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Nashville - Part 2
Written by: Dominick A. Miserandino
Photography by: Margherita Miserandino
Searching for a unique American Cultural identity? Our writer finds it within the city limits of Nashville.
Day 2
We started this day early to cover some of the many historic sites in Nashville. There is a vast amount of history considering the city was only founded in 1779, with most of its history covering the Civil War period.
The first stop was Travellers Rest, which as the name suggests was the home of Judge John Overton who considered the house his rest between his many travels. It was a much better name than the original "Golgotha" or "Place of Skulls" because he also happened to build his house over an Indian burial ground.
It is the oldest plantation house open to the public in Nashville.
The house tells the story of the early 19th century period quite well. You learn about the lost history of the Native Americans and the life and times of this powerful Nashville citizen who was the "crème' de la crème" of Nashville society. He had his plantation, was good friends with President Andrew Jackson and was generally just a rich and powerful guy.
From Travellers Rest, we naturally went to The Hermitage, the home of President Andrew Jackson. The Hermitage is big but not Opryland big, just park like big. You could easily spend the afternoon or the day here with the kids as it's like multiple museums on the same spot. It has gardens, slave quarters, the original mansion, acres and acres of grounds and educational and archaeological programs going on all the time.
I admit that at times even I, a history buff, get bored seeing too many historic houses, but the trick to seeing the houses is to also learn the stories about the people who lived there. I imagine the characters in these stories walking around so history becomes much more alive.
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President Jackson's Tomb
at The Hermitage | |
For The Hermitage, you need to ask about Jackson's son, which puts most of Jerry Springer's episodes to shame. Since Andrew Jackson and his wife Rachel could not have a child of their own, they adopted Rachel's brother's son. Rachel's brother however had two boys... twins no less, one being adopted by Andrew and the other whom they kept. The two "brothers" called themselves cousins and went on living life that way. To make the story even more fun, it turns out that although Andrew loved his son dearly, his son was not so good at managing the family plantation while he was in the White House and he was constantly worried about the plantation. The letters he wrote to his son and friends to check up on the place are priceless.
From The Hermitage we grabbed a quick bite to eat and went to Belmont Mansion. To some Belmont Mansion is a perfect and beautiful place for a wedding, but we both felt it was decorated a bit on the gaudy side. If you can look past the gaudy decorations you'll learn the story of Adelicia Acklen, who was one of the smartest women in her time having on her own survived the Civil War with her fortunes intact. Again, it was a bit of a soap opera as it turns out she would pretend to side with the north or south depending on how it served her best. The biggest part of this soap opera came in when she married her last husband, Dr. William Cheatham, and was able to work out a pre-nuptial agreement that of course was almost unheard of for those times. Well, when her daughter was old enough to marry she decided to leave Nashville for Washington to find her daughter a husband. She then wrote that she "dismissed the services" of her husband and he ended up in a boarding house. Belmont Mansion is filled with priceless antiques from her tour of Europe but to me the best part of the visit was learning more about Adelicia.
There was one more historic house that we wanted to see so we ran over for a quick visit to Belle Meade. Belle Meade is also named appropriately because it has rather beautiful meads. Okay, I didn't know what mead meant originally either but mead means pastures or meadows, which is more than appropriate for this rather large house. Belle Meade actually comes with three separate stories for the price of one. The first is the simple fact that the city of Belle Meade (a suburb of Nashville) is made up of the original 5,400 acres of the original plantation.
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Belle Meade's Front Porch | |
The second big story is a bit more exciting than my boring previous factoid, which is that the battle of Nashville literally occurred on Belle Meade's front lawn. In fact there are bullet holes to attest to it in the columns on the front porch.
The last big story from Belle Meade, which to me is certainly a matter of saving the best for last, is Bonnie Scotland. Who, prê tell is Bonnie Scotland? The great-grandfather of triple crown winner, Secretariat. What makes the story so amazing is to know that at that time horseracing was more popular than basketball, baseball or any sport as of late. Belle Meade was so large and well known for being a thoroughbred stud farm, people came to visit from miles around.
At that time it was also quite common for travelers to stay at people's homes instead of the local inn... well common for the well to do at least. The list of luminaries who stayed at Belle Meade is nearly endless but includes almost a dozen presidents including Taft and Roosevelt. Taft actually got stuck in the bathtub here, but that's a story for another day... and only that can be appreciated by looking at the bathtub. I mean Taft was over 300 pounds and six feet tall, while this tub... well it wasn't as big as good ole Taft and you can't stick a round peg in a square hole.
After Belle Meade we went to the hotel, rested, ate a bit and then went to the Cumberland Science Museum. Of course according to the director, their museum is different from the other few hundred science museums in the country. Not that I've visited all few hundred science museums in the country, but to me you've seen one, you've seen them all. I must admit this science museum was different. Many more of the exhibits were hands on. I rode in a wheelchair, climbed a mountain, and got scolded for acting like a child from Margherita.
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Nashville Skyline from the
Cumberland Science Museum | |
The other thing that makes this place amazing is the Adventure Tower that will open Summer 2002. The tower will have a variety of activities for children. It is a 75-foot high tower with a glass pyramid on top that goes right through the building and out the roof and affords an amazing view of the Nashville skyline. The view is so incredible it is worth leaving your kids in the tower for an hour as you watch the sunset. Of course you might get in a bit of trouble leaving your children alone that long but the view is worth it.
Our final stop of the night was the Grand Ole' Opry, which is pronounced like the O in Opera as opposed to the O in Oprah. I made that mistake once and a man in a ten-gallon hat corrected me very promptly. Now I admit quite readily I'm not much of a country music fan but do have some knowledge of Garth and Dolly and of course Willie Nelson but almost every American knows them by now. I was also aware that the Grand Ole' Opry was broadcast on the radio for over 75 years but had yet to listen to it. I was not aware that there was a man named "Little Jimmy Dickens" who was only 4'11" and performed regularly on the show. There's nothing wrong with a diminutive country singer walking around the stage every so often.
What I also didn't know was the depth of power the show and the building have earned. Yes, everybody in there is a country music fan but to see their reactions to the stars is incredible. When you watch the show you need to realize that each of these stars that "headline" the show only play a few songs and then another act is on, with possibly five or ten acts an hour. This is normal. No hogging the show, just do your songs and move on. Big stars, small stars, they are all equal here.
The impact of the place for somebody who loves country music is knowing that you're at the crown jewel of country music. For country stars, this is the best place one can perform... essentially the Carnegie Hall of country music. For non-country music fans you realize that there is this entire culture of America that you almost feel left out of... or you feel you left out of your life. An entire world with varying styles of country music and varying degrees of fame yet everybody is down to earth and truly appreciative of playing there for you.
It was the end of our second day and driving home we regained the debate about America. Where else can you find country music, Civil War history, historic homes, and fine art? Where else in America cuts through almost every genre and culture? Maybe I'm being overly reactionary, which I'm prone to do when I get a bit excited. This was the first American city I have ever seen which just hit this American identity right on the nose. If I could have taken Sven here I would have won 20 bucks and a goat.
Read part 1 | Read part 3 | Read part 4
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