Another Move

We had a very peaceful night in the Camping World parking lot.  Even though it is located next to Briley Parkway, the outer loop around Nashville, traffic was very light and our sleep was not disturbed.  There were several rigs in the parking lot, so many in fact that it was almost full, but I think we may have been the only humans there overnight.  Apparently, all the others are waiting for service.

After worship service and an early lunch, we moved north a few miles to Nashville Country RV Park.  Music Country is located off I-65 just north of the very busy Rivergate area.  Shopping (grocery and the mall) is convenient, but the traffic is horrific, at least to us.  We’ve stayed here before and liked it, but it is a little far from family and other things we like to do while in Nashville, so it’s usually not our first choice.  Besides, the regular nightly rate is well over our budget and they don’t have a monthly rate.  If we were willing to sign on for a 3-month period, they have a good rate for that.  That’s a little long to commit for one place.  We usually get hitch itch in much less time.  Sunday through Wednesday they offer Passport America rate.  Now you’re talking.

The Office at Nashville Country RV Park

The park is small and old, but very well kept.  Even though there are some long term residents, it doesn’t have the feel of most other parks with rundown trailers with junk piled all around.  It is very neat and clean.

Our site in the 30 amp section

The park is small, as I said, and some of the turns are pretty tight, but adequate for big rigs.  There is a small pool, a small store and gift shop in the office, a laundry room, and LP gas on site.  We have a pull-thru site in the 30 AMP section with a wooden “patio” and a freshly painted picnic table.  The interior roads are paved and the sites are grass with gravel parking pads.

Most of the leaves are gone.  This tree still has a few hanging on.

We only had a few miles to travel, so we didn’t hitch up the car.  I drove the car and the Peanut road with Gene in the motor home.  Normally, on travel days, Peanut likes to ride in my lap.  When I’m not there I worry about him getting underneath Gene’s feet while barreling down the highway at 60 miles per hour.  He really is a good little traveler and today he was on his best behavior and didn’t cause any problems for the driver.

We got ourselves all settled in for a few days and then spent the rest of the afternoon in relaxed mode.  We had picked up a couple steaks for dinner and Gene was in charge of grilling.  He did a good job, but not without a couple glitches.  We’ve had some wind here today and lighting the grill was somewhat problematic.  Then, as luck would have it, the little 1-pound bottle of propane bottle ran out and he got to start all over again. Just another adventure in stoving for my stove obsessed involved husband.

We want to welcome our newest followers, Bill and Cap, of Views from the Open Road.  They are full-time RVers, as well. Plus, they enjoy tent camping and hiking.  I’m anxious to read some more of their blog posts and get to know them a little better.  Welcome, Bill and Cap.

I think that may be it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Harpeth Woods Trail

We woke up to a cold morning today.  The forecast was predicting a low last night of 27 degrees.  I’m not sure if it got that low, but it was definitely below freezing and there was a hard frost blanketing our campground.  Since we no longer have our insulated water hose, with temperatures that low Gene went out late yesterday afternoon and disconnected our water.  We already had plenty of water in our fresh water tank for dishwashing and toilet flushing.  We usually keep 2 or 3 gallons of drinking water on hand in case of emergencies.  This may be the only time we need to disconnect our water.  The ten day forecast has no other nights with temps below freezing.  I sure hope the weather folks know what they’re talking about this time.

We saw hoar frost on several plants beside the trail.

Even though it was cold it was a bright, sunny day.  We just had to head out to a trail.  We’ve been to Warner Parks several times this fall, but we have always done our hiking at Percy Warner.  Today we parked at the Nature Center at Edwin Warner and hiked the Harpeth Woods loop.

The Harpeth Woods trail is 2.5 miles in length and there is easy access to this loop from various places.  The most popular place to start is at the Natchez Trace Trailhead.  There is a large parking lot there and a kiosk with a trail map.  We usually start at the Nature Center because that’s where the restroom is.  Today we hiked this trail in the counterclockwise direction, but it really makes no difference as far as difficulty is concerned.  The trail is one long up hill climb and then an equally long descent.

The historic Natchez Trace

If you start either at the Nature Center or the Natchez Trace trailhead and go counterclockwise, the first stretch is along the historic Natchez Trace.  After about three-quarters of a mile the trail leaves the old trace and turns sharply left and begins the long climb.

Compass rose in the rock quarry

In order to increase the distance a little we did the very short side trail to an old rock quarry.  Back in the 1930s and early 40s, WPA workers quarried the rock to build the park roads.  Today, vegetation is growing back and it’s almost unrecognizable as a quarry.  We noticed that someone had used rocks to create a compass rose on the floor of the quarry.

