It’s been said, “If you want to hear God laugh, just tell Him your plans.” This week we’ve heard a lot of laughing. It started with...
Wally and Darcy’s Plan A: We’re going to take a 160 mile three-day river trip from the head of Lake Barkley, KY to Nashville, TN. On Saturday we’ll go to a Grand Ole Opry Show.
God: (We should have heard the snickering) LOL
Dammed up for flood control, the lower Cumberland River has spread into the Kentucky valleys creating Lake Barkley. Less than a mile away to the west and parallel with the Cumberland River/Barkley Lake is the Tennessee River/ Kentucky Lake created by another set of dams. The Land Between the Lakes has become famous as a resort area. As we began our journey to Nashville, we loved the serenity of the river-lake region. Our Dover Island anchorage the first night and our marina stay in Clarksville, TN on the second night were everything we had hoped for. As we cleared the Cheatham Lock on Day 3, we were hailed by a motor yacht docked at a riverside restaurant. “Are you heading for Nashville? Do you know that the riverfront there is closed for two days for a race?” It was lunch time... we would have been there by supper! Jane, our customer service lady at the Grand Ole Opry, took our dilemma to the higher-ups who agreed to refund our non-refundable tickets. Three days later we were back at Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand Rivers, KY.
Wally and Darcy’s Plan B: The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN is only two hours drive from Grand Rivers, KY. There is a show on Tuesday, Oct. 4th at 7pm. We’re going to drive a rental car to Nashville. We’ll arrive early enough to have a backstage tour at the original downtown Ryman Theater; maybe even go backstage at the Grand Ole Opry.
God: (the chuckles are now audible) LOL
Our 10am ride to the rental car office arrived at 11am. Just as the rental agreement was about to be printed at the office, the computer system went down. Wally and I looked at each other and began to giggle... it’s almost predictable! The two-hour drive to Nashville began at 12 o’clock noon... way behind our schedule. We found a space in a parking garage just up the hill from the Ryman Theater and hot-footed it down. Posted on the door was a notice... the backstage tours had been suspended at 2:00 to prepare for a special event that night. It was 2:20! It’s another hitch in our plans, but by now we burst out laughing. It was becoming clear that this trip was out of our hands. For the next hour we strolled downtown Nashville, listening to the live performances up and down Broadway, and then walked to the river to see where our boat would have been docked if we could have made it to the Metro Nashville Marina. When we arrived at the Opryland venue on the outskirts of the city it was 4:03. Yes, you guessed it... the backstage tours at the Grand Ole Opry had ended at 4:00. By now we were almost in stitches...laughing. Some things are just not meant to be. We had a great meal at Moe’s Southwest Grill, then joined a sold-out crowd of 4,400 country music lovers for a most enjoyable and memorable two hour Grand Ole Opry concert. By 10 pm we were back on I-24 and by midnight we were back on the boat... safe and sound. It wasn’t the plan we thought we’d follow, but it was wonderful. Thank you, God!
Created by Darcy Campbell
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