a regional jet service before rendezvousing with our normal flight to Manchester and the entire ticket is just $700; half the price off the Philadelphia to Manchester leg. We are saving $1,400!!!

Of course the “inconvenience” of flying out of an airport farther from home as well as the extra hours necessary to be in Philadelphia airport needed to be considered. Our 30 minute flight departed BWI at 4:30 and our flight from Philadelphia would not leave until 9 pm. Gosh, the things we’ll do to save $!,400!!! That’s a lot of Bloody Mary’s at Chickie’s and Pete’s.

The plan was smooth and really the logistics of the day really weren’t that much different than fighting traffic on the Blue Route to get to the airport.

This was our day: First we got a ride to the 30^th Street Station and took Amtrak directly to the airport stop just south of Baltimore. Janet had never been in the station before so she marveled at the architecture.  We tipped a red cap to tend to our bags and while we waited for the train to arrive; it was late; we ambled around and drank coffee. When the time came he found us, loaded our bags on the train and took the roughly 1 ½ hour ride down to Baltimore trying to score tickets for the Springsteen on Broadway. We were successful, but only because we opted for more expensive tickets (that $1,400 gets eaten up quickly.)

The Amtrak was $130 for the two of us, but the shuttle to the airport was free.

Second, we got on our flight in BWI. We checked our bags at BWI and picked them up in Manchester, UK. The flight from BWI was just 30 minutes to Philadelphia, but 15 minutes of taxiing to our gate.

Third, we walked from one end of the Philadelphia Airport, gate F!, to our departing gate, A25. There was a shuttle bus between the two terminals, but Janet needed to get her steps in.

Fourth, we found a Chickie’s and Pete’s and had a few drinks before it was time to leave.

 WHERE TO DRINK?

Yeah, it was that easy and we got the Bruce Springsteen tickets! She IS the real Grand Poo-bah!

YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE

CHRISTMAS IN PHILADELPHIA

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and he still goes to Philadelphia.  In paraphrasing that famous New York Sun editorial from 1897 that avers the existence Kris Kringle “as certainly as love, generosity, and devotion exist”, the Christmas season is as enjoyable and perhaps a bit less rushed in Philadelphia than it is in New York City. The holiday displays in Philadelphia evoke a nostalgic charm and warmth and have a smaller town appeal than those awaiting the hordes plying Fifth Avenue.  The City of Philadelphia too seems to bend lovingly this time of year to embrace this holiday season, whereas with NYC everything seems rushed and the commerce of these days are never far from the surface.

Janet is a true Philadelphian and was anxious to show off the city of her youth, especially the Wanamaker’s Building directly across the street from City Hall. There we would find the Dickens’ Village, which told the story of A Christmas Carol using little animatronic people and various ghosts at several stages along a warren of decorated corridors. Dickens Village has been on display since the mid 1980’s, first at the Strawbridge and Clothier’s and at this flagship store since 2006 when Macy’s took over the Wanamaker Building. Also in the Wanamaker Building we HAD to see the massive Christmas light display that has been a Philadelphia tradition since 1956. Lights are choreographed to various Christmas tunes like Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Nutcracker accompanied by a voice over track by Julie Andrews! Janet gushed when she told me of our plans and apologized before we left for the tackiness and dated displays, stating they are exactly the same from when she was a small child and trundled through the store by her Mom to see it all. Despite her description I was looking forward to the trip.

She planned the entire day, from the time we would leave, where we would park, and the times of the shows we would see. Nothing close to chance is left with the Captain of Vacations From Home. Because of her planning the day was entirely stress free, even the normal tumultuous drive along the Schuylkill Expressway, which can be a difficult experience, was easy as we left after 2 pm, dodging the morning and evening rush hours.

Christmas Market in Philadelphia

PARKING

I still tote around a flip phone, but as Janet is the smart one with a smart phone she used an AP called Parking Panda. It is very useful to find the best and cheapest places especially when you’re not sure WHERE to park. We used it in Washington D.C. in finding a place not far from our AirBnB apartment where parking was not included. On this day Parking Panda guided us to an underground lot situated just across the street from our first visit, City Hall. Well, actually our first stop was the pop up beer garden on the sidewalk of City Hall.