You can hardly tell this was once a rock quarry.

To add another third of a mile to our hike we took the short Owl Hollow Trail which intersects Harpeth Wood trail after about a mile.  Owl Hollow is an interpretative trail. Brochures with descriptions to help with tree and shrub identification are available at the Nature Center.  We didn’t have a brochure; we were just doing the trail for the extra distance.

Markers along Owl Hollow trail correspond with plant descriptions in the brochure.

At the Nature Center complex there are picnic tables by a small pond.  We hadn’t stopped along the trail for a break so decided to have our hot chocolate at the picnic table.  By that time the temperature had warmed up considerably and we had worked up a sweat on our hike.  The hot chocolate hit the spot anyway and it was very pleasant sitting at the table in the sun.

Today is Veterans Day and I don’t want to end this post without offering a word of thanks and heartfelt gratitude to all those who have and are serving in our Armed Forces.  Thank you for securing our freedoms.

Fellow blogger, Rick, has written a fantastic tribute to his Dad in honor of Remembrance Day.  Give that a read at Rick and Paulette’s RV Travels if you haven’t already.  It’s quite a moving story.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Downtown Nashville

We each have lived in Nashville since the 1950s and have even lived and worked in the downtown area, but it is always fun to stroll along these familiar streets between the capitol building and lower Broadway.  We did that today and once again enjoyed our walk.  With the camera around my neck and Gene with his Texas baseball cap on his head, we looked like the hundreds of other tourists visiting Music City.  We stopped to make pictures, peeked in the honky tonks and stood in a long line for lunch.

We parked the car at the Farmer’s Market, which, on this late fall day, was stocked with bushels of Tennessee grown turnip greens and freshly dug potatoes.  The Farmer’s Market is located next to the Bicentennial Mall State Park.

Bicentennial Mall as seen from the Capitol

This urban park was built to commemorate the 200th birthday of Tennessee statehood.  At the foot of capitol hill, it is a rectangular-shaped park stretching about 3 blocks in length by 1 in width.  Along one long side are pillars marking the passage of time beginning 1 million years ago and progressing to 1996, the 200th birthday of the state.  Along this path is a black marble wall which tells the story of the area from prehistoric times up to 1996.  The park is planted with trees, shrubs, and flowers native to Tennessee.  It is really quite nicely done.

Pillars marking the past

On the hill above the Mall is the capitol building.  From a distance, say from the inner loop as one travels around the city on the interstate, this state capitol doesn’t look as impressive as many other capitol buildings we have visited around the country.  However, up close, I think our capitol is as handsome as any I’ve seen.  It’s not as massive as some, but it has a certain dignity.

As a child, I heard my grandfather speak of signing his name in the dome.  I was impressed with the story, but I had my doubts as to its accuracy.  A few years ago, I read an article in the local paper about our capitol and it mentioned that there are many names written in the dome from years ago when it was open to the public.  One of these days, I’m going to ask if they have a record of those names.

Ryman Auditorium

We walked along 5th Ave passed the Ryman Auditorium, perhaps the hallmark icon of Nashville.  Built in 1891 and used first as a church, this historic building is best known as the home of the Grand Ole Opry.  The Opry has a new building now at Opry Mills, but they come “home” to the Ryman a couple months each year.

We found our lunch at Jack’s BBQ on Broadway just down from Legends and Tootsie’s.  The line was almost out the door when we walked in at high noon.  We each had the Texas brisket sandwich with cole slaw.  I made my lunch a multicultural experience--Texas brisket with Kansas City BBQ sauce on Broadway in Music City.  Now that’s an assault to your senses.

Tomorrow will be another hiking day.  We are trying to get registered for a TTA hike.  If that doesn’t work out, we’ll go somewhere on our own.

The Hermitage

It was bitter cold overnight, but we had planned to visit the Hermitage today and we would not be dissuaded. We did wait until after lunch which we hoped would be a little warmer than the 23 degrees we woke up to.  Gene at been to the Hermitage about 30 years ago and I was in the 5th grade at the time of my last visit.  I can’t say that we remembered much from our previous visits.  There have been several improvements over the past few decades and we wanted to renew our acquaintance with General Jackson.

