Little Nashville Opry Fire

It was a little less than a year ago when I took what turns out to be my last trip to The Little Nashville Opry. This photo was taken just after Ryan and I saw Loretta Lynn last year in November. On the wall behind us, you see lots and lots of old album covers. All of which came from artists who have performed there over the years.

I am so sad that the Opry burned down last weekend. I have been seeing concerts there for nearly half my life. My first show there was Tanya Tucker, I think. In high school, when I was dating Matt Kinslow, we used to go down there all the time to see country artists perform. I just can't believe it's gone now.

I really hope Nashville Indiana can stand strong in the economy through this. It's really sad for all the business owners in that area. It would be such a shame if any of them had to shut down because of lost business due to the fire.

I am reallly upset that there has been news regarding the owners not paying taxes too!! That just makes the whole thing seem a little suspicious to me. The news has said that they owe nearly 70,000.00 in back taxes. No taxes have been paid on the property since 2005.

The real kicker here is the fact that the owner has had some unexplained trouble with fire in the past. According to one news report, his home burned to the ground in the mid 80's and it happened again in just the last few years. No cause was ever determined for either of those fires. I fear that will be the case for the Opry as well. I really do hope someone is able to find the cause AND I hope that the owners are NOT responsible.

I am so thankful that Ryan and I took a trip down south last fall and visited the Opry one last time. We already knew the night was special because we were actually getting the chance to see Loretta Lynn, but we had no idea how special it really was until last Saturday night.

Loretta Lynn in Nashville Indiana

For years, I have loved the movie Coal Miner's Daughter. Mostly because of all the good times I had with Andrea and Aunt Sissy watching it when I was a kid. It seemed like we used to watch it every single night when I lived with them. I think I could have quoted about 3/4 of the movie by the time I was seven.

Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled when I found out she was touring this fall and winter and coming through Nashville, Indiana. I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale, and Ryan and I have been looking forward to this ever since.

We took off for Nashville Saturday afternoon with little Delilah in tow. Our friends in Indy, Matt and TeShannah were baby sitting her for the weekend. She loves to see her little friend Dobe, their min pin. Plus, we are always looking for an excuse to see them........we love Matt and T!!!!





It's starting to get cold outside, so little Delilah wore her new pink winter coat. Isn't she precious?!?!?



Anyway, we dropped her off in Indy and were planning on going to Bloomington to our hotel first. It was much cheaper to stay in B-town than Nashville, so we chose the cheap route. Originally we had planned on visiting the Oliver Winery again, but we realized we had forgotten our corkscrew and we already own about five, so I wasn't about to buy another one for one bottle of wine, so we scratched that plan. Got into Bloomington at about 4:00 and the show didn't start until 8:00, so we decided to head down to the campus and drive around. Neither one of us had been through there for a long time. It was kind of fun. Reminded me of partying down there when my friends were all still in college.


Had to take at least one picture of me and my baby dressed up together :-)


We stopped and ate at Coach's and had some huge delicious burgers..........Good Stuff!!! By the time we finished eating, it was about 6:30, so we decided to head over to Nashville.



It was about a twenty minute drive straight down state road 46 which was where our hotel was. We got to The Little nashville Opry at about 7:00 and could feel the excitement as soon as we pulled in. We saw Loretta's tour bus parked next to the building and decided to park in the back so we would have to walk past it to get in. We got excited for a minute walking by because we heard someone yell out of the bus about "getting something Ya'll!!" We thought it was Loretta for a minute, but it turned out to be her daughter Peggy. The funny thing was: at the time, we didn't have any idea who she was.

When we got inside, we looked around at some of the old country music memorabelia they have all over the place. It was fun to see how many old stars have come through over the years. When you walk in, it feels like you've just traveled a few hundred miles south, and maybe even a few years back in time. Everyone sounds like they're from the south, and the Southern hospitality was abundant everywhere. Eveyone was so kind and excited. Even the older folks understood our excitement, and didn't get upset when we were up taking pitures, dancing or just plain yelling. It was great!!



We had no idea how much this show would be family oriented. I guess knowing a little about Loretta, that shouldn't have surprised us. First, a really pretty young lady came out on stage to talk to us and ask us if we were getting excited yet. Then she proceded to talk about the movie Coal Miner's Daughter giving us all an idea of exactly how accurate it was. Finally, this pretty little thing introduced herself as Loretta's daughter, one of the twins, Patsy. I instantly squealed with excitement!! Then I laughed at myself.....



