Road Trip 04-22-09

04-22-09
So I go to the RV office and pay for 2 more days here and to find out about the driver Jerry and his schedule. Turns out Jerry is a sub contractor and usually running every night but we were the only ones using him so he called it a night. We'll just use a cab again, it is just more convenient, come and go as you please. We go to downtown looking for a place to eat lunch and and when we get there it is out of business. We park the Jeep and we find another place called 417 Union. It looks to be an old ice cream parlor (the old soda jerk taps are still behind the counter). Kevin our waiter comes to the table and we order our drinks and figure out what to eat. Today's special is open faced roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and green beans and I decide to order it, Dixie wants the House speciality 'Rattle Snake Chicken'. When Kevin arrives Dixie orders, I say that I want the roast beef, Kevin suggests that I don't and recommends that I order the open face turkey sandwich instead, I take his advice. The food arrives and my smoked turkey is as stated and with cranberry sauce $8 and is wonderful, however Dixie's pasta dish blew mine away. It was penne pasta in a cajun cream sauce with mushrooms, fire roasted red peppers and blackened chicken on top. 2 slices of garlic toast for pushers. $10. We have decided to go to the Country Hall Of Fame Museum. They have different selections of passes, get the regular but with the audio device which adds $2 for a total of $22 per person. We were told to alllow 1 1/2 hour for the tour, it's 2 o'clock. This is a BIG place. They have one, two, and three head guitars, movies, display cases, Elvis's Gold Caddy, Elvis's Gold Piano. Webb Pierce's silver dollar Bonneville, hundreds of Gold and Platinum records, Johnny Cash,Porter Wagner, Bonnie Dodd. Everybody from the beginning of Hillybilly Music to Today's is there. And there is a lot there. If you are a fan of Hank Williams and Jr. you will love this place, there is a huge area devoted to them. Item of note Jr, grew his beard to hide scars from a mountain climbing accident that almost killed him. Obviously this is a must go to place. At the end is the Hall Of Fame Room with all of the recipients placques hung on the walls. At 5 o'clock they throw you out so make sure you allow 4 hours or more for this informative and entertaining excursion. We have decided that we will have happy hour on Broadway and then have dinner at a restaurant close to theRV park. It's 5:30 and we are thirsty, we drive to Broadway and the first stop is Robert's Western World. It is a bar and they also sell Boots, I think mostly it is a bar. They have a 3 piece band playing and we like so we get 2 Ultras. They have a 2nd story bar that they call the Sho-Bud. Go there to find out why. The one girl working the bar serves the drinks and also cooks the hot dogs, burgers and such, they have what they call Robert's Western World Stimulus package. This is a Hot Dog, a Busch Beer, a Lay's Potato chip and a Moon Pie, all for $5. I think that meal covers all the food groups. We throw in a tip for the band out the door we went. Next stop is the Stage, big stage with 6 piece band playing, decorations of guitars, western stuff etc. This place once held an informal Grand Ole Opry performance when Dr. King was killed and there was a curfew in effect in Nashville and the Opry cancelled its live performance for the first time in 47 years. All the bars on Broadway that back up to the Opry have a back alley that the entertainers could use the back doors to enter the bars from the Ryman auditorium which is right across the alley. The girl singing is great and she is also a bartender at The Stage. She sings 3 songs, The other female singer with the band is passing around the tip jar while she is singing. It is her day off so she is sipping a drink after she sings. The band's regular singer gets on stage and she really has a voice and uses it for about 4 songs and then they pack it up. We finish our beers and out the door we went. Next stop is The Bluegrass Inn. The bands playing, 4 females and 2 guys with a drummer that looks like Forest, good solid music. They are playing their set when 3 guys come in, they must have been record producers or scouts because the band knows them and then all of a sudden you could feel the pressure on the band to perform. They are trying too hard and the stress shows in the singers voices. They are screwing up by trying too hard. The 3 guys don't finish the PBR's that they are drinking and leave, the band knows that they blew it. Of note, all the bands playing in these bars are all working for tips, they do this for the practice, the exposure and most of all they are waiting to be the next big act to be discovered. This band will have a long time coming before they have a shot. The rush hour traffic is over and we get back to the coach at 8. We fix a drink in a to go cup and walk to (I have been waiting since I first saw the sign to review this restaurant) The 'Cock Of The Walk' Restaurant. It is only about a 1/4 mile from the park. We get to the Cock at 8:10 and they close at 9 so it is basically empty of customers. It is a large restaurant that is divided into small rooms and it's like everything is set up like they do with the sit down restaurants at Disney. Even the lights over the tables have 'Cock of the Walk' punched into them. A very limited menu, everything is prepared ahead of time. They have seated us in a room right next to the kitchen, there is no one else in the room with us. On the menu they have conCOCKed a story about how they named the restaurant. We order a pitcher of beer that comes in a tin pitcher and two tin cups to drink from. Their specialty is catfish (Their sign says 'World's Best Catfish') so I order it, Dixie orders the Filet. The food arrives on tin plates. On my plate, 4 pieces of cornbread coated catfish with hushpuppies, french fries and 2 tarter sauces. Dixie's plate the filet mignon, toasted texas bread, a baked potato with butter and cheese on it and a sour cream container. Side dishes of pickled onions and cole slaw and corn bread. Dixie's salad comes still covered with saran wrap. I went into this review planning on making fun of this place but for the money it was a good deal. Dixie's steak was good and cooked correctly, her salad fresh even if it was packaged blue cheese dressing, her baked potato loaded. The catfish, I have never really thought farm raised catfish tasted like anything, and this catfish had no flavor either except for the corn bread coating, they were cooked crispy the way I like it, the huspuppies were great, the coleslaw came in a crock and was delicious, a whole plate of cornbread in a cast iron skillet was good, pickled onions something different and good. This is a place that will never have a 5 star rating but if you are looking for a lot of good food that won't break the bank this place will suit you just fine. We finish our meal, and out the door we went. See Ya Brian