Nashville was to feature as one of our more extended stops and the journey there was eventful and for a time suggested it might be longer than we had anticipated. We had become aware of a slight leak the day before into the passenger side footwell, initially I put this down to air con condensation but closer inspection revealed coolant. Some advice from the Trans Am forums identified it as a likely blown heater core. Not something that could be fixed in the short term but a relatively easy work around to “by pass” if you know what you are doing. I don’t. So the plan was to push onto Nashville and find someone who did.

Before long though, Dione was sitting with towels at her feet soaked in coolant. She was remarkably genial about the experience. On a “bail out” stop at a gas station about 80 miles out of Nashville a tour bus rolled in next to us and out piled a bunch of musicians of various bands. We know for sure that amongst them were the The Jimmy Miles Band and The Outlaws. I know also there were others that I will fail to mention. They were enthusiastic about the car and bought t-shirts from us. Special mention to Diana Hall who also made a contribution to Alzheimer’s.

We stayed outside of Nashville at the Hotel Preston from where we put an all points broadcast on forums and to contacts for help with the coolant issue, before heading on into town.

Saturday night in Nashville. Short Dresses and Cowboy boots, everywhere. The short dresses mainly on the women but not exclusively. As sure as Bachelor and Bachelorette partys head to Vegas in The West they head to Nashville in the South, specifically to Broadway in Nashville.

We had been told about what to expect on Broadway but we were still slightly taken aback by the sea of neon, and heaving mass of people that awaited us. The mecca of live music mixed with copious alcohol consumption is centered around Honky Tonk Central pictured below on a Monday night when things had calmed down considerably.

This 3 floored decibel pumping palace was a little too intimidating for us so we opted for slightly calmer but still very lively surroundings. There are far too many to list but the highlight was The Stage where we watched an excellent John Karl set. Neither of us are huge country fans but we can appreciate live music played by talented musicians of pretty much any genre, and we enjoyed all the acts we saw over the couple of nights we spent in the area.

Come Sunday morning and our calls for help on the car were answered. Via Tom Fischer of Muscle Car Restorations I was given the name of Scott Coleman (Scott Coleman coincidentally being the name of long standing friend back home) who had offered to drive from his home an hour away across the State line of Kentucky to see the car, and attend to running repairs on my behalf. A couple of hours later, there he was with his two sons in tow, some radiator hose and fittings already purchased to apply the necessary band aid to by pass the heater core. We have no need for a heater in the South (or for the remainder of our trip for that matter) so replacement can wait. Dione (and her feet specifically) and I thank you again Scott!

We took Sunday pretty easy – Saturday have taken its toll but highlights included a trip to The Pharmacy Burger and Beer Garden and the Stone Fox Bar where unfortunately we were too early to take in any bands.

Refreshed on Monday we toured some of the areas around town. We took in the Musicians Hall of Fame Museum which celebrates those artists that have made the most impact on the history of music over the years with the least recognition, those session musicians that made careers at the recording labels such as Motown, Sun Studios and Nashville.

We spent the early evening in East Nashville which is the trendy answer to East Village and enjoyed a beer in the sun at the Red Door Saloon, before a reasonable Sushi dinner at Koto Sushi. The evening was spent again on Broadway at Legends Corner before another short visit to the Stage. Dione danced. I even joined her briefly. I have the video but she won’t let me post it.. Yet.

Memphis is up next. The ghost of Elvis awaits (on Union Avenue I understand).

Tim, 20th May 2015