The Adventures of the Bridge 5 in the USA

A short time ago in a galaxy in close proximity to ours we commenced a journey of discovery to the land that is known as the mighty US of A. It was the first time for these newbies to head across to the centre of this Universe and we were both excited and felt a little trepidation not knowing what to expect.

3/9/2017 - Fathers Day

Fathers day amid the emotion of an unexpected family tragedy and the expectation of a pending tragedy we celebrated as best we could with the kids and then had a massive lunch with Dad, then it was head into Brisbane to be closer to the airport for tomorrows flights.

I was nervous about the travel and worried about those we were leaving at home to cope emotionally. I so wanted to hold my family close during this time. Maybe the distraction and grandeur of the Good 'Ol US of A will be what I need.

4/9/2017 - FLY OUT DAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRISON

Harrison flew to Fiji on his first birthday and now turning 10 he fly's to the USA.

Nice that he also arrives in the USA on his 10th birthday so he was wondering if he gets two presents.

Brisbane to Sydney seemed tame in comparison of what was to come. But to traverse to the opposite side of the globe takes time. So at 12:30 pm we commenced what would be the longest leg of our entire trip. 15 hours from Sydney to Dallas Fort Worth. The kids handled the travel like seasoned veterans and we all managed to get some sporadic sleep. A couple of movies each helped us pass the time and the occasional snooze. I know the old saying "a watched kettle never boils" but flight status checks every now and then helped track our progress.

As i write this we are 52 minutes from Dallas, somewhere over Texas after skirting along the Mexican border. More to come as we celebrate Harrisons birthday US Style.......

The whole sleeping on the plane thing is never easy when you're 6ft 1 and the guy in front of you has to violently recline his seat 2 hours into the flight. I mean it's 2 PM buddy are you having an afternoon nap!!!!

Anyway we made it to the land of opportunity, home of the free and checked into to our hotel in Dallas.

Jetlag is a bugger...... just saying! We spent the afternoon by the pool with a couple of beers / ciders and the kids had a swim. We crashed out early, me by 7 the rest by 8 but at 1:30 AM, BAM!!!! Eyes wide open and hello world. News from home isn't great as mum was admitted to hospital again. Finally nodded off after listening to SEN Radio via my phone back in OZ. Although its hard to sleep on your side wearing whopping big headphones.

5/9/2017 - The Worlds Largest Honky Tonk

All awake and a Buffett breakfast kicks of the day. had our first language barrier this morning when Bec wanted Tomato with her omelette, well you know how the song goes "You say Tomato, I say Tomato ......." .

Going to head out to Billy Bob's, the largest Honky Tonk in the world. We headed out to Fort Worth where there boys were a little shocked to see a civilian with a gun on their hip! But we were in the middle of cowboy country. We went to the Rodeo Hall of fame, they had some amazing stuff including Roy Rogers (doesn't everybody) horse Trigger. Jackson and Harmony even got to sit on a longhorn!

And this man who was in the hall of fame as a Rodeo Clown. A hero Just the same!

Then we checked out Billy Bobs. They say everything is bigger in Texas but I couldn't imagine the size of this place. A massive stage and dance floor, bars everywhere, a massive arcade of games and pool tables and, wait for it, an indoor Rodeo arena!!!!! Yep everything is bigger in Texas.

Had my first "Bud" in the USA at Billy Bobs and this is the guitar bar in the venue.

We couldn't stay too long because we had to get back for our flight to Nashville.

AT 2:55 we headed out of Texas on American Airlines. As we boarded the two grey haired pilots offered the kids pilot's "wing" badges. I couldn't help but think these guys could be "Clarence Over" and "Victor" from flying high.

"Have you got the clearance Clarence" "Give me the Vector Victor" "You have Clearance over" "No No its Clarence Over"

A great flight and we landed safe and sound in Nashville Tennessee. We were met by Kristy and Trav and Jamie and then it was off to their beautiful home in Hendersonville. One quick stop on the way, the bottle shop. And they had 1.75 litre bottles of Johnny Walker Black label, so big you needed a handle to pour it, everything is bigger in the Home of the Brave.

6/9/2017 - The Tourists

First real tourist day and what a day it was. First Stop, the Grand Old Opry. We did the backstage tour and boy oh boy stood on that very circle of wood that Hank stood on all those years ago. It was a pretty emotional experience walking through the place where my heroes played. Seeing the plaques on the wall of all the guys who sang those songs that id heard my dad sing as a child.

As i stood on that circle of wood taken from the original stage at the Ryman Auditorium I felt the history run through me.

BUCKET LIST ITEM CHECKED - Stand on the Opry Stage

The next stop was the American Music History Exhibition at Madam Tussauds. A great exhibition of so many life like wax statues. A great way to finish our first day of Tourism 101.