The drive approaching the Hermitage

The front door

Andrew Jackson of Battle of New Orleans fame and 7th president of the United States, made his home right here in Davidson County.  That grand old southern plantation and mansion was and is known as “The Hermitage” and was home to Andrew and Rachel Jackson.  The Jackson’s lived on the farm for several years before the mansion was completed in 1819.  The original small, log “hermitage” has been restored as well as several other buildings.  Living history interpreters dressed in period attire guide your tour through the mansion and answer questions.  For the rest of the grounds and the museum, a very well produced audio presentation explains points of interests, gives a glimpse into the culture of the southern plantation, relates antidotal stories involving Andrew and Rachel, and invites you to pick cotton and sage.

This log house was the original Hermitage and was later
used as the slave quarters.

Path to Rachel's Garden

As I sat down to write about our experience today, I went to a couple web sites to refresh my memory of when the mansion was built.  (This old mind just can hang on to things it learns for very long.)  Although The Hermitage is not a National Park Service unit, I found their website to be excellent.  I have included their site for The Hermitage as a hot link here.  The narrative is very informative and there are a couple photos of inside the house which we were forbidden to take.

Andrew and Rachel's tomb

The Spring House

Before leaving the plantation grounds, we drove over to Tulip Grove, another stately, old southern mansion.  Tulip Grove was the home to Rachel’s nephew, Andrew Jackson Donelson.  Andrew and his young bride, Emily, moved with General Jackson to the White House when he was elected president.  Andrew Donelson became Jackson’s personal secretary and Emily acted as hostess for state functions.  (Rachel had died before Jackson took the office of president.)  Tulip Grove is now used for private parties and is not open for touring by the public.

Tulip Grove

Cotton ready for the picking

Despite the cold, we enjoyed our visit to The Hermitage.  I am, however, looking forward to warmer temperatures tomorrow.

A Country Christmas at Opryland Hotel

This afternoon Gene and I took our annual stroll through Gaylord Opryland Resort Hotel and Convention Center. Each year at the holiday season, the hotel is decorated to the nines and they call it “A Country Christmas”.  Thousands of visitors lose themselves in the spirit of the season as they gaze at the magnificent displays in literally every nook of this massive hotel.  The Delta area, as well as the Conservatory, have glass roofs, so you would get the best effect of the lighting after dark.  However, I didn’t think I would be able to get very good photos with only my little camera flash in such a massive area, so we went this afternoon to take advantage of the brilliant sunshine flowing through the roof.

One of the big draws to Opryland is their outdoor lighting display.  I went over this morning to get shots of the nativity scene, but it might actually be better to try that after dark.

We have to drive by the hotel to go almost anywhere and during those drive bys I have been trying to determine the best vantage point for a good shot of the lights.  It seems that I would have to stand on the off ramp to McGavock Pike on the westbound side of Briley Parkway.  That’s a heavy traffic area, especially with folks coming to the hotel to see the lights.  The road builders must have realized this was the best place to make a picture because there is a sidewalk along a portion of that ramp.  I think I will give it a try, but not today.  It is suppose to be 20 degrees tonight.  I ain’t going out in that kind of cold just to get a picture.  But this is Nashville, and, like they say, if you don’t like the weather today, just wait a couple days and it will change.  When it does, I’ll be out there risking life and limb to bring you the outdoor light display at Opryland Hotel.

Until then, enjoy these shots from inside the hotel and the nativity scene.  For photos taken both inside and out during spring, see the April 18th entry.

A roaring fire in the Magnolia lobby.

More Geocaching and Some Pretty Cool Ducks

Even though it was cold, with some snow showers along the outer edges of the county, the sun was bright and it was a beautiful day.  This afternoon, we took advantage of the sunshine to try another geocaching outing.

Buchanan Cemetery at Buchanan Station

The Buchanans seem to be a popular family with geocachers in Nashville.  Last week, our first cache was at the old log home of James Buchanan.  Today’s search was at the John Buchanan Cemetery located near Buchanan Station.  John may have been the uncle of the log cabin James, but John had a brother named James, sons of James and Jane Buchanan who came to Tennessee in the mid 1700s.  John was the proud owner (and I assume the builder) of the 3rd house built in Nashville on the banks of the Cumberland at Fort Nashborough.   In the early days of the settlement there were outlying forts erected as safe places for the settlers to gather in times of danger, especially from the Indians.  Buchanan Station was one of these forts.  Buchanan Station was attacked by some 900 Indian warriors in 1792, but the settlers sent their attackers running after mortally wounding the chief.  We did not find the cache in this location, but it was great fun to explore the history.

