Today is the day my husband K starts attending ClarinetFest at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and I start sightseeing on my own. Because of these two facts, we had to get up at 6:30. As he got together his things for the day, I packed up water bottles and snacks for mine. Then, we headed down to the garage and set off at 7:14 with the odometer reading 56,492.
It took six minutes to go the one mile to a McDonald's just on the other side of campus. Our hotel did not include breakfast, although we could have paid a lot to have it in the restaurant/bar in the lobby. But, I have the McD app, so K's hotcakes were just $1.99, which was half off. His coffee was only a buck. I got Egg McMuffin, which I really like, for $3.39 and a small orange juice for $1.69. Tax was 75 cents.
Since K could easily walk from here, I was on the road on my own at 8:01. Forty-nine minutes later (56,542), I crossed into the Central Time Zone on I-40 westbound and gained an hour. So, it was 8:03 CDT (56,555), when I stopped at the rest area at mile 326.6. It was chilly both inside and out, but the restrooms were clean. When I got back to the car, I checked and found it was 62 degrees! It is July!
I was back on the road at 8:13, but I soon saw a sign for a Shell gas station. So, 8:20 (56,560) found me off at exit 322 Crossville. The car had gone 368 miles on this tank. I got 9.092 gallons of diesel for $2.949 each, having saved 5 cents per gallon again with my rewards card. I was back on the road at 8:28.
Since this is my car, I can use my Sirius XM to listen to the music I like without searching for stations. That is so nice on a long drive. I let "Sarah" the GPS guide me and just enjoyed the drive.
Traffic picked up the closer I got to Nashville, even though rush hour should really have been over, by the time I got there. Then, once I reached the capitol, I had to drive around and around that section of town to find some place to park. This was quite the chore. Finally, I pulled into the lot of what turned out to be a Catholic church within sight of the capitol at 10:39 (56,677). However, I was appalled to find out it would cost $18 for two hours. It was the closest lot I'd found and I'd actually been able to get into a relatively tight space in the back. So, I paid at the pay station and hiked up the hill.
And it was quite a steep hill at that. There was construction across the street, so I had to pick the safest place to cross, since the capitol was on that side. The capitol itself was set atop yet another hill. Seriously, people, you are killing me! At least there were things to look at. I had to search the capitol brochure for the significance of these pieces of columns- they are pieces of the original columns that were replaced in the 1950s restoration of the building. Oddly, they are called the Charles Waterfield Reliquary and were put there in 1995 in honor of the chief architect of the
1980s renovation. That strikes me as weird. The soldier is Alvin York, the famous enlisted man of WWI. I could not tell which trees the plaque refers to, because I counted more than 6. I found out later that I missed the marker for the Holy Rosary Cathedral, which had been the first Catholic church in Tennessee and was destroyed to build this capitol. It's probably just as well that I didn't know about it, because it would have made me mad.
Next up are presidents with the capitol, which is on the east or front side. The tomb of President Polk and his wife, which was moved here when their nearby home where they had been buried was sold and later destroyed, doesn't count in this, because I don't have a shot of it with the capitol. You'll see it later. First up is Andrew Johnson, who not only was President of the US, but he was also Governor before the war and Military Governor, after this was the first Southern capital to fall to the Union Army. Lincoln sent him here in 1862 and he returned here after his presidency. After him is Andrew Jackson, who, if you take the photo just right, looks like he is saluting the building. This could never have happened, since he died in June, 1845 and the cornerstone was laid that July 4. But, it makes a good photo.
Then, there is the obligatory Daughters of the Confederacy sign. Of course the group was founded here. Evidently the Middle Passage Tree Marker, which was put up in 1999, although the tree itself is no longer there, is on a side of the building that I did not explore. I also managed to miss the statue of Sam Davis "The boy hero of the Conferderacy" from 1909. Not sad to miss that.
One simply must take an artsy photo with flowers, if at all possible. Then, I got a shot of the Bicentennial Mall north of the capitol hill, as well as the only floor mat I've seen outside a capitol that tells you where you are, just in case you'd just stumbled up here.
Lest you think I was lollygagging, rest assured that these photos were taken as I hurried to the west side of the building from the east to actually get in. I got inside around 11, went through security, and rushed to a rest room, before joining the 11 am tour already in progress.
