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Published: January 3rd 2011
The last days of summer... spent in Tennessee
So, I spent a week in the Nashville area at the end of September and it took me forever to finish writing this post, but here it is... Sunny, dry heat days in the mid 30's (celcius)...very, very nice. Nashville is a pretty & clean city with lots of green space. I was staying in Brentwood which is in the southern part of the city. My hotel was about 8-10 kilometers from downtown Nashville, and next time I would prefer to find a place closer to downtown. Not that my hotel or Brentwood weren't nice, they were. I'll show you some pics of it down below in the pic section. I would like to be able to explore another part of the city a little more. I did find getting around the city (at least on the weekend) easy & pleasant. Although there was one exception, but after a few loops around the highway, I was back on track. Not bad for having no GPS to help me find my way. The big highways through the city were fun for me to drive on too, I had a blast.
Cheekwood Botanical
Japanese garden in Cheekwood
I like Japanese gardens, I find them peaceful. Gardens
On Friday night, I went to Cheekwood to be a part of Chihuly Nights. Cheekwood was a nice little drive from my hotel, through Brentwood, past lots of big estates on a country road. There was a sign along the road that said to watch for deer. Sure enough, a deer was waiting in one of the driveways, just a few feet from the road, on my way there. Late afternoon I arrived, so I had a little time to look around before the sun set and the blown glass was lit up to make the gardens take on a whole other atmosphere. There were a few different garden types to walk through. I really liked the Japanese Garden. There is also a restaurant on site, I didn't get the chance to sit down and eat there, but I think that would have been fun to do. Visitors can also order a box lunch to sit and eat outdoors on the grounds. I did see some people eating while sitting around the ponds for a nice little picnic. Of course, could always bring our own, find a pretty little spot, and watch the world go by.
The main
Saffron
lit up at night...you could see it from all over the gardens. The yellow/orange against the black of night is so pretty. building that sits at the back of the grounds, was the home of the Cheek family, who made some of their fortune from coffee...Maxwell House. No photography allowed there though. Although I liked examining the painted panels in the hallways of this mansion, the top floor houses the Faberge collection. I was most interested in the life of Faberge. I knew he was Russian, but did not know he had been from a Huguenot family who fled France. I don't know alot about the Hugeunots, but I do know they had been persecuted in France around the time the 1st Acadians settled in Canada. I'd like to learn a little more about this. Hm, maybe someday in France? 😊 One day. I'd like to take a trip and explore France, see where my ancestors came from, try to imagine why they left, how much they risked, picture why they chose Canada. And part of that trip would also be to see where I was born and where my family lived. There are so many places in the world I would like to see, but that trip to Germany/France has special meaning to me. It wouldn't be about fancy buildings or
Come sit with me
We'll sit outdoors and sip ice tea, while we chat the day away. This was the front veranda of the Belle Meade Plantation. Far enough from the main road that you do not feel like you are still in the city. beaches, but about meeting local people, exploring museums for a chance to find a missing link to my history, learning local culture.
Chihuly Night
Chihuly is not there all the time, it was an exhibit set up both inside and outdoors for 5 months. Chihuly is an artist who has all of these glass blown shapes created and added to the gardens. On certain nights, they lit up the glass, some from the outside and some from the inside. I looked around before the sun set and then went back to see the glass sculptures lit up. Although there were alot of people, it was very serene. The saffron piece was huge, a couple of stories high, but they were all spectacular. My pictures will have to do, but some of the pieces I could not capture. If you missed it in Nashville, you'll have to find him somewhere else in the world. In 2011 he's exhibiting in Vegas & Israel, and although Vegas is awesome... Israel would be interesting! Ok, back to Nashville for now...
Belle Meade Plantation.
Belle Meade was on my list of places to get to, but I found it by accident when I
Backyard of Belle Meade
a garden I could get use to staring at every day. took a wrong turn. This plantation was huge and bred race horses. They were self sufficient, with amoung other things a wood mill, winery, smokehouse and rail road. The former stables were prepared for a wedding later that day. Who would have imagined an elegant reception area for a fall wedding? What a stunning place for a fall wedding! The woman who gave the tour was very good at it. She was dressed in period costume and explained not just about the house, plantation and family but also about the history of the time & area. We're in the US south, and during the civil war they owned hundreds of slaves here. On the columns of the mansion, you can still see the gunshots that hit. Wealth lost, strong women & ghost stories are some of the highlights I enjoyed.
