I have been waiting a few days before posting this but wanted to make sure it wan't a fluke. I have developed a new method of sleeping which I call the Phil Collins approach. It involves positioning at least four pillows in a semi-circle around your head, that way if you wake up in the night and are bored of your current pillow it is a short and relatively undisturbed hop to the adjacent, still fluffed, one. It has served me well for the past three nights. I think this approach could play a big part in my future.
That said I think the main sleep advantage came from having my own bedroom far away from Alistair's snoring. Even with the room directly opening onto the car park it was still relatively silent. Then again sleeping at the end of the runway of a major airport would be better than the snoring. If you ever find yourself in Jackson Tennessee I can recommend the Old Hickory Inn.
 |
| The Hickory Inn - Not quite worth $35 per night |
I awoke early and decided to get a coffee, I threw on some clothes over my pyjamas with all the class of a school run mum heading for Asda. On my return to bed I noticed the coffee tasted odd, it seemed that in my haste to not be out in public in my nightwear I had mistakenly added pancake batter in place of milk. It was horrible so I went back to sleep for a few more hours.
Today was a great day because I once again said hello to an old friend with breakfast at Dennys, the last two Dennys free days have been breakfast hell. A couple of pancakes (made with coffee free batter) and a fry up later and it was time to hit the road to Nashville. Nashville is only a short drive from Jackson which was made shorter by my speed only dropping below the ton when I spotted a smokey parked on the central reservation. Once again the roads were straight and quite dull so it was perfectly OK to take a selfie whilst cruising at a buck ten (as they say over here):
 |
| high speed selfie |
On arrival it turned out I need not have bothered as the hotel would not have any rooms ready until 15:00, apparently they clean all of the rooms in parallel so they are all ready at exactly that time. I did consider having a Larry David style rant at them about this obvious falsehood but decided it was better to have a good sit down for 45 minutes. It was well worth doing this as it enabled Alistair to discover that Nashville has a Dukes of Hazzard museum run by Ben 'Cooter' Jones. That was the rest of the afternoon taken care of.
The Dukes of Hazzard museum was everything I expected it to be, that is to say a bit half arsed. Still the entry price was reasonable, which is to say free and I suppose there are only so many ways to display faded 1970's toy cars and pictures of the cast (in fact it looked rather like my office at home.) For just $10 it was possible to have your picture taken in four cars from the series, specifically Daisy Duke's jeep, Cleetus' cop car, Cooter's tow truck and of course the General Lee. The following pictures flatter the condition of the cars which were all, to use a mechanics term, absolutely shagged. Clearly Ben 'Cooter' Jones preferred raking in $10 per head t0 car maintenance.
 |
| Getting in through the windows may have been easier than opening the near rusted shut door |
 |
| A tow truck in much need of a tow truck |
 |
| Easy for the Dukes to outrun and the dog didn't seem too healthy |
 |
| How could a car kept indoors get so rusty |
Following on from the museum it was time to say goodbye to the rental car, no photos of this occasion as I didn't care. From the airport a taxi to downtown somewhere near the Bridgestone arena which was the venue for the evening's entertainment. I had not been to Nashville before but will be going again (in fact next year for my sister's 40th) it was fantastic, every bar was alive with musicians and music fans enjoying the atmosphere (and beer.) As long as you love cover versions of Jonny Cash songs, specifically Fulsome Prison Blues mixed with a bit of Kenny Loggins then Nashville is worth a visit. Prior to the concert we visited three different bars, none of which I can recall the name of, this is the last one where we ate:
 |
| The sunglasses suit me more than they do their owner |
Following dinner it was time to head over the road to the concert venue. The concert in question was 'all in for the Gambler - Kenny Rogers farewell show.' Despite the Grand Prix being the purpose of this trip the concert was a welcome bonus and had a duty to be good given the tickets were far from cheap. It turned out that $$$ did not get you 'that' close to the stage, in fact we were miles away:
 |
| Some distance to the stage |
The acoustics were good and it would still have been an enjoyable evening but I had also noticed that right near the front there were a good few pairs of unoccupied seat. During one of the more boring slow songs I decided to go and see how diligent the stadium staff were at checking tickets. I made it right to the front row centre before chickening out and selecting some side of stage seats in row BB (Big Ben.) The chap next to me apologised for putting his beer in 'my' cup holder and I took occupation. Next task was to signal to Alistair that he could join me, this was done via Facebook messenger and waving the torch on my mobile 'phone in the face of the people behind me. A few moments later the deed was done and he was safely by my side.
(there will be some pictures here later but I am writing this on the plane and the internet connection is somewhat 'variable')
 |
| Quite a lot closer |
 |
in fact fantastic seats - the people who bought them are going to be
pissed when they realise they forgot to show up. |
There then followed one of the most incredible concerts I
have ever had the good fortune to attend.
As it was Roger's last every Nashville show he had invited a cornucopia
of country music and mainstream stars to join him on stage. Each act performed a single Kenny Rogers
hit, said a few words about the great man then made way for the next one. Some of the acts I was expecting to appear,
some I was not. An incredible surprise
was an appearance by Kris Kristofferson of whom I am a big fan, others include Lionel
Ritchie (who wrote the KR hit ‘Lady’), The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum , Idena Menzel (The lady who sings ‘let it go’ from frozen) and load of other mega stars.
The final act to come onto stage was of course Dolly Parton
for what would be their last performance together. The chemistry between them was evident to
anyone who was watching and was the highlight of a fantastic show. Dolly started with a rendition of the Whitney
Houston classic ‘I will always love you’ then they paired up to sing ‘you can’t
make new old friends’ then a finale of ‘Islands in the Stream.’ After which they performed a simultaneous mic
drop and left the stage for the last time.
A magical event I feel very lucky to have been a part of. I am also fairly sure I will be in the
audience shots of the forthcoming live DVD.
To complete the evening we retired to a nearby bar and listened to a band perform a range of music and the bar staff delivering a range of beer. Given we had to be up at 4:44AM for a flight it made perfect sense to get in at 2:22. Following a few hours sleep it was off to the airport for the flight to Orlando, the space museum and then a drive to Miami.........
Footnote: this post is being written and posted from onboard the plane. Witchcraft! Also even above the noise of the engines I can hear Alistair snoring and so can everyone else on board.
Why not follow me on
TWITTER after all KENNY ROGERS is a fan:
Comments
Post a Comment