We’re in Nashville and it’s raining. But we’re having a good time. There’s lots to do while we sit out the weather. We were planning to fly to Charlottesville VA (KCHO) today, and we tried hard to find a safe route, but there was nothing that avoided the thunderstorm cells, low cloud and ‘mountain obscuration’ (AIRMET SIERRA). As my good friend and pilot Rick told me when I got my pilot’s license: “If there’s ever any doubt, there’s no doubt.”

As I wrote already, we arrived on Wed (May 10) after a wonderful day of flying, and got to meet up with Dan’s son Ben (a musician and music school owner here) and daughter-in-law Ayla (the kids). Thursday was a total rest day, where we hung out with said kids by their apartment pool and also did laundry. And I have been eating plenty of my favorite Southern foods: grits, collard greens, cornbread and BBQ. Since we probably won’t get out of here weather-wise till Sunday (14th), we had a wide open day today.

Dan and I are both into music, and this is Music City. So the obvious choice was the Country Music Hall of Fame. It did not disappoint, with a fun and colorful story of country music from it’s roots in English, Irish, African and Mexican music all the way through country rock to Taylor Swift. We had a great time and I learned a lot – like did you know Ray Charles released two country music albums? His take on country was pretty cool (of course). There are SO many priceless instruments on display. We got to see Earl Scruggs’ banjo, a highlight for Dan, and I was digging all the stage costumes – the sequins, embroidery and fringe. And seeing Elvis’ gold-plated Cadillac is probably worth the price of the entry ticket.

Tomorrow, Ben’s music school (Music Lab) is putting on a student showcase and we’re going to be honored to be there. He’s celebrating two years of business and we are SO proud.