We had time for one more search.  This one was much easier and we found it within just a few minutes.  Gene was very excited that the coordinates listed in the geocache description and the coordinates on the GPS screen were identical when he was standing right under the cache.  Since our GPS is designed primarily as a route finding device to be used on roads, it is not so precise when you carry it in your hand and walk away from the roadway.  Accuracy varies between 15 and maybe 40 feet.  That can be a pretty large area when you are looking for something as small as a film canister which has intentionally been hidden from view.  It’s always fun to find what you’re searching for.

You can't help but smile.

We also went in search of the sunglasses yard art.  We had discovered this special little place several years ago when we were commuting to work downtown.  Each morning we passed and I always had to smile no matter what kind of mood I was in.  One morning we stopped and I put a note on the porch thanking the owner for the display which was such a highlight of my drive in to work.  Buchanan Station is nearby.  Since we were in the area we just had to see if the display was still there.  Yes, indeed! And it has grown since last we passed this way.  It still makes me smile.

Two Rivers Mansion

Well, our plans to hike with our local hiking club washed away with every raindrop that fell from the sky this morning.  We had good intentions, but it was just too cold, wet, and windy for this old mind to think a 6-mile hike in this weather would be fun.  Instead, we sat around in our pajamas sipping coffee in the comfort of our warm and cozy Montana.

There was enough of a break in the rain this afternoon to get in a short walk.  We chose to do a short section of the Stones River greenway not far from our campground.  The trail goes right past Two Rivers Mansion so we stopped for a look around and a few photos.  Two Rivers was about the last of the old southern antebellum plantation homes to be built in Nashville.  Construction was started just before the Civil War by the McGavock family.  Along about the mid 1960s the mansion was purchased by the city of Nashville and is now used for private functions such as weddings, receptions, galas and balls.  There was some sort of luncheon going on there today.  The ladies probably wondered about us vagabonds wandering around in the yard.

What we assume to be the kitchen and slave quarters.

Needs a little tender loving care.

This evening we had dinner with Jack, Ansley, and Ansley’s long time childhood best friend and collage roommate, Shea and husband Michael.  We were so excited to finally get to meet baby Sarae.  The last time I saw Shea was at the baby shower and I can’t believe Sarae has already celebrated her first birthday.

Even though it was a cold, rainy day it was a great day.  And now we are looking forward to tomorrow.

Only in Nashville

It’s another dreary day and after being out and about all day yesterday, it wasn’t a day I wanted to go anywhere.  We went for our walk around the campground this morning.  We spent some of that time talking with our new neighbors, Tony and Dianna.  They were on their way to the greenway.  We enjoyed that brief visit and look forward to exchanging stories with them again.

I had laundry to do, but just couldn’t get motivated for that chore this morning.  As it turned out, I am glad I waited.  After lunch I loaded up and headed to the laundry room.  To my surprise, there was a guitar leaning against the wall in the corner and pages of hand written notes spread out on the folding table.  There was no one present, however.  I went about putting my clothes in the washers and sat down to “attend to the machines” as the sign on the wall says I have to do.  In a few minutes, a gentleman comes in and takes a seat in front of all those pages of notes.  He sings a few bars under his breath then takes up the guitar to play.  Apparently, as I was attending to my laundry, I was witness and audience to a fledgling song writer.  I’m sure, only in Nashville, would this have occurred.  What a privilege—and he wasn’t so bad.  Perhaps I should have gotten his autograph.

While I was busy with the laundry and show, Gene was getting new tires installed on the truck.  That certainly wasn’t cheap and right here at the holiday gift buying season.  Oh well, better to be safe than sorry and there is, in my opinion, never a really good time to buy tires.

We are in for a treat tonight—pizza and a movie.  The pizza is ordered and should be here any moment.  We rented a movie from the campground office this morning.  We rarely watch movies.  Gene likes to say the last movie we saw was Ben Hur.  That’s not really true; I think it was actually the second Lord of the Rings film.  But you get the idea—we don’t often watch movies.  We rented Cold Mountain for tonight.  They have several at the office that we want to see.  Maybe we can start a trend while we’re here.

Tomorrow we’re planning to hike with Tennessee Trails Hiking Club.  We’re looking forward to that and seeing our friends.

Getting Back In The Groove

We love being on the road, but being back home has its advantages. We know where everything is—the ATM, the grocery, and where to buy tennis shoes. We each have great long lists of things to do while we are here and we started today “gettin’ er done”. It was nice not to have to Google who sells my brand of tennis shoes; I could just run over to the mall and march right in the store. While I was doing that, Gene got started on his Christmas shopping. He always gets done before I do. Maybe I should just give him my list. We also had to go to Kroger for a couple items. It can’t compare to Wegman’s in New York, but it is familiar and I didn’t have to spend time looking for the bread isle.

