Patsy Cline Museum

Let’s go back to Nashville, shall we?

One of the best decisions I made during my last visit to Nashville was to check out the Patsy Cline Museum. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing to go there. My original plan to tour the Ryman was impeded by a matinee interfering with afternoon tours. There are  many museums in town but I couldn’t get out of my head the idea that I needed to see the Patsy Cline Museum.

It’s on the second floor of the Johnny Cash Museum. By the way, that one was a madhouse – noisy and with people standing everywhere. In comparison, the Patsy museum was a bastion of quiet, sophistication and the smooth sounds of Patsy’s voice.

This isn’t a large museum but it’s extremely well done and there appears to be room for growth as they acquire more pieces for the collection. They have some stage costumes (made by her mother and beautifully done), furnishings from her her home and even a booth from the soda fountain where she worked as a young woman. Costume jewelry, the watch she was wearing when she died and lots of music can be found here.

A jukebox plays “Crazy” on a loop and a video tells her life story.

It’s all very well done and tells her story, which is quite old now, in a way that feels timeless – much like her music.

I was torn because the experience was so pleasant with only a handful of other visitors in the museum during my visit while other attractions like the Cash museum downstairs, had lines out the door. I hope their attendance picks up and that they’re able to survive. The thought of a Patsy Cline museum not surviving in Nasvhille is shameful.

Want to go? Get more details here.