PARKING PANDA

BEER

Those intelligent readers who frequent this blog will know that I’ve written often about Philadelphia’s thirst for beer. When it comes to beer the citizens of this fair city and surrounding areas appreciate and expect good craft beers and the holiday pop up beer garden on the north side of City Hall was worth the visit. In fact the block that comprises Philadelphia’s City Hall is filled with Christmas/winter activities. On the Dilworth Plaza just in front of the beautiful municipal building is an ice skating rink, a holiday market and a garden maze. In the interior of the municipal complex there is also a carousel, but after a quick walk through we headed for the beer. We hadn’t eaten lunch after all.

The Craft Hall, as it is called is a large, heated tent with several rows of benches and a decent selection of beer wine and seasonal drinks and things like pretzels for food. (We were going to eat later.) It was a good beginning for our visit, although two beers and a pretzel cost me $21.00.

CRAFT BEER HALL

Carousel at City Hall

MEET ME AT THE EAGLE

The massive emporium that sits directly across the street from city hall is still called the Wanamaker Building, even though Macy’s has owned the store since the mid 2000’s. Over the years Janet has regaled me with tales of this place and the many fond memories it held for her. She’s told me about the large eagle statue on the ground floor of the Grand Court, where over the years people would agree to meet. The Grand Court itself is an amazing soaring expanse of air within the building with one wall filled by the world’s largest active pipe organ that is still played twice weekly and more during the Christmas season. She giggles about riding the monorail that carried kids along the ceiling and the prancing waters of fountains that would dazzle the customers.

 

THE GRAND COURT 

Well, Wanamaker’s, the first department store in Philadelphia and one of the first in the United States is gone, sold to Macy’s. The fountains are gone too. The Crystal Tea Room, once touted as the largest dining room in Philadelphia is closed and the monorail is now a sedentary display at the Please Touch Museum.

Ah, but what remains brims a child’s eyes with joy at Christmas and truly it is worth a visit to this neck of the woods. Janet pleaded with me to forgive her that she would drag me on this “hokey” venture. The Wanamaker Building opened in 1911 and was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1978 and worth a visit any time of year, but during the Christmas season the Dickens Village and the light show are great (and free) traditions for children and adults. Though I lived in the relative area in Lambertville, NJ I never knew about these displays in Philadelphia, until I met Janet.

MACY'S CHRISTMAS LIGHT SHOW

Holiday display at Macy's

GOD BLESS US, EVERY ONE!

Fine gentlemen attired in period clothes, top hats and wearing wispy beards greeted us at the entrance to the Dickens Village in the Macy’s/Wanamaker’s. There was a certain charm to them and they whispered their instructions to us almost as an aside, as if we were in on the joke. We had come at the perfect time, there were few others in the “village” and we felt no pressure to hurry along.

The sets in the village were a faithful telling of the Dickens classic tale and each one featured one or a number of little animatronic people. Janet marveled at them with a childlike glee. All your favorite characters were there; from Ebenezer Scrooge, to Tiny Tim, to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come!!!  At the end we shunned the opportunity to visit Santa Claus, we were off to the light show.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE

There is no timetable for the Dickens Village, it is open daily from 10am to 7pm, but the light show is held every two hours starting at 10am. The last show is at 8pm. The Village is on the third floor and the exit is near the railings overlooking the Grand Court with the display wall on the far side. Serendipity! We simply walked a few feet and found a place to watch.

Again, going mid-week is smart as the crowds are smaller. In the past Janet stood six people deep on the balcony, but on the Thursday we went we were at the railing. We did step back though to allow little kids to sit and watch the show which includes musical tracks, prancing lights, organ music provided by the huge Wanamaker Organ and Julie Andrews narrating the whole spiel.

WANAMAKER / MACY LIGHT SHOW HISTORY

FRIENDS OF THE ORGAN

After the Christmas season, organ recitals are held every day except Sunday. Click HERE to see the schedule. 