McDonalds is right across the street from Kroger so I offered to buy my husband a cup. As we were getting out of the truck, he reminded me that McDonalds now has cappuccino and other “fancy” coffee drinks. He told me I could get whatever I wanted. Well, yea, since I’m buying, I guess I can get whatever I want. I get whatever I want anyway, but it did not escape my attention that he never makes this speech when he’s buying. McDonalds seems to be changing its face. We have noticed it more in Nashville than anywhere else. This particular store is really pretty nice for a fast food hamburger joint. The dining area has several partitions creating smaller, more cozy areas. There are 6, that’s right 6, TVs, Tiffany style lighting, knick knack cabinets, a fireplace with a mantle, covered outdoor seating, and faux marble counters.

We are also enjoying being at Two Rivers Campground. This is an old established campground probably 35 or 40 years old, but it is well maintained. The thing we like about it are the travelers. They are actually people who spend a good bit of their time in their RVs. This summer we were in several campgrounds. Without exception, the majority of our “neighbors” were local folks who were out for the week or the weekend. We did not meet many people who were traveling either a great distance from home or for a long period of time. Since arriving here Sunday afternoon, we have met several folks who expect to be on the road for some time, mostly heading to Texas or Arizona for the winter. There are several rigs with Ontario or Quebec license plates. We met a man yesterday from British Columbia on a 2-year journey around Canada and the United States. This is special and we like it.

Our favorite part of today was having dinner with our daughter and son-in-law. We were celebrating his 30th birthday just a few days late. We are very proud of Jack, not only as one of Metro Nashville’s finest police officers, but also as a fine gentleman and outstanding husband. The best part of being home—hugs from family.

Home for the Holidays

We are in our hometown of Nashville for the holiday season. We arrived yesterday about mid afternoon after a very nice ride from Frankfort, KY. Needless to say, we are glad to be home and are anxious to see everybody—family as well as friends.

We got a late start from the ghost and goblin infested campground in Frankfort. On travel days we normally shoot for a departure time of about 8 AM. That gets us in camp and set up by early afternoon. The campground was so full of campers, cars, and kids that we were unable to achieve that goal. The truck in the campsite across from us was too close to the road for us to be able to pull forward sufficiently to avoid hitting the tree next to us. We were not in such a hurry that we wanted to disturb their sleeping in, so we patiently waited to see movement about the camp. When they did crawl out of bed and out of the camper, the guy was very happy to move his truck. However, to his dismay as well as ours, he had a dead battery. Luckily, his father was camped next door and they took off to purchase a new battery. In the end, it was almost 11 AM before we were able to pull away. The roads were good, the traffic was light, with 4 lanes all the way, and gaining an hour, we made excellent time. In fact, I don’t think I have ever seen traffic so light in the Nashville area in a very long time. Now we are parked on Music Valley Drive with Camping World on one side and the Montana dealership on the other. Life is good!!

We will not be staying here long, however. Wednesday we have a service appointment scheduled for the Montana and after that we will move up the road a few miles to Joelton at a campground off I-24. That location, though farther out of Nashville, is actually more convenient for the places we go and the people we see than here on Music Valley Drive. Plus, they have a monthly rate far cheaper than this.

Our goal for the next 2 months is to visit with family and friends. Along with that, I hope to be able to work on my family history some. We may see trips to the state Archives and ventures down dirt roads in Hickman County. My family has some stories to tell which I would like to share. It should be fun. I’m looking forward to it.

Yes, Gene has been to Camping World twice already and we went over to look at the new Montana’s. They are nice, but I still like mine as well as any they have on the lot. Gene’s sigh of relief was audible.

We got started on chores today and that will continue tomorrow. Then we are having dinner with our daughter and son-in-law. We are really excited to see them.

Driving In Nashville

Let me just say from the beginning that I don’t like heavy traffic. I think I have always felt this way, although I have lived most of my life in large cities, and you would think I would be used to maniac drivers and high speed merging interstate traffic. Driving on Nashville interstates makes me a nervous wreck.

One can get here from almost anywhere. Three major interstates converge on Nashville—I-40, I-24, and I-65. A commuter can zip from interstate to interstate by means of I-840, I-440, or Briley Parkway. For the Nashvillian, or anyone familiar with the layout of the city, you can create a route utilizing any or all of these routes as well as numerous other 4-lane surface roads to move yourself about the city in what a New Yorker would consider no time at all. Perhaps it is this familiarity that results in the high rates of speed at which I am passed by other motorists.

