Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Day Four: Nashville
This is the back side of the mansion.
I stopped first at The Hermitage, President Andrew Jackson's plantation east of the city. I have always wanted to visit a plantation. The wallpaper in the house is 194 years old. Most of the rooms are viewable only through glass sheets in the doorways, but it didn't take away from the experience. The furniture is gleaming and gorgeous, and the blue and turquoise walls in the library and dining room make me want to paint a room one of those colors someday. I thought the house would be larger, but I suppose that for the first half of the mid-1800s, this was a pretty nice pad. Except if you were one of the several dozen slaves. A couple of slave quarters are on the property, something else I'd never seen. I can only imagine that life ...
I'm staying in an area east of Nashville called Music Valley, trying to get my country on. I made my hair big and walked over to Opryland tonight. It's just like Las Vegas, only country fried. My throat is on fiery fire and my sparkle is missing. This is the third round in four months. Sleep and lots of water tonight might help.
Oh! On the way back from Opryland, I stopped at Cooter's Place, coincidentally across from my hotel. Cooter's is one of the museum/shops owned by the actor Ben Jones who played Cooter Davenport on The Dukes of Hazzard. Dukes is a halcyon part of growing up for me. My dad would make the best popcorn ever, with all the ritual that went into making it, and pour a couple of Cokes, then we would watch them Dukes together in the basement with the fire blazing hot. The museum has an outstanding collection of memorabilia. Outstanding. Everything from Bo Duke Underoos (hmmm, innocent yet not) to Daisy Duke's Jeep. I was disappointed the General Lee was not in residence for my visit, for I very much would have liked my photo with 01, even for $9.99. I will probably go back tomorrow for a souvenir.
# posted by Amy Jo @ 4:57 PM 
