By: Samie

Travel Dates: July 2015

Nashville, TN

(Charlotte to Nashville, Grand Ole Opry Backstage Tour)

After a few lovely and jam-packed days in the bustling city of Charlotte, North Carolina, it was time to hit the road and start making our way back home. However, this did not mean our adventure had fully come to a close, as we still had several fun pitstops to visit along the road back home!

To kick us off on a positive note, our drive took us back through the absolutely gorgeous mountain range. We were once again surrounded by waves of lush green trees topped with scoops of fluffy white clouds!

At one of our rest stops, I made a cute little reptilian friend. Somehow, before it scurried out of its basking spot in the sunshine into safety, I was lucky enough to snap a picture of a young five-lined skink! The juveniles have bright blue tails, and you can still catch a glimpse of some shimmering blue scales on this little fella.

We crossed the border into Tennessee fairly early into our drive and found the perfect welcome center and sign to take our picture in front of! It beautifully incorporated the farmhouse southern charm I would’ve expected to see in Tennessee. You can almost hear the country songs twanging through the air around it!

We continued our way further into the state for about another three and a half hours until we reached the capitol city of Nashville! We just so happened to have some family in the area that we were able to meet up with so that we could spend an evening together.

After connecting, they took us to one of the most iconic Nashville destinations, the Grand Ole Opry! If you feel like you are experiencing deja vu, don’t worry! You aren’t going crazy! While back in 2015, this was my first visit to Nashville and the Opry, I have shared two other posts from adventures that take place in 2018 and 2024. In my 2024 post, I even share a collection of pictures from all three trips!

We got tickets for the backstage tour of the venue and got to see a wide assortment of behind the scenes fun. One unique thing we got to see were some pieces from the TV show (appropriately named) Nashville. The show was an American musical drama series that aired from 2012 to 2018. The Grand Ole Opry House was used as a filming location for the show, featuring scenes on its stage, in its hallways, and dressing rooms throughout the show’s run.

This put our visit during a pretty prime time in the show’s filming timeline! We got to see a set of costume pieces worn by the two main singers in the series, and it was crazy to see up close how petite the actresses must be to fit into those dresses!

Another fun thing we got to see during the tour was a very special little desk area. This is the first place artists will stop when they enter on a performance night. It was fun to walk the same path the music artists that perform here walk before stepping onto the gorgeous stage!

we moved on to see the Grand Ole Opry member mailboxes. The mail and fan letters these stars receive goes directly into the artists hands because they pick it up themselves! It doesn’t pass through any hands but the intended recipient!

Going hand in hand with the mailboxes, the next stop on our tour took us last the plaques of all the past and present Opry members. Despite not being an avid country music enthusiast or listener, there were some names that even I recognized like Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flats, Brad Paisley, Josh Turner, Darius Rucker, and Blake Shelton!

Then we got to walk by and see into several of the venue’s dressing rooms. There were six dressing rooms we got to see. I’m sharing two of them within this post, but if you want to see the other four, I’ve already shared them in my post from my 2018 trip, so you’ll have to check that out!

There was one single dressing rooms we got that we were actually allowed into. Roy Acuff had an open door policy, and he deemed every member of the Grand Ole Opry family. Since we took the tour, we became honorary family members and were therefore welcome into his dressing room! I took a seat on the couch and definitely felt right at home. Who knows. Maybe one day I’ll put my whole heart into being a singer, grace the stage of the Opry, and become a member myself!

Our final stop for the backstage portion of the tour brought us to a painting. A painting? What makes a painting so special you ask? Well, let me tell you! In May of 2010, the venue was absolutely ravaged by a record-breaking flood. The flooding was so intense, it forced the Opry to close its doors for five whole months for restoration. (You should search pictures from the flooding; they’re pretty gnarly!)

When the flooding hit, they were unfortunately unable to save a large painting that was the artist’s favorite of their own work. Fortunately, the water mark that can be seen in the middle of the painting was miraculously the only damage done!

The very last stretch of the tour brought us to the stage itself! All of us on the tour formed a line and patiently waited our turn to stand on the six foot circle of the original stage of the Grand Ole Opry before it found its final and permanent home here. The circle where thousands of artists have stood to perform!

They snapped some souvenir photos for us on the circle, and we had the opportunity to purchase them at the completion of the tour. I looked so natural with a microphone in my hand on one of the most popular stages in the United States that I couldn’t pass up the chance to purchase my picture. I’m so very glad I did too because I look so small and skinny! Plus there will forever be an adorable 3-year-old Rebekah creeping up on my right cemented into this memory now!

As we made our exit, I got to reflect on what a great first visit of this stage was. It obviously left its mark because it became a recurring destination for every trip to Nashville from then on.

Before we knew it, the day was coming to a close, and the time to once again hit the road was drawing near.

To close out our time in the Music City, we got take a short and scenic walk past some of the most beautiful flowering plants and trees that I had ever come across. I couldn’t resist snapping some gorgeous photos with the setting sun as my backdrop.

We continued our walk until we arrived at our dinner destination, the Opry Backstage Grill. Not only did they have tasty and enjoyable food, but they also had some great live music provided by the employees!

After filling our bellies, it was time to say goodbye to our Nashville family, hop back in the van, and start making the drive to our next hotel for the night. Driving into the dusky last light of Nashville was the perfect way to end Day 7!