MORE BIER

You can work up a hunger wassailing and across Chestnut Street from the Wanamaker Building is a German beer hall called Bru Craft & Wurst. It was happy hour and it was crowded for good reason. Pints were just $5.00. We got a table near the Sansom Street entrance and had a reasonably priced meal. They also offer happy hour prices on their wurst sandwiches. I had a pulled pork sandwich and thankfully Janet had a brisket sandwich and did not order the Fried Brussels Sprouts (they are sooo stinky). The food was okay, but the German beers were very good. It was a convenient location.

BRU CRAFT & WURST

CITY HALL

After our meal we happened upon a choreographed holiday light show at city hall. We did not know about it and were lucky to have been there at the right time. It stopped us in our tracks and we watched in awe the façade facing Dilworth Park come alive with festive colors. It was very impressive.

CITY HALL LIGHT SHOW

COMCAST EXPERIENCE

Our last spectacle for the day was the 6 pm show at the Comcast Building a few blocks away from city hall. Called the Comcast Experience, the holiday show is held every hour except 5 pm (so commuters can make their hasty retreat) and it features a huge LED screen that covers one wall. The picture is so detailed it looks 3D. .We sat on the floor to watch the escapades of ice skating penguins and yuletide cheer filtered through the Comcast Corporation before driving home on a fairly empty highway. It was a good, safe and relatively cheap day. COMCAST EXPERIENCE

  Thanks for reading! Most of these displays will go on through to the end of 2017. 

WORKING STIFF

Janet has retired, but I’m still working, foolishly.  She’s enjoying travel and sleeping in and having her nails done twice a week! Since her retirement she’s traveled to England, rafted down the Grand Canyon’s Colorado River, partied hard in Hilton Head and managed to squeeze some “greg” time at the Delaware shore. What have I done in the meantime? Save for that one week’s respite, I have worked. I am a working stiff after all.

In my defense I have been a freelancer in the television industry since 1981 and for most of that stretch I have had to hustle for work. I have had some success in my chosen profession and provided for my family rather well during all these years, though I have also endured watching my fortunes ebb and flow with a lack of work. There’s always a fear that saying “no” to work is bad karma; that it will never circle back. The pendulum will not swing in my favor again and then I’m left holding my bills without the ability to pay them off. So, I say “yes” to everything!

Janet, in her infinite wisdom, realizes the importance this working stuff is to my psyche wasn’t yet demanded I say “no” to future work, but she has said “take less!" I like to say I'll never retire, I'll just not get anymore work! 

NO

Well, tonight I’m going to enjoy some downtime. She’s meeting me in New York City after my shift at CBS and we’re going out to dinner. The difficult thing is as a working stiff most of my experience with NYC is the logistics of getting to work; train and bus schedules, EZ Pass, parking, etc. Sure, I can readily rattle off the how’s and why’s of work, but not what to do with my leisure time. I try to get in and out of the city as quickly as possible. Ugh. I gotta figure this out fast!. She will NOT settle for a slice of pizza.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BEER!

OKTOBERFESTS

Football season is in full swing; unless you’re the NY Football Giants and you’ve decided not to start playing; but autumn IS here and what that means there are a number of very very good reasons to drink beer. It's the time of Oktoberfests folks and here in southeastern Pennsylvania there are enough festivals dedicated to liquid gold there is no reason to book airline tickets to Munich Germany where the whole silly Bavarian bacchanalian celebration began nearly 200  years ago.

Here is a website about the original oom-pah party which began as a wedding celebration to a King Ludwig in 1810. This year's Oktoberbest in Munich began on September 16 and will go until October 3^rd.

OKTOBERFEST IN MUNICH

Want to see what you’re missing in Munich? Here’s a link to a webcam:

OKTOBERFEST LIVE CAM

NO BUDS FOR YOU

According to tradition only original Munich beer is sold at the beer tents and each maintain strict adherence to the "Reinheitsgebot", the Bavarian Purity Requirements for beer.  There are six breweries represented: Augustiner (a personal favorite), Hacker Pschorr, Hofbrau, Lowenbraur, Paulaner and Spaten. Not an IPA in the bunch. 

