"Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends." John F. Kennedy

     One of the unique things about travelling is the different experiences you can have on a trip. Believe it or not, just about anywhere you go, you can find some sort of museum, historical or informative tour. Some people don't like the idea of "looking like a tourist," but if I am visiting somewhere, I would like to learn a little bit about the place.
     On our recent trip to Nashville, Hunter and I took three different tours while in Tennessee. We visited the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, TN and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Studio B tour in Nashville, TN.
     We traveled a night early and stayed at the Best Western Plus in Fayetteville. If you ever need a place to stay in Fayetteville, I highly recommend the Best Western Plus. The nightly rates did not "break the bank," the hotel staff were very nice, and the continental breakfast was very good. We were super pleased with our stay here. We liked it much better than the Radisson in Nashville that we stayed at.
     On that Friday morning, we got up and took the maybe 20 minute drive to Lynchburg. We pre-purchased our tickets from www.jackdaniels.com.  The distillery offers five different types of tours. We chose to take the Angel's Share tour. We were very pleased! For the Angle's Share tour, we had approximately an hour and half tour around and in the distillery. We finished off the tour with a tasting of five different types of Jack Daniel's whiskey and a photo with our guide. Even if you are not a drinker of any sort, I would recommend at least taking the tour once. Just the process of making the whiskey and how the Jack Daniel's brand came to be is really interesting. For those of you that don't drink, a Dry County tour is available.
     To make any touring experience better, you have to have a good tour guide- and boy did we! Our tour guide Ron made our experience even better. He was very knowledgeable about the product, the process, and the history. I guess you could even say he looked the part! Even though we can check the Jack Daniel's Distillery off of our bucket list, I believe we would do this again.

Our tour guide Ron and I.

     Later that day when we arrived in Nashville, Hunter and I toured the Country Music Hall of Fame. This is a very famous spot in Nashville, so naturally, we had to visit it. We pre-purchased our tickets from Expedia.com. If you're booking a trip with your travel agent, this is one activity that your travel agent can book for you.
      When we arrived, the man at the front desk told us that the Studio B tour was over for the day (we had pre-purchased that activity on Expedia, as well.) However, he moved our reservation for the next day and printed us out new tickets. I think this was very nice of him to do so, and it helped us from losing our money. Hunter especially appreciated that!
     We started off our tour by reading the signs and descriptions for all of the exhibits. However, we quickly learned that if we stopped and read everything, we would be in there for hours! We enjoy some good ole country music, but maybe we aren't that devoted fans. I, of course, loved seeing one of Elvis Presley's cars and the Hee-Haw exhibit. I learned some interesting facts about different musicians. I am glad that we went, but I don't think we will go back any time soon, at least if it is just the two of us.

A section from the Hee-Haw exhibit.

      Between the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Studio B tour, the Studio B tour was undeniably my favorite. It was pretty much an Elvis studio tour. We got on a bus from the Country Music Hall of Fame that took us to Studio B. On our ride, we were able to see the Curb Records' building along with others that you always hear about. Our tour guide, whose name is also Ron, was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the tour. He took us in the the actual studio and played different songs that were recorded right where we were sitting. I thought that was very neat. Elvis' version of "How Great Thou Art" may have gotten me a little teary eyed.  The other interesting thing about this tour is that Studio B is still a working recording studio. You aren't just visiting a past studio.

The piano that Elvis Presley recorded the studio version of "How Great Thou Art" on, as well as, many other songs.

     I would certainly recommend visiting each of these places at least once. You won't be disappointed, unless you just hate local history, whiskey, or country music. If you can tolerate it, add these to your to-do list on your first or next trip to Nashville. If you have visited other museums, distilleries, or exhibits in the area, which are your favorite?

Happy Travelling!