He had me at “Hello.”

Johnny Cash, that is. I’ve only been in love with his mournful bass-baritone voice for a short time (since 2005, when the biopic “Walk the Line” first turned me on to the hell-raising maverick who originally wanted to be a gospel singer). Nevertheless, if CDs wore down like well-appreciated vinyl, my frequently replayed Cash discs would be ready for the junk pile.

Still, it’s understandable that I didn’t even think about the legendary musician while en route to Nashville, right? Yeah, I know, I know. I did see the movie. Plus, Cash is a huge country music icon, so it shouldn’t have been a shock to find remnants of his illustrious career in the country music capital, a city where Cash worked (from the Opry days to recording duets with Bob Dylan), crashed hard (the “lost year” when he lived in an apartment with fellow hell-raiser Waylon Jennings) and fell in love (he first saw June Carter, who later became his second wife, from the balcony at the Ryman Auditorium).

But I was excited when I walked down Broadway—a downtown thoroughfare previously blogged about on this site—and, out of the blue, met Johnny’s sunken eyes. Broadway offers a slew of souvenir shops—ones that hawk “Man in Black” action figures, magnets featuring Johnny Cash album covers, and black T-shirts emblazoned with the rocker’s famous San Quentin Prison concert photo (featuring Cash and, ahem, a bird of sorts).

After joining the retro-loving sightseers sifting through reprinted Johnny Cash concert posters at Hatch Show Print, one of the country’s oldest working letterpress print shops, I crossed the street and headed to the Ernest Tubb Record Store. A local landmark (it was once was home to the “Midnite Jamboree,” a long-running live radio show that Cash performed on), the store is filled with both hat-tipping Nashvillians and visiting country music aficionados. Here you can peruse an assortment of Cash albums, some of which feature a smiling Johnny and others that showcase a somber, haunted-looking man.

He’s also remembered at live music venues ranging from The Stage on Broadway, which features a colossal mural depicting Cash and other country legends, to Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, where black-and-white photographs cover walls that—if they could talk—would have more than a few wild Johnny Cash stories to tell.

For instance, there was the night Cash was banned from the Grand Ole Opry during a performance at the Ryman Auditorium (home to the Opry 1943-74), just around the corner from Tootsie’s. Cash made rock ‘n’ roll history when he dragged his microphone stand across the front of the stage in a fit of anger, breaking all the footlights. But, the historic theater harbors a lot of good memories of Johnny Cash, too. Today, Ryman visitors can see a memorabilia-filled dressing room dedicated to Cash, who made his Opry debut here in 1956. The famous venue also hosted “The Johnny Cash Show,” a variety television series that aired on ABC 1969-71. After the singer-songwriter’s death on Sept. 12, 2003, Country Music Television taped a tribute concert for Cash at the Ryman, with such stars as Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow and Kris Kristofferson celebrating his life and music.

Nearby, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum houses everything from Cash’s Martin D-35 guitar to a black leather duster made for him by Western couturier Manuel Cuevas. (The esteemed designer, who created several pieces for Cash, continues to fabricate show-stopping costumes at his shop at 1922 Broadway.) While I wasn’t exactly salivating over the museum’s deluge of Willie Nelson-, Dolly Parton- and Hank Williams-related memorabilia (if you’ve read my Grand Ole Opry blog, you already know I’m not a big country music fan), Cash’s suits, gold records and hall of fame plaque had me spellbound.

I’m sure there are more people out there like me, fledgling Cash devotees who’ve wholeheartedly sung along to hits like “Ring of Fire,” the humorous “One Piece at a Time” and the toe-tapping “Get Rythym” without knowing much about the man, or, in this case the “Man in Black.” If I’m correct in my assumption, then maybe I’m not the only one who’s stumbled across remnants of the legendary musician during his/her travels.

So, spill it. What Johnny Cash-related Nashville sites have I left out? What do you think are the top destinations for rock ‘n’ rolling vacationers?