Opry and Leftys

Lisha and I visited Opryland this past weekend. We only saw a portion of it. We hit the Grand Ole Opry Hotel first, and later the Opry Mills Mall. The Hotel was not what I expected. It is more of a zoo than a hotel. One could get lost very quickly in this zoo. This hotel not only has river but a geyser-size fountain.

Anyway, lets discuss the important part of this adventure. Opry Mills Mall is the best mall I have ever been to. They have every store you could ask for and many of them are outlet/factory stores. Inside they have these restaurants: Rainforest Cafe, The Aquarium (underwater), T.G.I. Friday's, and a whole food court that has many places you wouldn't expect in a mall. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe. It was an adventure in itself. Take your kids there.

I still haven't discussed the important part: Gibson and the custom shop. They have a Gibson store in the mall. They have a Gibson store in the mall. Did I mention they have a Gibson store in the mall? I walked in to see about fifty Les Pauls hanging on the wall. Most of them were priced over $25oo. Here comes the emotional part of the story. As I gazed at the beauty of all these delicious specimens on the wall, I saw every finish Gibson had to offer garnished with golden hardware. I stared through a window in the distance to see shelves of fresh wood. A lot of this wood was already shaped for beautiful instruments. I realized I was witnessing the miraculous birth of many more beautiful specimens. I looked the other direction, and for some reason, there was a free taco bar by Qdoba. As I turned the corner, I could sense some kind of piercing aura in the air. Then I saw them. Hanging on their throne of a rack, were two LEFT-HANDED Les Paul Supremes beautified by a wine red and root beer finish, respectively. end of story. (me sobbing)