We celebrated our 34th anniversary with a trip to Nashville, both to see the sights and to visit our friend Delphia who moved from Albuquerque in 2021.
Stephen enjoys finding cool places to stay (and not telling me what they are until we arrive!) and he really outdid himself this time. In 1980, Johhny Cash and June Carter Cash bought land in Hendersonville, a short distance from Nashville, and had Braxton Dixon (known as "architect to the stars") build a house and some cabins. Known as "Cash Mountain," there are 2 cabins left after 2 others burned down. The original house is now a separate property. We stayed in the June Bug Cabin, and it was the neatest little hideaway in the woods! The first night we sat in the rockers on the porch and watched the fireflies. The downstairs is an open plan living and kitchen area with a luxurious bathroom, and upstairs is a sleeping loft.
Our first full day in TN, we went to Centennial Park and visited The Parthenon. When Tennessee celebrated it's 100th year of statehood with the Centennial Exhibition the Parthenon was built to be a temporary structure. But in 1920, the city decided to rebuild it in lasting materials. It is now an art museum. The 42 foot tall Athena statue was completed in 1990. The exhibit we saw featured additional sculptures by the same artist, Alan LeQuire.
We walked around the park a bit, but the whole time we were in Tennessee there was a heat dome and astonishing humidity. If I were writing a novel about our visit, the humidity would be a whole character! Every time we left a building or the car we were surprised all over again as the air wrapped itself around us.
In spite of the heat and humidity, I went for long walks every morning. The country road by our cabin was lovely and followed a stream. There was evidence of recent flooding. Although it rained a bit each day we were there, we didn't experience flooding, fortunately.
The next day we went to the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville. I have been to a lot of car museums, but this one was really cool! (OK, not literally cool because the air conditioning was broken that day, so it was actually horrendously hot, but it was a nifty museum for sure.) There were many vehicles whose production number was 1. There were a lot of dead ends on the evolutionary tree of automobiles, and Jeff Lane collected as many of them as he could! There were also many race cars, fancy cars, rally cars, and motorcycles. But I liked the weird stuff.
We got to spend Friday with Delphia, who lived and worked in Nashville before moving to Albuquerque and lives there now, so we had the best possible tour guide and "inside info" as we toured the Country Music Hall of Fame.
We started with the Dolly Parton exhibit.
We spent all day at the CMHoF, taking a break to eat lunch in the cafe on the first floor. There were so many great exhibits, including many historical instruments and a lot of information on the history of country music and how it intersected with RnB, Rockabilly, and other styles. There was a replica of a recording studio and guitar shop. And, of course, a lot of memorabilia from different performers.
In the evening we went to the Grand Ole Opry. They did a great job of choosing a variety of performers, ages, and styles. We saw Mark Wills, John Conlee, Abbey Cone, The Grascals, Taylor Hicks, Connie Smith, and Riders in the Sky. We loved it all, although I have to say The Grascals were my favorite. Riders in the Sky was a riot. Not being a country music fan, I enjoyed everything a thousand percent more than I thought I would. Live music with excellent musicians is just fantastic, whatever the genre.
Being able to hang out with Delphia for one evening and most of 2 days was absolutely the best. There's nothing like getting together with a good friend!
It was a fantastic trip and anniversary!
What a wonderful trip! Your walk after the light rain was mine when I walked to the school bus stop past the swamp full of honeysuckle and other fragrances. I'm so happy you had so much fun.
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