Here's a BBC article about the Reinheitsgebot:

PURITY LAWS

HOME IS WHERE THE BEER IS

Can’t make it to Munich? I didn't think so and neither can Team VFH and right about now you're thinking there's too much effort going on with beer between logistics and what can be drunk. But, here is a small collection of festivals dedicated to liquid bread in the Philadelphia area that is all about having some beers with friends:

PHILADELPHIA AREA OKTOBERFESTS

Autumn is a very popular time for beer and doubly so in this area that really likes its beer. It seems there's an Oktoberfest everywhere you look, even the Philadelphia Zoo had its own version of an Oktoberfest; alas too late for this year.

PHILADELPHIA ZOO EVENTS

RIDE SALLY RIDE

Heck, celebrations are literally down the street from us in Collegeville. The local Appalachian Brewing Company establishment (a small chain) is hosting their yearly Oktoberfest Ride for bicyclers on October 22nd. Though the Reinheitsgebot will NOT be represented here, you can literally hold your breath and walk from our place to APC. The challenging course which begins and ends at the brewery covers approximately 62 miles.

OKTOBERFEST RIDE AT APC

STOUDTS

A personal Oktoberfest favorite of mine is the month long celebration at Stoudts in Adamstown near Reading. I have gone a couple of times over the years. There's a large dance hall and music to go with the lederhosen and great beers. The highlight of the day is the parade of the roasted pig and the tasty beast leads a cha cha line through the place as the oom-pah band plays... I know I know there might be TOO much excitement. But heck, it's better than watching the Giants lose another game. Ein PROST!

STOUDTS OKTOBERFEST  

KISSES THROUGH THE MILKY WAY

CAPTAIN UPDATE                                   

Janet is on her two week trip white water rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. For a myriad of ridiculous reasons your favorite Team VFH clerk did not accompany the captain on this trip of a lifetime. Ain't that a kick in the head.

She is with the adventure group OARS and according to their information she will be traveling 250+ miles from Lees Ferry to Lake Mead and going over 47 rapids rated 5 or above on the Grand Canyon scale of 1 to 10. She’ll be hiking and eating well and having the time of her life. There’s no cell phone service and the OARS people could not even give me a timetable as to where she’ll be at any time during the trip.

postcard from Janet

PHANTOM RANCH

But, post cards are available at the Phantom Ranch, the only lodging below the Canyon rim. Accessible only by the river, hiking over 7 miles down into the canyon or traveling by mule, the Phantom Ranch is an oasis of wood or stone cabins first constructed in the 1920s by the federal government and space is extremely limited. Currently reservations are up to 13 months in advance. In 2019 there will be a lottery system instituted.

The Phantom Ranch Canteen

DINNER RESERVATIONS AT THE PHANTOM RANCH

A canteen at the Phantom Ranch makes breakfast and dinners, for lodgers, hikers and rafters and reservations are required here with special seating times for both meals. Evidently you can also buy beer here and I received a wonderful postcard from Janet yesterday telling me this. Mail is hauled up to the rim by mules. She’s enjoying herself and says she’s sending me kisses nightly through the Milky Way. I’ve never seen the Milky Way. I am missing so much. Ain’t that a kick in the head?

The Milky Way over the Grand Canyon

EMBRYONIC JOURNEY

RAFTING IN THE GRAND CANYON

The far more adventurous half of your favorite traveling duo is doing it again. The true captain of Team VFH is off on a two week, 200+ mile white water rafting adventure down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Ever since I first laid eyes on her Match.com profile picture where she was holding a fish she caught in Alaska sweetly smiling Janet has regaled me with tales of her hikes up Colorado mountain tops and how she would wrestle alligators and grizzly bears at the same time.

I’m no couch potato. I’ve run 9 marathons. I have hiked overnights on trails on my own and have taken week long canoe trips down the Delaware. But, the operative words here are “canoe” and “Delaware”.

                       

A number of years ago we tried our hands at white water rafting. We took a day trip on the Ohiopyle River while camping in Western Pennsylvania. I was assigned “captain” of the raft and Janet and I were paired with three teenaged girls who did not paddle. Rafting and canoeing are completely different and the intuitive nature I have with a canoe simply doesn’t work with a raft. Yeah, we tipped over at one point and I was kind of caught under the raft for a bit; it wasn’t fun and I was finished with the whole raft experience. Janet though wanted to go out the next day on a rougher stretch of the river.

