It rained overnight and we were up at 8.00 am. We left the carpark of the $300 per night hotel and drove about 2 kms to the General Jackson and Opry carpark. We bought tickets for the General Jackson paddle wheeler boat trip which was to leave at 12 noon and then wandered over to the gigantic mall. It was all locked up but a friendly worker told us we could go through a back door and wander through the Opry shopping mall. Sadly for Pip the shops didn’t open until 11am because it was a Sunday.
We went back to the vehicle and turned on the air conditioning and transcribed the first four days of this trip.
Dick walking along the wharf to the General Jackson Paddle Wheel boat
At 11.30 am we walked across the carpark to the General Jackson River Boat lunch cruise. It was a warm and relaxed day. We got a rum punch and listened to the band on the back deck.
Dick enjoying a rum punch Outside entertainment on the back deck of the General Jackson
As we got moving we went downstairs to the Victorian Theatre and had quite a nice buffet lunch.
Inside the General Jackson – the Victorian Theatre
The performer was Tim Watson – you could call him the equivalent to our John Williamson. He was very well known by the 98% American audience and he was very entertaining, playing great music with his band. We really enjoyed the concert.
Tim Watson and his band on board General Jackson
Dick sat against the window so that he could see out but surprisingly the trip down the Cumberland River, for about six miles towards Nashville was just green trees and vegetation on either side and very little industry.
Banks of the Cumberland River
There were a couple of sand loading cranes and as we got closer to Nashville Dick looked ahead to the north and saw the railway bridge opening. It was a swing bridge and Dick thought that we would go through it, but no, there was a small yacht coming the other way. The whole railway bridge opened up for a 30 ft yacht with a mast that was obviously 18” too high.
The bridge ahead was opened for a small yacht
We came right down to the township of Nashville and we could look across at the main buildings and the Country Music Hall of Fame. The paddle wheeler then did an extraordinary turn in the river. The boat was almost the same width as the river but it was a modern diesel and had bow thrusters so the turn was handled with ease.
City of Nashville from the bow of the General Jackson travelling on Cumberland RiverAnother paddle wheel vessel on the RiverA boat tied up near the Stadium in Nashville where the Tennessee Titans were playing gridiron
We turned around and headed back toward the Opry carpark – arriving there at around 2.45 pm. We went into the shopping centre again which was open and thriving so Pip was able to do some shopping while Dick spent time in the bookstore.
We returned to our Earthroamer and made a good old “Aussie” cup of tea in the carpark. It was raining lightly but it was quite steamy. We later had dinner, which we must admit was an American hamburger in the shopping centre and then drove about another 2 kms around the road to the KOA Campground. The actual campground office was closed but there was a simple self-registration form which required you fill in your AMEX number for $49.00.
Spent the night in the Nashville KOA Campground
We parked under a tree which meant the satellite TV didn’t work but no problems because we spent some time working on the website.
Dick checking his emails inside the Earthroamer
We also took the opportunity to do some washing and by 11.00 pm we were in bed.
