#8—Honky-Tonkin’ (and country eatin’) in Tennessee

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8/19/11 to 8/21/11
Nashville, Tennessee

You gotta love facebook. I think everybody has a story about how facebook reconnected them with a long-lost love, a childhood best friend or a distant relative. One of my reconnections was with Rob, a friend of mine since 6th grade. We used to work in the cafeteria together at Mitchell elementary school and were friends throughout our time at Jordan Intermediate and our first two years at Grove. Before his junior year, Rob moved away, eventually joined the Army, and later had a career in radio which brought him to Nashville. Rob was the one who inspired me to drive across country in the first place. Our facebook reconnection led to emails, led to phone calls, led to a 273 mile drive from Atlanta (via Alpharetta) to Nashville, Tennessee.

One thing that is kinda cool about driving westward is gaining back the hours I lost earlier. So I picked up an hour as I enjoyed the beautiful four hour drive. Tennessee is filled with green trees and plenty of water and bridges. I also drove through the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains on highways built in the cutouts of layers of rocks. Rob lives near a lake, so I saw real live vultures that hung out on the street lights and rooftops waiting for dead fish to surface on the water. My first night in Tennessee was capped off with a great barbecue and catching up on old times.

Rob had to work my first full day in Nashville, but fortunately, I have another friend in the city who showed me around. Izzy and I started our day at the Hermitage, home and plantation of Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States. I’m not as versed in the political history of the United States between the American Revolution and the Civil War, so to visit the home of an 1812 war hero and president during the 1830s was quite informative.

There are a lot of things I can’t stand about Andrew Jackson. But to be fair, my judgments are from a perspective nearly 175 years after his presidency. He staunchly opposed women in politics, broke treaties with Native Americans, was responsible for the Trail of Tears and was the owner of over 150 slaves. It took everything in me to explore the life of this man objectively, but I think I pulled it off.

One of the main reasons I wanted to explore the grounds of the Hermitage was to learn about the lives of the slaves. Poor Izzy. I dragged him around on a hella-hot day to an empty field where slave quarters USE to stand. There were a few slave quarters closer to the main mansion that still stood, but I can’t remember if they were reconstructions or not. There was one really interesting account of one slave who was loyal to Jackson until his death, even requested to be buried by him. His humble grave is in the same garden as Jackson and his wife. Nonetheless, everytime I saw reference to human beings as property and references to transferring or selling that property, I cringed. Even the word slave is upsetting to read and retype. To see their struggle for personhood, down to hiding personal trinkets in the floorboards of their quarters, is a brutal reminder of our national history and a modern-day reality for people around the world.

It is funny to think of Jackson as a revolutionary, but for his time period, he was. Jackson was the first president to be elected by a popular election. Of course, this only meant something for white males, but Jacksonian democracy planted seeds of democracy that other, excluded groups would harvest in the future. Jackson himself rose from the ranks of poverty, and was an orphan as a young man. He was a Washington outsider whose election shocked the establishment. Andrew Jackson was the first democrat and was seen as a leader of the everyday man.

Throughout his presidency, Jackson was a widower. When his wife died shortly before he took office, Jackson was devastated. His heart was broken for the rest of his life, and a lot of the tour around his estate referenced his devotion to his deceased wife. She is buried next to Jackson in a garden on the property. Their love story is both touching, and sad.

I wasn’t allowed to take photographs inside the mansion, but if I could have, I would have taken some shots of the wallpaper. The mansion itself was a Greek-revival house, built from slave-made bricks. The style of architecture represents an American spin on classical Greek structures and is usually noted for its’ use of columns and pillars. The wallpaper inside the house continued this Greek theme. It looked a lot like a painting and has stood the test of time. Every inch of the mansion was covered with this wallpaper. My favorite print was the mural that depicted Greek legends, architecture and stories of the gods.

It seemed to me that a trip to Nashville wouldn’t be complete unless I visited the Grand Ole Opry. As far as country music is concerned, this place is the pinnacle of country music greatness. The show has gone on for like 80 years, and all the greats have graced its’ stage. I was surprised when Izzy told me it was underwater (along with the rest of downtown Nashville) in a big flood in May of 2010. To keep the show going, it was temporarily moved to its’ original location closer to the Cumberland Riverfront. But to be honest, I’m not a huge country music fan, so I didn’t feel a need to pay $30 for a backstage tour. I was satisfied taking pictures outside the building. I also wasn’t compelled to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame.

But when I told Izzy to take me to the best country fried chicken in Nashville and he said he knew just the place, I couldn’t get to the car fast enough. We went to Monelle’s which is a plantation turned restaurant. The food is served family style. About 12 people sit around a giant table and pass all the dishes around. Izzy wasn’t kidding… this was really good fried chicken! I also liked the ribs, green beans, chicken and dumplings, mac and cheese, biscuits and gravy, sweet corn casserole, cabbage with bacon and the banana pudding. Yum! If I lived in the south, I would not eat very healthy, that’s for sure!!!

Sunday was a fun day in Nashville because Rob didn’t have to work, so we thought it a good idea to eat a country breakfast. Rob, Izzy and I went to a famous place called the Loveless Motel, a motel turned restaurant. It was a pretty cool place. The guest rooms were converted to boutiques and gift shops and the food was pretty good too. This time I ate country-fried steak and eggs, cheesy potato casserole, fried chicken, and of course, their Biscuits and homemade jelly. Rob told me it is not uncommon at the Loveless Café to see country music stars or Hollywood actors seated at the table next to you. On this visit, it was just us common folk, but a good visit nonetheless. After Breakfast, we cruised around the area and took pictures outside the home of Donna Summer.

To wrap up my final night in Nashville, we all took a visit to the Riverfront Park area which has the beauty of the Cumberland River and the boot stompin’ of the honky-tonks. I learned that a honky-tonk is a local country bar with live country music. There was a whole strip of honky-tonks which neighbor boot shops and country music record stores. One of the most famous honky-tonks we popped in was Tootsie’s, where Patsy Cline got her start. Tootsie’s is practically connected to the Ryman, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. Country music stars would get their drink on and then head over to perform at the Ryman. We had a good time exploring the area and enjoying the country music scene of Nashville.

All in all, I had a fun time in Nashville. I definitely think I will return to the area to enjoy the fun, friends, food, music and drink… all of the country variety (of course).

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Photos

YEEHAW!!!!!!!
My Tennessee rental car

Izzy, Rob and I...
Painting the town in Nashville

At the Hermitage
The Jackson family gravestones (Andrew Jackson and his wife are buried under the gazebo)

Rockin it Country style
Outside the Grand Ole Opry

Lunch at Monelle's Plantation
The best Country Fried Chicken in Nashville!

Breakfast at the Loveless Motel
Izzy, Me and Rob

Outside the Honky-Tonks
Near Riverfront Park in Nashville

In front of the Parthenon
(At least, an exact replica in Nashville!)

Still Rockin' it country style
Outside the Grand Ole Opry

The entry doors of the Grand Ole Opry
(But I didn't go in cuz I was too cheap to pay $30)

Breakfast at the Loveless Cafe
Chicken Fried steak and eggs!

Doing the last dance
Outside Donna Summer's home)

Comments

[Teri]

OMG...
My arteries just let out a big old scream!