Time to head back to Hendersonville for a few quiet Buds and to rest up for Nashville day 3.

7/9/17 - Music Royalty

Hendersonville is so close to so much music history.

10 minutes from where we are staying is the final resting place of the great Johnny Cash and the love of his life June.

And a few miles up the road is the lakeside block where they lived. I say block because the sad part is that the house was burned to the ground.

Barry Gibb from the Bee Gees bought the home in 2006 from the Cash estate. During renovations an electrical spark ignited some paint and the house was razed. When Barry planned to rebuild the outcry was so much that he gave up and sold the property. There are still charred beams lying in the driveway as an eerie reminder of the houses fate.

On the way back home we popped by to see Conway Twitty's old house now used as the heart of a musical museum and events centre. The only possible use this could have.

After an over the top Mexican dinner at Kristy and Trav's favourite mexican restaurant we headed home and settled in to watch "Walk The Line". Tomorrow Downtown Nashville.

8/9/17 - Downtown Nashville

It's Friday 11 AM and we are strolling down "Broadway" in Nashville. The big smoke of Nashville is party central and attacks the senses from every angle. Every bar except one, with a band stage in the Window and rotating bands starting from 10 am through to 2 am. Back to back they come through and obviously they improve as the day goes on. None of these bands get paid, they play for tips, so to earn a living they need to make the audience happy. Not a bad solution, it would certainly get rid of half the cover singers i see here who don't really care about their craft or audience at local gigs.

We walked around town right down broadway and crossed the river to check out the Tennessee Titans football stadium.

Then first tourist stop, the Johnny Cash Museum.

The kids were talking about the history of Johnny Cash and the Americans locals were suitably impressed they had so much they knew about Johnny. Parenting 101 - Teach your kids about Johnny Cash!

He's cool, he was always his own man and he blazed trails. Not a bad role model really (aside from the ugly parts of his life).

I

t just so happened that we'd stumbled across the grand opening, upstairs or the new Patsy Cline museum. It was Patsy's birthday so to celebrate her Daughter Julie came in to the opening of the museum. We got to meet her and talk to her about her mum and the influence on us that she had with her music. This was one of those Lucky moments of being in the right place at the right time. :-)

Headed ack to Hendersonville because it's Time for "Friday Night Lights" Henderson High School Football.

To say America does nothing by half is an an understatement of mammoth proportions. This was an event.

Another right place at the right time moment. We stumbled across the local "Derby" or Arch rivals game. The stands were packed, bands were stacked both home and away and the buzz around the ground was electric. The game itself seemed secondary as the standing room areas became the local meeting place for 100s of high school students. The stands were packed with the whole community. Parents, friends, grandparents, brothers and sisters, just about everyone was there.

At half time they even had a "band off". The opposing high school bands. First was the reduced size of the away team as they did their synchronised display. Then the home team and their theme, "Beatlemania" woo hoo!!

It was coordination at its finest as they marched, stepped, swayed and played in time with a medley of Beatles Tunes. THEY WON of course.

The game was fast and high scoring but the home team lost 37 - 21. Some amazing athletes on each team that are surely college bound.

All in all it was a great night under the Friday night lights!

9/9/2017 - Sliding Doors

Today we took a step back through history but on the way we had one of those "Sliding doors" moments.

Standing in the queue for tickets into the country music hall of fame the usher announces that there was a free songwriters show in the auditorium. So the Bridge 5 shuffle in to what turned out to be an awesome 45 minutes.

Wil Nance and Tim Hubbert. Who are they you may ask? Well you may have heard "She's Everything" by Brad Paisley or "In a round about way" by George Strait, both of them were written by Will Nance. Tim Hubbert had a number 1 hit with a song Kevin Sharpe Recorded "She's sure taking it well". It was a great 45 minutes of laughter and amazing songs. Right place, right time. A sliding doors moment.

In a round about way - Will Nance

She's sure taking it well - Tim Hubbert

Then we proceeded to take in the history that is the country music hall of fame. With so many of our musical heroes celebrated. Elvis' and Webb Pierce's customised cadillacs we there in all their gaudy glory but the piece that stopped me in my tracks and made me ponder the impact it had on all of us was a simple Martin D28 guitar. Why was it so special, it's was Hank Williams Martin guitar that he wrote so many of the greatest country songs of all time with. A moment of awe and inspiration.

Headed home back to Hendersonville and time to head out to Pucketts in columbia Tennessee to have dinner and watch Kristy and Trav play.

They invited us up for a few songs so this became of Debut in the USA. Pucketts, Columbia, Tennessee.