After four days in the Keystone State of Pennsylvania - during which time I had the pleasure of seeing Sharon Isbin play - and a grueling thirteen hours on the road through snow, closed highways and lack-of-sleep-induced delirium, I find myself this week in Nashville, Tennessee.

In town to book my solo show for dates late this year and next, I’m working from the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center; a sprawling, massive city unto itself, and the largest non-casino hotel in the United States. Though not on the scale of some of the Vegas casinos, the Opryland Resort does feature some stunning indoor environments, including several conservatories and atriums, a series of stunning lobbies with soaring ceilings, beautiful furniture and elegant carpets as well as many restaurants and shops.

Though the facilities are nice, there are some complaints. I’m from the Northeast and am quite accustom to overpriced cities, yet I’ve been astonished at the high prices found here and the startling ability for the Opryland Resort to find a way to charge you for absolutely everything. A poignant example can be had in the fact that though the resort boasts extensive convention facilities, there is no wireless internet access (well, see photo below for the truth of the matter) in the building - that doesn’t sit well with most business travelers and those actually attending the conventions that the property hosts. Access can be had, but at a price and only on one of a mere few wired computers set up for such purposes. Parking is not cheap, food is astronomical and the coffee sucks.

Unfortunately for this traveler, Nashville is not a vegetarian-friendly city. There are options, but few and far between. That said, it is my fault for going to the Cock of the Walk with a group of friends - a restaurant that specializes in catfish and shrimp. The fried pickles turned out to be a great little treat though, and their hush puppies are excellent.

Perhaps I’m not far enough south for this, but one thing that is noticeably absent is any sense of southern hospitality, or any hospitality for that matter. I’m accustom to a cold and reserved treatment, spending a lot of time in Boston and New York will build such a tolerance, but it may be that Vermont has spoiled me. Virtually every person with whom I have had contact here in Nashville, despite being accommodating in answering my questions, has been noticeably cold and decidedly uninterested in getting personal or exchanging small talk. I’ve even gone out of my way to ask questions which inspire conversation and to drop little enticing comments to encourage further discussion, all to no avail. The people here in Nashville don’t care about you. They’re here to do a job, will be nice to you insofar as they are required, but will never give you a second thought once you are out of their sight.

One blessed exception was my experience at the hotel’s Volare Italian restaurant. After my Cock of the Walk experience - where I had enough fried food to power a large biodiesel car - I absolutely needed something more nutritious. Being on my own at this point, I sidled up to the bar at Volare and ordered their Insalata Volare house salad, which had some of my favorite salad ingredients - radicchio and mesclun, gorgonzola, candied pecans and white merlot soaked sun-dried cherries. The two members of the bar staff that served me - Jake and John - were not only extremely accommodating, but were interactive, fun and a joy to talk with. For the first time in three full days I felt that I was having a genuine human interaction with a member of the hospitality industry that was not forced, fake or merely cordial. Thanks go to Jake and John for making my solo dining experience an actual delight.

While on the topic of the few good bits of food that I’ve encountered here in Nashville, I must mention that I had the pleasure of indulging in fresh potato chips cooked with salt and vinegar and served with a side of curry for dipping. The chips were exceedingly fresh, pleasantly thick and full and the curry was very unexpectedly the perfect compliment to the chips!

Beyond my time at the Opryland Hotel, the fried food overdose at Cock of the Walk and the experience of seeing a very Asian country singer - a bizarre experience akin to a caucasian geisha (yes, I know one of those too) - the trip has been decidedly low-key. There’s a wax museum next to the hotel which I may check out tomorrow, I had the - ahem - “pleasure” of meeting some rather notorious people, and discovered that I rarely smile in pictures despite believing through-and-through that I am smiling wide.

Next on the to-do list? A 1:30 am departure from Nashville on Wednesday morning, a thirteen hour drive back to Pennsylvania, four hours of sleep and yet another thirteen hours spent on the road in the middle of the night to my next destination: Atlanta, Georgia.

tags: cock of the walk, fried food, gaylord opryland, naca, nashville, opryland, ron jeremy, tenessee, volare, chips and curry

This entry was posted on Friday, February 23rd, 2007 at 2:20 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.