Nashville Friday Five: Johnny Cash's Tour Bus, Tennessee History and More

1. Explore Johnny Cash’s tour bus at the Ryman

How much do you love barbecue? If you had an RV, would you install a rotisserie so you could properly cook your favorite meats while driving? Johnny Cash would — and did — and it is perhaps the most boss thing I’ve ever heard about the Man in Black. 

I learned this from his tour bus, which is on site at the Ryman Auditorium (and included in all tour tickets) until May. As recently noted by my fellow Scene contributor Margaret Littman, it’s on loan from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is still in the bonkers location of Cleveland — a fact that I, a Memphian by birth, am legally required to complain about every time it comes up. 

[Related complaint: Did you know Tina Turner lobbied for the HOF to end up in Cleveland? Tina was born in Nutbush! That’s an hour outside of Memphis. Tina! What gives? You were an icon, and I admire your love of Switzerland and your epic cover of “Missing You.” But I will never get over this.]

Joe Cortez offers this excellent primer on the bus: 

In 1979, a well-known country music artist purchased and renovated an MCI tour bus for $553,000 — the equivalent of $2.1 million today. Outfitted with the latest in comfort and technology, this bus traveled across the United States for over 20 years, logging thousands of miles as he took family and friends to his performances from town to town. That artist was best known as “The Man in Black,” and the bus earned the nickname “Unit One.” 

From June’s powder-blue compartment to the wood salvaged from a house Gen. Ulysses S. Grant used as a headquarters, this bus is worth seeing. Get tickets.

2. Take little kids to the Children’s Gallery at the Tennessee State Museum

When the weather sucks, so does parenting a toddler. If it’s hot, cold or rainy, parks and playgrounds can’t help, and may God have mercy on your soul until naptime. My go-tos are libraries and farmers markets, but while visiting the latter downtown, I found a new option: The Children’s Gallery. 

This lively, gym-sized room at the (free!) Tennessee State Museum is full of fun stations for kids from toddlers up to about age 8. And every activity teaches some Tennessee history. In one room, you can:

• Walk a giant map of the state, stopping to learn about fireflies in Oak Ridge or limestone in Clingman’s Dome

• Run a farmers market, play with trains, or use the “earthquake table” to see how Reelfoot Lake was created

• Trace fossils from the Gray Fossil Site — a place near Johnson City I had never heard of where, in just 2000, TDOT found fossils dating back 4.5 million years

• Try on musical costumes in West Tennessee’s STAX Records area, which pays homage to Memphis' music history (I hope you’re listening up there, Tina.).

• Pull up a canoe and enjoy story time Tuesdays and Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. 

On every fourth Saturday, story time includes an American Sign Language interpreter from BRIDGES, so everyone can listen and learn together. Check out all their kids’ offerings here.

3. Eat peanut butter dumplings at Dumpling House in Hillsboro Village

A low of 1 degree — Nashville’s Monday forecast — calls for fat and starch. Find both at Dumpling House on Belcourt Avenue.

When the Scene dubbed it “Best Dumpling Menu” last year, I had to go. I’m on a perennial hunt for local soup dumplings. I’m talking Nom-Wah, Din-Tai-Fung level dumps — with waxed-paper-thin wrappers and savory, slurpable soup steaming out of the hole your chopstick makes. Steam Boys' thick, gummy wrappers just don’t deliver, which is a shame considering their owners have all the Chinese-food bona fides Nashville is mostly missing. 

The bad news: neither did the ones at Dumpling House. They were fine! The filling was tasty but the wrappers were thick. To be fair, though, soup dumplings weren’t even mentioned in fellow contributor Jason Shawhan’s write-up, so I was already going rogue. But here’s the good news: Once the Peanut Butter Pork Dumplings came, I forgot I even ordered the others. 

Sold as a $7.99 appetizer portion, these rich, spicy, deeply seasoned dumplings are a satisfying meal on their own. The creamy, umami-charged sauce keeps them in the comfort-food lane, while the hit of tingly Szechuan pepper takes them up to truly cravable. Between these and the 15-plus other varieties they offer, I can’t wait to make my way through their whole menu this winter.

Tip: BYOWB. While Dumpling House will fill any water bottle, they will not give you a water cup. Bring one or pony up $1 for a bottle on site.

4. Buy a Dino’s Dog Calendar

Harsh truth: More than 4,000 dogs and cats were euthanized in Tennessee in 2022. It’s sad and awful and no one wants to think about it, especially on a Friday. But it’s also completely preventable. If everyone who bought a beautiful Australian shepherd, hilarious French bulldog or Big Dumb Doodle™ would adopt and not shop, we could end this epidemic in 2024.

Alas, that’s a big ask, so here’s an olive branch: the Dino’s Dog Calendar! This annual artifact features local pups rocking hand-sewn FurEverFriends bandanas all over the East Nashville dive bar. All profits go to Lifehouse Animal Refuge and Rehabilitation, a local organization that works tirelessly to rehome stray and homeless pets. I can speak to that work personally — at the bottom of this post are three very good boys my friends adopted from Lifehouse.

Buy your calendar, follow Lifehouse on Facebook (they’re most active there), and then check out all the other gorgeous goods from FurEverFriends. The leashes and toys are handmade from old T-shirts, their price point is low — $10 for a double-sided bandana — and they’ve donated $10,000 to animal organizations since their founding in 2014. To wit: In celebration of their 10th anniversary, owner Abby Walters is donating 10 percent of all bandana proceeds from now through March to Metro Animal Care and Control.

5. Tell me what’s happening with this Morgan & Morgan bus wrapper

What ... is this? 

Is this really John Morgan’s bare, spray-tanned, oiled-up chest? 

Is it because he’s a Floridian?

Did Morgan & Morgan suss out that Middle Tennesseans who file injury lawsuits also enjoy seeing the right nipple of a 67-year-old man? 

How many meetings did they have with WeGo about nipple placement?

Why is there no tagline explaining his blouselessness? “We kick ass so you can kick back.” There — job done. 

Most of all, is this working?

I think about this bus too much. I’ve reverse-image-searched the photo several times, and it still yields no results, so I guess I’m the only one. But if anyone has answers, I’d appreciate them. 

Your move, Bart Durham.