That did not happen. But, this trip did. It’s a “bucket list” item for her and it is something she claims she has dreamed of doing for ages, although the first I heard about this was about 18 months ago.

Conversely, my “bucket list” item is to hire a boat and captain to sail us through Croatia’s Dalmation Islands. She thinks this is a great idea too, but first she wants to go on a hut-to-hut hiking adventure in New Zealand. I really just want another glass of wine while admiring a sunset over Hvar and she wants to bathe in the chilly waters of the Colorado and fend off rogue Maori warriors.

Janet's kind of traveling

Do you understand now the title of this article, Embryonic Journey?

This is my kind of traveling

Anyway, I wasn’t very keen on this Colorado River adventure so I begged off it. Janet recently retired and so this was her reward for her long career as a teacher, but this reward is costly and for me quite prohibitive. The trip itself is approximately $6,000, which doesn’t include tips for the guides, airfare or hotels and incidentals before and after the trip, but on an excursion like this the guides do all the work and you just hang on for dear life. So between the experience and the pampering it’s worth the money. It usually takes booking years in advance to get on a trip like this, but Janet was quite fortunate to get a place on this trip when a single opening became available a scant 18 months ago. Two weeks ago, feeling guilty about not sharing this adventure with Janet, I announced I wanted to go on the trip. The people at OARS, the outfitters for this journey, laughed at me.

OARS, Inc.

You know though the more I look at this trip the more I wish I had said yes a long time ago. Janet is going to have a lot of fun. She always seems to do things right. She is the captain after all. I can't wait to fight off those crazy Maoris in NZ.

THE GRAND OLE OPRY

NASHVILLE SOUNDS

So, the question needs to be asked…. Why in all places in this great America is Nashville the country music capital? And, what the heck is a Grand Ole Opry?

Of course, after my recent trip to the Athens of the South  your intrepid chronicler did some research and just skimming the surface of the history of “country” music has my head spinning with its various forms and sub-genres trying to decide what to write here.

Hopefully I’ll get some of this correct. If I don’t, I guess my dog will run away, my truck will get a flat tire and my cold beer will get warm quickly….

Actually, country music is far more popular than I ever imagined. From what I have read the dulcet tones of warbling cowboys and toe tapping honky-tonk, et al, is enjoyed by over 40% of the population, that listeners are often affluent and homeowners, and there are more evening commuters tuning into country music stations than anything else.

WHO LIKES COUNTRY MUSIC?

That still doesn’t answer the question, ‘why Nashville?’

As for the Nashville sound, it was a move in the 50's to revive country sales devastated by the rise of rock and roll by using smooth strings and choruses and sophisticated background vocals. As for the Nashville Sounds, they are a AAA team of the Oakland Athletics. 

NASHVILLE SOUNDS

HILLBILLY MUSIC

Country has its roots in Appalachian folk music, mostly narrative ballads and traditional music brought from Europe mainly by English, Irish and Scottish settlers to the area, as well as African-American blues. Instruments typically played are banjos, fiddles, dulcimers and guitars. Parts of Appalachia are still isolated and poor and inhabitants often stereotyped as uneducated and unrefined, but there is a rich musical heritage from this region.

 

Ryman Auditorium

In the early 1900s there was a movement to collect and preserve these folk songs played by the people of Appalachia where previously the music was unwritten. For generations the music was passed on orally and musically to the next generation, sometimes just within families. When they began to collect this rich legacy the researchers first wrote the notes of the songs and lyrics down and later when the equipment was invented the music was electronically recorded. In the earliest recordings the artists had to travel to New York City or Atlanta, but in the 1920s a producer for the Victor Talking Machine Company set up a recording studio in a State Street building in Bristol, Tennessee. State Street is the border between Virginia and Tennessee in Bristol.  Artists were offered $50 for each side cut and 2 ½ cents for each single sold.  The popularity of the music, called “Hillbilly Music”, which wasn’t a pejorative term but instead used to differentiate the music from gospel and blues, quickly became popular beyond the hills of Appalachia.

