We headed into downtown Nashville early for the Country Music
Hall of Fame museum. It’s a vast building, with memorabilia over 3 floors. “The
collection includes more than 800 stage costumes, over 600 instruments, and
hundreds of other objects-from microphones to automobiles-documenting the
history of country music” (from their website).
We saw Elvis’ gold plated
Cadillac – not all of it is gold, just the door handles and wing mirrors, but
the paint is mixed with diamond dust and fish scales to give it a lovely sheen.
There was a phone, a bar and a TV in the back, so Elvis always had something to
do! He even had some of his gold records on the ceiling.
The special exhibits
included The Judds, Little Big Town and Emmylou Harris, so there was lots to
see. The Hall of Fame Rotunda is interesting – plaques of all the inductees
line the walls, and it is deliberately round to show that everyone is equal.
From there we caught the bus to the State Capitol Building.
It was stately and ornate. Senate was in recess, so we were able to pop our heads
in for a look. We also sat in the public gallery in the House of Reps and
watched them passing bills.
We walked to the Farmers Market for lunch. During the week it
is a big food court, and we had crepes followed by ice cream and wine tastings.
We were not fussed on the wine.
We hopped back on the bus for a trip to the Parthenon. It is
a really interesting story. Originally built as a temporary structure for Tennessee's
1897 Centennial Exposition it was so loved by the people that they voted
to have it rebuilt permanently. Reportedly an exact replica of the Parthenon in
Greece, but with the friezes and statues as they would have been when new (not damaged
like they are today). The Exposition photos were interesting too, it was a big event.
Major
exhibits were devoted to commerce, agriculture, machinery, and transportation
and exciting rides and exotic shows for the entertainment of the families
attending. After the Exposition was over (it ran for six months)
the area became a city park.
The highlight of the Parthenon is the statue of Athena. From
Wikipedia: “The statue of Athena Parthenos is a reconstruction, to careful
scholarly standards, of the long-lost original: she is cuirassed and helmeted,
carries a shield on her left arm and a small 6-foot-high (1.8 m) statue of Nike
(Victory) in her right palm, and stands 42 feet (13 m) high, gilt with more
than 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of gold leaf; an equally colossal serpent rears its head
between her and her shield”.
Nashville is sometimes referred to as The Athens of the South,
because of the Greek revival architecture and their reputation for education and
medicine. It is also called The Buckle of the Bible Belt.
We caught the bus back to downtown and from there a taxi to
the Cumberland River for an evening of frivolity on the General Jackson
Riverboat. Built as a replica paddlewheel steamboat, the General Jackson steams
downriver to downtown Nashville and return. We opted for the Pilothouse tour
before the cruise began, so we met the Captain on the bridge to hear some facts
about the boat, including that even though she is 4 decks tall there is only 6 foot
of draught, so not a lot keeping her in the water. We also bagged a Captains
Cocktail in a souvenir glass.
The dinner and show was great fun. The show was called Music
City Nights and ran through the years and different genres of music. With a
live band and seven singers, there was lots of singing and dancing action. We were
at one of the stage side tables, so right up against the front of the stage.
Steve thought a couple of times he was going to have a dancer land in his lap…
Lots of fun and a rather late night.
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