Today we started the day going around Nashville, Tennessee. The day started a little rainy, but nothing I haven’t seen in Florida before.
The day started out with the Country Music Hall of Fame where there were three stories of Country music history. From clothes, to instruments, gold and platinum records, guns, guitars, cars and much more. It ranged from old country and folk music to modern day artists that you hear on the radio today. One thing that surprised me was the size of the Grammy Award. I thought it was bigger than it actually is. I don’t really care for country music itself but I wanted to go because I’m a sucker for music and history. I was surprised how much of the songs that were playing in there that I knew.
After the Country Music Hall of Fame we went a place called The Upper Room. It kinda sounds like a bar if you ask me, but it’s not. It’s actually a chapel that contains a life size wooden sculpture of the Da Vinci’s Last Supper. Also, there is a museum that contained many various other Christian and Catholic art, artifacts, and creations. There were great works from around the world from sculptures made from so many different items, such as wood and metal, to paintings that were over 500 years old.
Next, we went to the Parthenon… not the one in Athens, Greece, but the one in Nashville. If you have seen the movie Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief you may know about this place or at least be somewhat familiar with it. It is the only full size replica of the original Parthenon. Strangely enough, this building wasn’t even supposed to be a permanent structure. It was originally created in the late 1800s when Tennessee was having their centennial celebration for joining the Union. This is why it is in a place called Centennial Park. On with the story though, The original structure had the statue of Athena on the outside, but due to it being made of only plaster, the weather took a tole on it quickly. The whole building was recreated in 1920 including the statue of Athena on the inside in all her glory. It is truly a sight to see.
Our last stop in Nashville was the Lane Motor Museum. Here, there is a huge collection of rare automobiles, mostly from Europe that you may not see in any other automotive museum or car show. The collection includes many micro-cars, Citroens, Renaults, 3 wheel cars such as one made by the Davis Motor Car Company, turbine, propeller, and electric cars. There was even a collection of old motorcycles that one may not ever get a chance to see.
After we left Nashville, we made our way to Louisville, Kentucky. Now there isn’t many pictures of the trip because once we entered Kentucky, I drove to Louisville. I had my dad take a few shots though while we were driving.
Once we got here, we went to a few hotels and settled in a Holiday Inn across the Ohio River in Illinois.
After getting our room, we headed back to Kentucky to go around downtown Louisville and see the sights. One of the coolest things about the city is that there are random baseball bats and home plates engraved with names from the Louisville Slugger Museum. They like to call it the Louisville Slugger Walk of Fame… very cunning if you ask me. These spots are scattered in various locations down Main Street. Another thing which intrigued me is the many old restored buildings from generations past that have stood the test of time.
We finally found the place a guy told us about at the Kentucky/Tennessee border called Fourth Street Live. It is a row of bars, clubs, and restaurants that is located on, you guessed it, Fourth Street. They closed down that portion of the street, put a mobile bar in the middle of the street and it seems to be like a little street party. It sort of reminds me of Freemont Street in Las Vegas. After searching for a place to eat, we finally went into an Irish pub called Ri Ra. The place had live music, a great atmosphere, and AMAZING food. I was expecting food similar to Meg O’ Malleys, but they had much more! I ate crab stuffed haddock with potato and carrot mash, my sister ate tuna two ways, my mom ate grilled steak tips served with other various grilled vegetables, and my dad, being a vegetarian, ate a hummus pita gyro type dish. We finished it off with two chocolate mousse’s made with Baileys Liqueur… It’s not quite what you would expect from an Irish pub.
THAT’S IT!! Here’s 500 pictures from today…
Enjoy.