To save myself, I have taken to the side streets. It takes lots of practice and fortitude to navigate the surface streets of this city. It helps to know the lay of the land. The downtown area is built from the Cumberland River and spreads outward. Because Nashville is built on a bend in the river, the result is like a wheel with the downtown area being the hub and the main roads like spokes in the wheel. A true grid is impossible in this situation. Two roads that might be miles apart on the outskirts of town will only be a few blocks apart in the inner city.

Support for .... nothing?

This is still a relatively easy configuration to navigate, so apparently the city planners go to great lengths to keep you on your toes. This is not as bad as it used to be, but you never know when a one-way street will have its direction changed. Or you may be motoring along, minding you own business and the street abruptly come to an end. This is particularly disturbing when it picks up on the other side of whatever the obstacle is in your way. This is especially true of 8th Ave. On the south side of Broadway out as far as 100 Oaks Mall, 8th Ave goes by the name of Franklin Road. As you make your way into town, the name changes to 8th Ave. So. Crossing Broadway it becomes 8th Ave No until you get to Charlotte Pike where it suddenly stops at the Capitol Building. If you turn left on Charlotte and then almost immediately right onto the ramp to James Robertson Parkway and continue to the first traffic light, you will find 8th Ave No again intersecting James Robertson. Broadway is Broadway downtown, West End Ave in midtown, Harding Road in Belle Meade, and Hwy 70S in Bellevue. Who could keep this straight?

Look, ma, no road.

It seems like there is construction everywhere. One of the worst construction projects since the Romans started building roads was the Briley Parkway endeavor. Construction started sometime in the 1970s and was finally finished last year. As a part of this project I-40 got a new ramp or two. I like to think the powers that be were planning ahead when they stuck up a support beam with nothing to hold up and a ramp that goes to nowhere. In all fairness I must say that Briley Parkway is a fine road to take now. Technically, it loops around the city, but the driver must know that, depending on where you are on the loop, Briley Parkway may also be called Thompson Lane, Woodmont Ave, or White Bridge Road.

Other Stuff To Do In Nashville

There are many things to see and do in Nashville. I have run out of time, and have only glimpsed a few of “tourist attractions”. I feel compelled to at least mention a few of the other things you might be interested in when you visit the city.

Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theater

As I mentioned before, this is the capital of Tennessee and the Capitol Building is open for touring. The American Volkssport Association has a walk which includes the area around the capitol building.

Christ's Church Episcopal Cathedral

Tennessee Performing Arts Center has a full schedule of performances, some of which are major productions. One of the most memorable things I have ever done was see Yul Brenner in The King of Siam performed at TPAC. The Nashville Symphony also performs regularly at Schermerhorn Symphony Center. For a more casual live performance, check out what’s playing at Chaffin’s Barn Dinner Theater.

Sommet Center where the Preds play

For all you sports fans, Nashville has three professional teams. For the football fans there are the Tennessee Titans, for baseball fans we have the minor league team--the Nashville Sounds, and for hockey fans there are the Nashville Predators.

Union Station

For history buffs, there are countless historical sites in Nashville and the surrounding area. A fair number of Civil War battles were fought in the area. The battle of Nashville is well documented with historical markers. There are regular re-enactments at Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro, as well as in the communities of Springhill and Franklin, TN. The Heritage, home Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States is located on the outskirts of town.

Customs House

For state history, the Tennessee State Museum is located in downtown. It is a nice facility, but a state museum never the less. What can I say? I call these places “state attics”—a place to put all that stuff you don’t use anymore. However, our state museum does have an area for traveling exhibits and has had some very interesting shows. One of my favorites was the Anne Frank Exhibit.

For visual arts Nashville has Frist Center of the Visual Arts as well as Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.

The train station has been renovated and is now a Grand Hotel. The old Customs House on Broadway is still occupied by federal judges and a courtroom just as it was in 1882. There are many churches located in the downtown area. Christ’s Church Episcopal Cathedral built in 1894 is a great example of Victorian Gothic architecture.

Bat Building

Just driving along the streets, particularly in the downtown area, offers the visitor plenty to see. If you look carefully you may see a catfish, a guitar, or even a horse. And don’t forget to look up. Perhaps the most distinctive building on the Nashville Skyline is the Bell South tower, lovingly referred to as the “bat building”.