Nashville - Hermitage

 One of the first tours we took was of Hermitage - Andrew Jackson's estate a few miles outside of Nashville.

Also all of the acreage is still intact, and I really enjoyed the tour.

 On the other side of the white fence are the graves of Andrew Jackson and his relatives.

 Here is the line outside the front of the mansion for touring the mansion.  We arrived when the line was at its longest, unfortunately.  Still, there are worse ways to spend a half hour than standing under the trees in front of Andrew's house.

 This is the back side of the house that overlooked a great deal of the property.

 The roof on the back side.

Photos were not allowed in the interior, but it was well worth the wait in line.

 While the mansion was being built, Andrew and his wife Rachel lived in these cabins.   They actually lived in these for several years.

 The foundation of one of the former slave quarters on the property.

A detail on one of the cabins.

Very enjoyable tour - highly recommended!

Nashville - Parthenon

 You may not know this, but right in the middle of Nashville is a full size replica of the Parthenon!

That's right, ladies and gents, no need to go to Greece, you can see it right here in Nashville!  On top of that, it is in original condition, not in ruins like what you'd see in Athens.

 It is pretty impressive.

 Here is the statue of Athena, located inside, which is just as stunning.

In the Greek Parthenon, the statue is long gone for centuries.  Therefore, the exact look of the statue is an educated guess.

 Turning around, here are two large doors that are just as impressive.

A few words to the wise:  the doors that you see from the main street aren't the entrance.  Don't bother walking up the awkward steps.  Go around to the back side - that is where the entrance is!

I'm very glad we took the time to see it, it has been one of my goals in life to see the Parthenon in person.  I think I liked seeing the reconstruction better that I would like seeing the original, in some ways.

One thing I wasn't expecting:  it doesn't feel near as big walking around the exterior as I was expecting.  I guess the way they incorporate gentle slopes to the pillars, etc, leave the eye with a misconception of its size.

Nashville - Fontanel

 Another short trip just outside of Nashville is Fontanel.  This is the house that Barbara Mandrell and family lived in for over a decade.  They had this log house custom built.  This is the front...

 ...but the main entry is on the back side.  Here is a carving of three bears, apparently representing her three kids that grew up in the home.

 The great room.

 We toured around Halloween, and they had just had a Halloween Ball with over 300 people, so remnants of the decorations can be seen in these photos.  That's our guide singing - Steve Whitson.

 My wife looking at the guitars on the walls.  The Mandrells no longer own the home - they sold it to a record industry associate who opened it up for tours.

 Many of the decorations in the home are not original, such as this display in an upstairs hallway.

 Or this guitar.

 The bedroom of one of Barbara's daughters.

 An upstairs patio at the end of the hallway where the bedrooms are located.

 Getting ready to go into the game room.

 A card table in the game room.

 Pool table, etc.  Can still see some of the Halloween decorations in this photo.

 Our guide Steve Whitson sat on the master bed to play us a song.  He played a song he wrote: "Grandma's Boy".  It was very good...very touching song sitting there in the house where kids were raised.

 Artwork over the master bed.

The indoor pool has been covered over with a dance floor, still set up for the Halloween Ball.

This tour is well worth the time, if you have the time to spare.   Monday and Tuesday mornings are quieter, and you'll probably get a more intimate tour at those times.

Nashville - Jack Daniels Distillery

 We also made the trek down to Lynchburg to tour the Jack Daniels distillery!

Here is a statue of old Jack himself, outside the spring that provides the water.

 An old REO Speedwagon fire truck back from when the distillery had such vehicles in their inventory.

 A close up of the spring...

 Our tour guide standing next to Jack.  The statue is bigger than life, and old Jack was actually five foot two.

 We had just finished touring the big vats where fresh batches were in work, and our guide was explaining the trees, buildings, everything in that vicinity gets covered by the "black frost" that results from the distilling process. 

 Looking back towards the vats, you can see a barrel building to the back right, and even it is getting discolored.  I believe she was there are over 90 barrel buildings on their property.

 And finally the tastings!  We had the Angels Pour tour.

My cups!

Yeah, I guess touring the distillery is a guy thing to do...

A very fun trip but time consuming.  The town of Lynchburg can be toured in an hour, and the distillery tour takes an hour, so this is a three our drive (round trip) for two hours on site.   Still fun and there was a wine tasting room in that little town!  Even though it is a "dry" county (lots of exceptions, apparently).

Nashville - Antiques Archaeology

 Another place high on my wife's list to visit was the Antiques Archaeology shop, better known to TV viewers as the shop of Mike Wolfe from American Pickers.

 Some very great stuff in there, like this old Oklahoma City motorcycle club jacket.

 My wife next to a grille I'm pretty sure I've seen on the show.

 And the Von Dutch motorcycle that was feature prominently in one episode.

 More info on that bike.

 Shopping...

 I remember the episode where they found this antique Halloween pail, made of paper machete.  Unfortunately, the sun from the show windows is fading it badly.

 I can remember seeing these in stores!

And a Cheap Trick shirt and guitar.  The sun is fading the shirt badly also, which was very evident in person because the squares on the shirt were much more vibrant behind the guitar.

A fun place to visit!

Nashville - Johnny Cash Museum

 My wife made sure we put the Johnny Cash museum on the agenda, and we made it over there one afternoon.  It is a smaller museum and was pretty busy - I would recommend going earlier in the day if possible.

Here is Johnny's original Luther Perkins amp, on which he wrote such classics as "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line".  Amazing stuff on such a small amp!

 There was a display that went over his Air Force years in Germany in the 1950s.  I was stunned to see this Spoken German book, as I have a copy of this exact book!  My grandparents were stationed in Germany about the same time that Johnny was there, so apparently the Air Force handed out that book to all personnel in Germany.

This is a limited edition guitar that Johnny himself designed.  Unfortunately the photo didn't pick up just how stunning this guitar is.  The abalone trim is superb and the way it outlines not only the edge of the guitar but dips down to go around the neck is a very interesting and unique detail.