Makin' it Big in Nashville

After our nice quiet visit to the Hermitage, we decided to take the city of Nashville head on. And I know that the first thing that people think of when they hear "Nashville" is ancient Greece, right? Well, for my twins, it was. The first thing that the twins wanted to see was the Parthenon - an art museum that is a full scale exact replica of the original in Greece (only this one is not marble). My Greek mythology buffs were so anxious to see it.

It was massive! The next best thing to being in Greece.

Unfortunately, the museum is not open on Mondays, but the boys still enjoyed running around the giant columns.

I got some good shots. I guess now I don't have to visit Greece after all.

The good ol' RV awaits. (It looks small in comparison to those massive columns)

Finally, we drove into downtown Nashville! The first thing we saw there was the Hard Rock Cafe, and since Nate collects Hard Rock pins, Dennis pulled over and dropped Nate and I off so he could get his pins.

Nate bought his pin and we rushed back to the RV to find this...

Uh oh! Guess who was in a no-stopping zone? No ticket, though, thank goodness. Actually, the cops were very helpful and pulled out a map to show us a few places we might be able to park an RV downtown.

Actually, the hardest thing about traveling in an RV is finding parking in downtown areas. Busy cities are just not too accommodating to RVs. But Dennis is amazing. He has always been able to find a spot, and he did in this case too.

It was a short hike, but not bad. Nashville is a pretty city with old churches and buildings right next to new and modern buildings.

I love the mix of old and new. (The building on the bottom right reminded us of a very tall SD temple.)

But the street to head to is Broadway and 2nd . It is all about the music, kind of like Beale Street in Memphis, only classier, cleaner, and it is a different kind of music altogether - country and bluegrass.

Nashville is hopping with music! There are great musicians on every corner showing their stuff, hoping to make it big in Nashville.

Honky tonk is alive and well in Nashville.

We stopped to talk to this guy who was really jammin' on his mandolin.

He was really good, and fascinating to talk to. He really knew is stuff and loved to tell us all about his art and his passion. He even played a few numbers for the kids.

Fun architecture. I especially like the Acme Farm Supply right downtown with the red checks - that is classic.

It was a fun street to explore.

At the end of Broadway is a beautiful park by the river.

The kids loved running around.

Dylan had a great time too, until he got stung by a wasp. Good thing the old Eagle Scout, Grandpa, knew that a bit of mud really helps make a sting feel batter fast. Dylan was running around again in no time.

Nashville was a colorful, fun town!

Me and my posse, hoping to make it big in Nashville.

The next morning I was itching to get outdoors and get some real exercise, and Nashville was such a beautiful place. I hopped on my bike and went for a ride! First I rode down to the Grand Ole Opry, which happened to be just down the road from our campground, (I had to snap a picture with my phone, above) then I found a beautiful road along the river. The weather was cool and everything was just beautiful and quiet. Then the road turned away from the river and into the prettiest woods with the green trees arching over my head. I felt like I was in a far off wilderness, rather than in a big city. SO pretty. Then the road took me past some beautiful large Southern estates with the most perfectly mowed lawns I have ever seen!

My ride was just so beautiful that after my long ride, I decided to hop back on the bike to accompany Dad and Dylan on a short ride to a pretty part of the ride I discovered along the river.

It was just too pretty not to share!

Later, before heading out of Nashville, I brought the whole family back to see the Grand Ole Opry where my parents, Dennis, and I picked up some fancy new cowboy duds! Howdy, y'all! Now we just need to go line dancing somewhere.

The great U.S. map! Yep, we are really getting somewhere now!

Even though we didn't get to see a show (there were some great acts on the line up!), it was still fun to be there and get a feel for what makes Nashville famous - the music!

The Hermitage

The next day, we decided to slow down a bit and go back much further in history and visit the Hermitage, the antebellum Southern plantation of President Andrew Jackson just outside of Nashville. It was a gorgeous estate set on 1,120 acres of beautiful landscape.

The whole thing was really well done. We watched a fascinating movie about the controversial Andrew Jackson. It was action-packed and very educational. There was also a museum, and the tickets also included headphones for a self guided tour, which was just fabulous, especially for the kids because they could go at their own pace and I didn't have to read everything to them.

It was a warm day, but it felt so nice to sit out under the majestic tall trees and imagine what life would have been like back then.

The home was a beautifully preserved neoclassical plantation. We loved the huge columns. No cameras were allowed inside, but it had been completely restored to the way it was back in Jackson's day and much of the furniture and artifacts were original! The interior was extremely colorful and the walls of the grand foyer were covered with bright handmade mural wallpaper from France depicting the adventures of Odysseus (Derek and Dylan, who are HUGE Greek god fans, thanks to Rick Riordan, got a huge kick out of it.)

My favorite part, of course, was the back porch. I am a sucker for a fine back porch. I got a kick out of this woman in period dress messing with her iPhone. I didn't realize they had that kind of technology back then, but then again, what else would a Southern lady want to do while sitting on the back porch?

Everyone wanted to sit on the porch at some point. Who goes to a grand Southern plantation and doesn't sit on the porch, even for a few seconds.

A few of the rooms we saw from outside where pictures were permitted including the green dining room. Apparently, they believed that the color green aided in digestion back then, so all of the diningrooms we have seen on this trip have been some shade of green. Jackson's portrait hangs on the wall.

The kitchen was an out-building where the slave women cooked mass amounts of food for the Jackson family and all the workers.

Luke absolutely LOVED the headphone thing by the way! He loved the freedom to push his own numbers himself, and the kid versions must have been very entertaining, because he kept saying, "Mom, push 205. It is so funny!" It really kept his interest.

The smokehouse. They ate ham for every meal here. Ham, ham, and more ham. Yum!

Our turn on the back porch. Ahhh.

Different bells were used to call different slaves to various places.

Finding some respite from the heat under a huge magnolia tree.

This is an example of one of the many slave cabins that had been on the property. It was a cotton plantation and Jackson's was one of the largest in the area with 44 slaves. I couldn't help but wonder what their lives must have been like and how any people could ever justify in their minds owning other people. It is puzzling and troubling to me.

Still, the Hermitage was beautiful.

One of our favorite parts was the garden just off to the side of the house. It was a square English country garden filled with herbs and flowers.

Despite the heat, the kids enjoyed exploring it.

This monument in the back corner of the garden marks the grave of President Jackson and his wife.

Other family members, and even a few slaves are buried here too.

I loved the patterns of sun and shade in the garden.

The Hermitage garden also gave me a chance to break out my brand new telephoto lens and have some fun trying to do macro work with it. I'm really happy with this lens!

There were lots and lots of butterflies in the flower bed. Caleb and I both tried capturing them,only I used my camera and he used his bare hands.

We really enjoyed our visit to the Hermitage. Not only did we learn a lot about our 7th president, Andrew Jackson, and his controversial politics as well as his personal life, but we also got a good taste of what the antebellum South was like on a grand "King Cotton" plantation.