Food!
Come on, you know I have to talk about the food. First place to talk about was Maggiano's Italian restaurant. There was about 20 of us there for supper. What I liked about this place was there was no menu for us to agonize over, it was also not buffet. The servers ( dressed in white) brought out
plate after serving plate of food! It was so fun to see what they brought out next. Bread of course with olive oil, but then a warm dip, then italian sausages cooked with peppers, all of this just the appetizers and then more and more and more food! By the time the veggies actually showed up, I was full, but then, they brought out the desserts...I thought I was going to explode! Funny thing (to me anyway), since then I saw this restaurant on the TV show Modern Family ... I knew it as soon as I saw it. The walls are covered in photographs, high ceilings and wood. Anyway, you could feed a number of families from the take home doggie bags our group still managed to leave with. A fun place to eat, I would go back again.
Cheesecake Factory, years ago I first heard of it and now I finally got to enjoy it. I know you're thinking I went to eat cheesecake, but it is more than cheesecake or dessert! Let me tell you how I got there.... This place was on my list of places to make it to in Nashville and I had
Maggiano
Imagine a warm night overlooking Nashville, no one else on the balcony, and lots of good food for us to enjoy. told one of the Canadians on this trip that I wanted to make it there. She was staying at a hotel downtown and not near me. They did drop me off from the airport at my hotel as they went to theirs. After checking in to my room, and reading my emails I decided to go eat. There was a restaurant across the street from my hotel and I was starved and exhausted, so I decided to go eat there. I walked over and my server chatted with me, helping me to decide what to eat. I decided on a hamburger with sweet potato fries. He brought out fresh, still warm rolls and a strawberry lemonade, which I was seriously enjoying when I got a txt msg on my work cell. They were heading over to the Cheesecake Factory and knew I would like to try it out too! Crap! My food was on the way! I signalled my server and asked him if I could get my food to go. He was very sweet and even packed me another drink to go. As I crossed the street, with my lunch in a doggie bag in my hand, the other
sweet iced tea
@ the Wild Iris... Canadians arrived and we took off to go eat at the Cheesecake Factory. A week later, I ate in the same restaurant at the opposite end and guess who was my server again?! I had a little explaining to do, he wanted to know what had happened a week ago when I was starved, relaxing, and had time on my hands...into I have no time to eat, and almost running out the door. I told him and stayed for the whole meal this time :P
Wild Iris, a tiny little place off a side street also within walking distance to my hotel. I sat on the patio to enjoy my meal, I can eat indoors at home, but here the weather was too nice to eat indoors. I had an AWESOME sandwich and I am not a fan of sandwiches usually. But these ones were creative and so full of flavor! Mine was smoked turkey with bacon, avacado, brie and included a wee bit of orange peach marmalade in it! So good! They also had vanilla creme brulee. I can't pass up creme brulee and it was nicely done, but would have been better shared. Not a fancy place,
worthy of a pic
I think he's smiling at me. Wonder who does his hair though?? but it is really good food.
PF Chang's. Never heard of it before, even though apparently it is a chain chinese restaurant. The location was ideal as I was exploring Centennial park which has the Panthenon (which was kind of weird in the middle of Nashville). I liked the statues inside the restaurant and the atmosphere, but the best part of the meal was the dessert... fried bananas with pineapple ice cream and fruit. I couldn't eat it all, so I was glad they put it on ice for me to take back to the hotel for later. The dessert was big enough to have as a meal! I ate a lot of food on this trip, way too much food but I felt bad not to eat it.
Centennial Park. I went for the craft fair and it was a very nice fair & park. No fee to get into the park or into the fair. I like craft fairs, I like to see what people can make and it inspires me. The water in the park is what I liked, very pretty views.
I rented a car from Thrifty's near (not at) the Airport. The
Centennial Park
now this is worthy of sitting and staring at. woman there was awesome and gave me maps of the city and helped me plan my way around the city. She also advised of places to visit while there and what part of the city to avoid. By renting outside of the airport, I saved a chunk of change regardless of which site I return the car to. The airport site charges something like 35% for the convenience of being on site. Worth picking up a car only once at the hotel, after taking a shuttle or cab. If I go back to Nashville, I'll need to remember that.
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