She and her sister Peggy sang a few songs to open the show for their mom. Sorry for the lack of quality photography that night, but my cheapy camera only got a couple decent shots for me. But hey, it's better than nothing.

After they finised, their older brother, who is back on tour with them after being kicked off not long ago by Loretta for his drinking antics on stage, came out and sang two songs and then introduced his mom to the stage.

I nearly broke down sobbing when she appeared. It was so awesome to see her in real life and up so close!! It's crazy how emotional it made me. She looked gorgeous!!

She came out in the most fabulous dress I have ever seen. Now, mind you, I would never be caught dead in it, but for Loretta Lynn, I would expect nothing less. My pictures don't do it justice, but I did find some photos from that night of her in that dress:

After singing a couple songs on her own, her son Earnest Ray joined her in one of the duets that she and Conway Twitty did. I wish I knew the name of it, but I don't. I guess I don't make a very good reporter, huh? At one point they got so tickled about something that couldn't stop laughing in the middle of the song. Of course, the band kept playing which made them laugh even harder. It was really sweet to see the family so involved with one another. It was almost like sitting in the middle of a giant family reunion.

This is Earnest Ray doubled over laughing while he should've been singing. She scolded those kids on that stage just like they were five years old. It was so fun.

Anyway, Loretta had some trouble with her blood pressure before the show, so we were all very understanding and accepting of the fact that she wanted a chair on stage. She sat through several songs, but it didn't matter a bit. She told us that her blood pressure rises a lot when she is nervous, and after all these years, she still gets nervous coming on stage in front of people.

Everything she said just seemed so sincere. She seems like the most down to earth person even after all her fame and fortune. That's what I love about that woman!!!

After choosing the first couple songs, she pretty much left it all up to us. She said to us "Well, what do ya'll wanna hear? Just holler 'em out and we'll do our best to remember 'em for ya!!" I wanted to hear "You ain't Woman Enough to take my Man," so I hollered it out just like she said to and she answered my request just like that. I was so happy. Other folks yelled out their requests and she just kept belting them out at our request.Her back up singers came out and sang two songs while Loretta just sat on her chair resting and listening to them. When they finished up, it was time for the big finale...........I kind of wondered going into the show if we would hear "Coal Miner's Daughter" for the last song. We did. It was the greatest day ever!! I have never enjoyed country music so much as I did this night with Loretta Lynn. We all know I've had my day with some country. (I actually think I am just now topping my number of country concerts vs. my number of rock/jam band concerts...........don't forget, I WAS engaged to a bull rider for crying out loud!!!)I don't think there was a single song that I was hoping to hear that she didn't sing. It was almost as if I wrote the setlist myself. We got to hear a lot of good ones such as "Honkey Tonk Girl," "One's on the Way," "The Pill," "You're Looking at Country,"and "Van Lear Rose." I couldn't have been happier.We got out of the Opry pretty early for us. It was only about 9:30 or 10:00, so we decided to hit up a liquor store and just go back to the hotel and get SAUCY!!!! We had drinks AND cable TV. Who could have possibly asked for more?

Ryan bought himself some beer, as usual, and since we didn't have a corkscrew, I had to turn to my only other option when it comes to drinkin'.................Jägermeister . Before the night was over, the label was stuck to the hotel mirror instead of the bottle. So, in my drunken state, i thought it would be super cool to take pictures with it on there. Well, you can see how brilliant that idea turned out to be........lotsa yellow blur to see. But really, does it look like I care?Nope, not one bit...................

Good times once again with my baby and some live music. I am very thankful to have the ability to get out and enjoy life so much. I never thought life could be this much fun!!!

I'm off to Grand Rapids Michigan for another Ekoostik Hookah show. The CD in my player for the first couple hours of my trip will be Loretta Lynn's "Van Lear Rose." Jack White from the White Stripes produced it, and does a great duet with her.

I think I remember Andrea mentioning this CD when it first came out.....it's very "rocker" for Loretty :-) I can definitely hear Jack White's touch in all the songs. My favorite song so far is about a pair of little red shoes. Loretty just tells a story about how her mommy stole her some little red shoes one day because she thought little ol' Loretty was a'dyin'....and she just talks through the whole story with a really cool beat behind her.....if you haven't heard it, it's worth checking out. I can't help but love the old country folks.......