One question we ask ourselves quite often is that if we could go back in time, where would we go? There are no wrong answers obviously, but for me, mine might be a little different.
Had a conversation with someone recently and we were discussing how much Nashville has grown in the last ten years. Then he says to me, “Nashville is fantastic but the city allowed two things to happen that they will never recover from.” I leaned in and said, ‘What is that?” He looked at me, “The two biggest mistakes, two huge mistakes, was letting Opryland and Starwood go.”
I have written extensively on here about missing both but never put them together in the same story. As I sat there, it hit me, my childhood playground was Opryland. My adult playground was Starwood. How wonderful would it be if our kids and this generation had those two great places around?
I get asked all the time why they had to close and I really don’t know. Some say Opryland was bleeding money but when you haven’t updated a ride since the 1812 Worlds Fair, that might be a problem. Put some money into that back then and that place would be a cash cow today. My mom would drop us off and say I will be back here at 10 and don’t be late. We would be waiting ten minutes early after spending all day running through the park.
Starwood, I don’t know for sure. Someone said the property was being sold to develop condos but have been by there lately? It looks like the back seat of my car. Just a complete disaster, with a Zagnut and Krackel on the floorboard. Starwood was our adult playground. Yes, we have that amphitheater downtown and there is one in Franklin, but of course they don’t and can’t replace Starwood, nor should they.
Someone mentioned that Jelly Roll would love to bring Starwood back and I say don’t. Too much time has passed for both places. Opryland closed in 1997 and Starwood in 2006. Let them rest in peace and in our memories.
Here is what I would do if I had more than $43 in my checking account. Build another amusement park and then, build another outdoor theater, both in the same vein as Opryland and Starwood. Have zero references to the other two so they can stand on their own. Let these kids make new memories that they can pass down to their kids.
I feel bad my son won’t know what it is like to eat 17 banjo bars and run through the park all day long with that being your only meal. Or stopping the Thin Lizzies to swap seats or hide and scare people as they came by. Or getting on the carousel and as you are going around and around, scream out loud that you are sick and getting ready to throw up. To see so many people scatter so quickly was a sight to see.
Or at Starwood. The fresh smell of gange in the air, along with Jack Daniels. A pouring rain where everyone is sliding down the hill. Sitting second row at a Motley Crue concert and it being so loud, you called sick into work the next three days because you couldn’t hear anything. And on and on and on.
Our DNA if you grew up in middle Tennessee is still there within us, even though a mall and disaster zone have taken the place of our playgrounds.