Today Bristol Tennessee is considered the Birthplace of Country Music. The actual site of the Bristol recordings in Bristol, Tennessee is now a parking lot but there is a commemorative plaque there, while the Birthplace of Country Music Museum is located a few blocks away in Bristol Virginia.

BIRTHPLACE OF COUNTRY MUSIC MUSEUM

RED HOT FIDDLE PLAYING

The Grand Ole Opry began as a radio program on WSM 650 in Nashville Tennessee in 1925. It was called Barn Dance then and the first performer introduced was 77 year old Uncle Jimmy Thompson. The show’s producer wanted each segment to end with some “red hot fiddle playing” and the Fruit Jar Drinkers were tasked with that endeavor. The name was changed to the Grand Ole Opry when the announcer quipped one night in 1927 that the classical music that preceded the program had been taken from Grand Opera and what will follow is Grand Ole Opry. He then introduced the Harmonica King, DeFord Bailey. 

The hour long program was a massive hit and the crowds that gathered at the radio station on Seventh and Union soon overwhelmed the studio space, requiring a move (and an admission charge) to several other venues over the years before the Grand Ole Opry settled in the Ryman Auditorium on 4th Street in 1943. The Opry was held there until 1974 when a new home was built 9 miles east of Nashville. From the main stage of the Ryman a circle was cut out and placed on the new building's stage in a nod to the rich history of the Opry. But, when the Opry moved out of town so did the tourists and the once vibrant area of Broadway fell into a crime infested area for decades until entrepreneurs saved the Ryman and bars like Tootsie's Orchid Lounge from the wrecking ball.

Here’s a great list of the history of all the venues of the Grand Ole Opry over the years.

HISTORY OF THE GRAND OLE OPRY

crowd outside Ryman Auditorium

Although the Grand Ole Opry is no longer televised you can still listen to WSM 650 the radio station that started it all online at: WSM 650 ONLINE

Opry stage showing circle 

THE SHOW THAT MADE COUNTRY MUSIC FAMOUS

The Grand Ole Opry is perhaps the most visited attraction in America; at least that was what our tour guide at the place said after we paid our $30 per. There is now a sprawling shopping mall adjacent to the Opry called Opry Mills, but until 1997 that area had a musically themed amusement park called Opryland and between the two destinations 2.5 million would visit annually. No matter how many quips I could make about country music there is no doubt about the popularity.

post office at the Grand Ole Opry

Having been in a lot of venues over my career for me the Grand Ole Opry wasn't that special, but I can understand why enthusiasts would be interested in the back halls and dressing rooms and the machinations of the shows.  

The tour takes you around to the performer’s entrance, where our guides gleefully note there is no valet parking and the musicians need to drive themselves. We are then shown the check in desk where there is a mailbox for performers…yes you can write your favorite member and address it to the Grand Ole Opry and it’ll end up in their mailbox… Our guide on this part of the tour, a little blonde waif, rattled off the corresponding names of shouted out numbers. The check in desk attendant will then assign the performer to a particular dressing room; there are several differently themed dressing rooms. (I was particularly keen on seeing the Minnie Pearl themed room).

 

dressing room at the Grand Ole Opry

Interesting note: None of the dressing rooms have a bathroom, though there are communal ones down the hall. At least they are not outside……………….

There I go again with a quip.

The final stop on this tour was the chance to walk on stage and have your photo taken.  The $25 per pictures were available afterwards, but in keeping with your trusty cheapskates Janet photographed the photo and we now have a lasting memory of what is the most visited tourist destination in America.

on the stage

Membership in the Grand Ole Opry is the highest achievement in country music. Going into the requirements here would be counterproductive, but suffice it to say that two notables are NOT “members” of the Grand Ole Opry. Taylor Swift is “too pop” according to our guide and Hank Williams was “too drunk”. In fact this month is the anniversary of Hank Williams being “fired” by the Grand Ole Opry because he missed too many shows.

HANK WILLIAMS FIRED FROM GRAND OLE OPRY

Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish fame is a member.

Had we not been flying out early the next morning we might have considered staying for that night's performance of the Grand Ole Opry.. Surprisingly tickets were still available. 

Taylor Swift at the Grand Ole Opry