Sunday, October 16, 2001

We had breakfast at the unit this morning and then went to a timeshare meeting where they tried to get Karyle to spend more money. She didn’t budge, but we got tickets to a Elvis Show for tomorrow night for listening to the junk.

We headed over to the Opry Mall and walked around the whole thing. We had lunch at the TGI Friday’s Restaurant there. After lunch we walked over the Opry Land Hotel. The place is absolutely huge! There are at least three hotels in the one complex with a complete Convention Center also. We got lost walking around the place a couple of times. The inside of the buildings is glassed over and contains walkways, a waterway, shops, restaurants, falls, dancing waters and who knows what else. It took us an hour or more to see every area of the building.

Karyle decided to pack it in for the day after that, which allowed me to visit some fire stations after 1400 hours. I dropped her off at the unit, and headed to nearby Station 22. They pulled out the engine for me there and told me that almost 3/4 of their runs are to the Opry Land Complex. They said that on runs to the hotel, they wait for a runner to show them where to go. They said that once people stay there, many don’t go back because of all the walking and the $10 parking fee (yes- for patrons staying there too).

The firefighters said in jest that they need to drop a pop corn trail to find their way out of the hotel. Engine 22 is one of the last white rigs still left in first line service in the NFD. They also had a huge Water Rescue Boat at the station. The shops extended the cab and built the rig utilizing an old medic rig for the back end. I headed to Station 29.

The guys at 29’s were also very nice and pulled out the rigs for me also. I got photos of the Engine and Truck there. Then I headed to nearby Station 1. Station 1 had one of the four Squads that respond to all working structure fires in the city. They are also the home of Engine 1. I met a really neat firefighter there and he pulled out the squad for me and arranged for the engine to be pulled out also.

I headed back past 29’s to Station 18, in one of the fire-prone neighborhoods in town. I got a station photo only as the sun was going down and I wanted to get to the oldest station in the city, Station 14. It took me a while to find it, but I finally did find Station 14 and found nobody at home. I got a very nice station shot anyway.

Then I headed back to the unit. We had dinner in the unit and then went to the Texas Trubadore Theatre for a free show that is put on by the Fairfield timeshare chain. It was very good and featured a great four-piece country western group. They were really good, especially the lead singer and the keyboard player.

They have an intermission where someone from the Fairfield chain tells you about all the tours and the events for the week. Then the bus driver for the Tootsie Tours chain got up and broke us all up with his jokes and story telling. Then he gave away a silver Mustang to one of the participants. The guy next to me had the winning ticket. He went up on stage and the bus driver have him a 20-inch wooden cutout of a mustang-painted silver.

The group entertained us again after the intermission and the show ended and we got back to our unit around 2100 hours. Tomorrow, Karyle is planning on going to the Nashville Zoo, on the south side of town. I’ll probably visit some south side NFD stations while she is at the zoo.

That’s all for now.