How We Found the Gravesites of Johnny & June Cash

Still on east coast time, I walked into the hotel lobby early, before breakfast hours, looking for coffee. Immediately, a lone, older lady sitting at the counter struck up a conversation. We chatted a few minutes, and she mentioned that she had been on the road with Johnny and June Cash. I was kind of wondering if everyone in Nashville was a name dropper, and I wasn't really sure I believed her. A few more minutes of polite conversation, and I headed back to the room with my coffee.

I mentioned the conversation to Harold, not knowing that he too had encountered her on his trip to the lobby for coffee. He mentioned that she was right in one thing. Johnny and June Cash were indeed buried in the cemetery about half a block up the street.

A bit later, we headed to the lobby for breakfast. She was still there. She was chatting with the staff. Apparently, she spends a lot of time in that lobby.  She invited us to sit with her at the counter. A little hesitant, we decided to join her. She told us her name, Peggy, and volunteered that she lived a few blocks away, that Nashville had changed a lot, and that she hardly ever went downtown anymore.

Eventually, she went to her car and brought back one of the books she had written. We glanced through it, noting that the inside jacket cover described her as someone who never met a stranger. We certainly agreed with that assessment.

After breakfast, with a little time to kill, we walked over to the Hendersonville Memory Gardens Cemetery. We never would have known had we not met Peggy in the lobby.

Nashville Impressions

We were in Nashville to complete the sale and transfer of Harold's kite book collection. With an afternoon free, we connected with our friends, Bill & Bitsy. Bitsy sang at our wedding, and we have vivid memories of Bill offering $10.00 to each of the other ladies to not catch the bouquet. He had plans!

We took off for the Country Music Hall of Fame, right downtown. I had to chuckle when Bitsy would make a beeline for any fiddle in the displays. Not only can Bitsy sing, she plays violin and has played with the Nashville Praise Symphony. The exhibits were interesting, and I was intrigued by the various stage performance outfits. Bill and Harold tolerated us and the myriads of people. I'm not sure if the place is always that crowded, but it was rather crowded that day.

Stuck, stuck...

I think noisy would be my overall impression of Nashville. There was a Predators game going on, resulting in $30 event parking and yellow and black jerseys everywhere. There were several rooftop bars filled with people. Vanderbilt and Tennessee State University both had homecoming games. Party buses, blasting music and filled with bachelorette parties, were everywhere. Scooters were dodging in and out of traffic and on and off the sidewalks. There were just a lot of loud, noisy people. Nashville is a trending city. As Bitsy said, I think I would have liked it better as a "ain't" city.

Looking at the visitor guides, we did see several places we'd like to visit another time. The zoo for one, and the Lane Museum for another. Bitsy also highly recommended the Christmas season at Opryland. So, we'll be back another time and hopefully, it won't be quite so busy.

On the pedestrian bridge