music City!
We are in Nashville, and our friend from college, Cathy, came to meet us- all the way from New Jersey! We had a great time dragging her around:
We visited the home of President Andrew Jackson, The Hermitage:
The house has 4 rooms on each floor, 2 on each side of the central hallway. The grounds have gardens and the graves of Andrew Jackson, his wife, some family members and some slaves. This is the gravesite of Andrew Jackson and his wife:
After dinner we wandered around the Gaylord Opryland Hotel:
This place is huge! It even has an indoor waterpark, but you need a wristband to go in. We went by the Opryland:
We wanted to go to a show, but it had already started. The next day it was almost sold out, so dynamic prices were going way up, and the following day there was no show! So I guess we will have to go back!
The next day we went to tour a 55+ community, Fairfield Glade. It sits on a plateau in Crossville, about half way between Nashville and Knoxville. There were rolling hills, lots of trees, and a realtor who went on and on… and on and on… and on… Fairfield Glade seemed nice but the roads are narrow, homes are expensive, the amenities are too small for the number of residents, and the town of Crossville just seemed sad. We looked at 1 model home:
It’s hard to tell but the 2nd picture is from the screen porch on the back, and it is about 20 feet from the ground!
that’s the screened in porch in the left pic, and the other is just part of a fabulous master bedroom closet! Of course we had to introduce Cathy to the joy that is Buc-ees:
I think there were about 200 gas pumps:
The next day we visited 2 civil war battlefields- in the towns of Murfreesboro and Franklin. They were interesting (and sad), but we try to visit historic sites whenever we can. Besides, we have seen a lot of recommendations from people who are moving to these 2 cities, so we thought we would look around also. Murfreesboro was not very impressive, but Franklin was great- a cute downtown and lots of historic buildings- and VERY high prices! Like 7 figures! No thank you!
On our last day in Nashville we finally went to Broadway, where all the bars are- of course we did it during the day before it got too crazy, but it was still pretty crowded. It was a few blocks of bars blaring LOUD music- you couldn’t even talk to each other as you walked by. There were all kinds of party buses/trucks/pedal bars going up and down the street.
We went to Margaritaville to eat lunch (good shrimp and grits) and were happy the music was a little lower. Interestingly, music starts around 10 or 11 AM in all the bars, and the musicians change out every couple of hours- so the music is continuous! I thought it could be kind of fun to listen, but it’s not a place for anyone with sensitive ears!
We saw the strangest caterpillar:
And a bunch of birds sitting on the power lines:
Then we had to take Cathy to the airport- so sorry to see you go, Cathy! Thanks for coming all the way to Nashville to hang out with us!