Experiencing five decades of Johnny Cash

Our journey took us next to Nashville, Tennessee, and our very first stop was the Johnny Cash Museum.

Actually, the absurdly expensive nearby parking lot was our first stop, and that offered our first true taste of downtown Nashville. More interesting than the jacked up parking rates, we also saw the first of many drunken bachelorette parties. This one was climbing onto the stools of a mobile bar that they could power through the city by pedaling as they partied.

We later found it's better to hunt for an actual garage, since they can afford to offer a more reasonable rate thanks to the larger number of customers they can accommodate.

"Hello. I'm [the] Johnny Cash [Museum]."

As a fan of Johnny Cash, the museum was an experience I'd been anticipating. My wife isn't that much of a fan, and this contrast eventually helped shape my overall impression of the museum.

We picked up our tickets at a line between a cafe and the gift shop. Guests were shown into the museum in intervals to keep the small exhibit rooms from getting too crowded. While we waited, we looked around to see Johnny Cash pictured on all kinds of souvenirs and listened to some of his lesser-known songs over the speakers in the room.

This combination of listening and looking turned out to be an accurate prelude for what was to come.

Five decades of Johnny Cash.

Inside, the main hall featured exhibits along one wall, and listening stations along another.

It was crowded, so it took some patience to wait for headphones to become available, but I was able to listen to full Cash songs representing music from the 1960s through 2000s. In the space of that first hour, I enjoyed five decades of Johnny Cash.

The exhibits offered a lot of history, plus some really cool pieces such as a hand-written letter from Johnny Cash to his friend and former Air Force buddy Ted Freeman.

It began, "Friend, you've been cussin me for weeks now, but I've been on the road for weeks and I ain't had time to write.

"I've been to Beaumont, Galveston, San Antonio, Wichita Falls, Amarillo, Lubbock, Abilene and San Angelo, Texas..."

Through the rest of the museum, we found movie screenings; listening stations for artists Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins; audio comparing the quality of Cash tunes produced through the years on records, cassettes, discs and digital devices; and other cool exhibits, including the mixing board used to record Cash's final records.

The mixing board used for Cash's last albums under the American Recordings label.

Overall, there were hours of music to enjoy and lots of interesting things to learn. I mentioned earlier that my wife wasn't a big Johnny Cash fan, and that led to a lot of killing time for her while I listened to another song and tried to take in the whole experience.

Because of all the listening stations, the Johnny Cash Museum is better suited for one person than it is a pair of visitors. Had each audio exhibit offered a couple sets of headphones, it would've been a better overall experience for the two of us together.

As it was, though, I had a great time as a Johnny Cash fan, and would definitely recommend the museum to any fans who will take the time to really enjoy the music, for it's those decades of songs that are the museum's greatest treasure.