What I missed was in the brochure. The architect was William Strickland, who actually died in 1854, five years before the building was finished. He was buried in the northeast corner, in a tomb he'd designed. The building was constructed of bigby limestone that enslaved African Americans and convicts excavated, shaped and transported. In the 1950s restoration, brown-colored limestone from Indiana was used. The interior has marble from around Rogersville and Knoxville.(So nice to see a state use its own stone.) The cast iron work and gas light fixtures came from Philadelphia, PA. Original ceiling frescoes were done by German immigrant artists Theo Knoch and John Schleicher.
Strictly speaking, I could have just used the brochure to guide myself, but a guided tour always offers a little more info. This one started near the Information Desk on the first floor. We were not able to the Supreme Court Chamber, but we spent some time noting the ceiling frescoes and the bust of the first governor of the first governor of the state, John Sevier. As I recall, there's a county named for him. The first fresco is of "Justice" since the state court was on this floor. The last one of the eagle surrounded by 31 stars represented the states in the union at that time.
As folks climbed the stairs to the next floor, I opted for the elevator. That meant that I missed the chip in the handrail halfway up the first set of stairs. It is thought to have been from a bullet during a heated debate about the 14th Amendment in 1866. It granted citizenship to African Americans. Even though it was opposed by many in the General Assembly, they didn't have the votes to block it, which let Tennessee be the first Confederate state readmitted to the Union.
This gasolier is one of the two original lights and it was converted to electricity around 1895. It's quite impressive.
On this floor there are alcoves with busts of famous Tennesseans. The first here is the infamous Nathan Bedford Forrest, brilliant military mind, but also first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Ok, I've tolerated seeing the traitors Jeff Davis and Robert E. Lee in Southern capitols, but this is too much. What a horrible person to so honor! At least the next one here, Admiral Farragut, remained loyal to his country. As for the third, I can't remember ever seeing him called anything but Davey. Andrew Johnson was not a great president and was the first to be impeached.
We then entered the House of Representatives, which holds 99 members. The carpet reminded me of a quilt. Behind the speaker's podium is a wallscreen of Tennessee marble with fasces (bundles of Roman spears) representing strength in unity. There are 16 columns representing the fact that Tennessee was the 16th state. They are made from Nashville limestone. Those lights are pretty impressive, and the ceiling is nice.
We then went down the hall to the much smaller Senate, which has 33 members. The carpet in here is much busier. Symbolism is here, too, in the gasolier. It has 30 globes with corn, elk heads, cotton blossoms and tobacco leaves as decoration.The colonnade is made from Tennessee chocolate marble and it, like the ironwork in the gallery, is original. Note the state seal on the Senator's desk calendar; it's the clearest shot I got of it in the building.
Our next stop was the State Library (aka Legislative Lounge). This had a marvelous spiral staircase that reminded me of ones we'd seen in libraries in Europe. The ceiling portraits were of university presidents, the poet Longfellow, historian Prescott, father of American jurisprudence Kent, and Maury, the father of oceanography. Quite funnily, the portrait medallions on the balcony rail were stock figures ordered from a catalogue! They include Shakespeare, Dante, Sir Walter Scott, Washington and more. At least, there are 7 Tennesseans: US Senator Ephraim Foster; Andrew Jackson; James K. Polk; US Senator Felix Grundy, Governor William Carroll; US Senator Hugh Lawson White;and US Speaker of the House and Senator John Bell. There is also a bust in the room of Sequoyah with his amazing syllabary, which was the first written characters, 85 in total, of the Cherokee language.
Before dismissing us to go look at the reliefs on this floor, she took questions from the group. During this, we found out that one family was from France, of all places, and an Australian guy was there with his Amer-Asian girlfriend. You just never know who you'll run into on a capitol tour.
We also learned that the three big cities, Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville, tend to be more liberal than the rural areas. There are three Grand Divisions of the state: West, Middle, and East. Each of those cities is in one of the divisions. The three stars on the flag represent the three divisions.
The first relief commemorates the fact that Tennessee was the final state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which recognizes women's right to vote. It had passed the Senate; the problem was the House. It was a hard fought battle here, known as the War of the Roses. Those for the amendment wore a yellow rose. Those against wore red. The vote was tied all week. The morning of the vote, Harry Burn, at 24, the youngest member, had received a letter from his mother. She encouraged her son to be "a good boy" and vote aye. And when the time came, with her letter in his pocket, and still wearing a red rose, he did indeed vote aye and it passed by that one vote. Let's hear it for guys listening to their moms!
The second relief didn't go up until 2000, but at least African Americans' citizenship and male right to vote were finally commemorated. And, finally, there is a bust of Andrew Jackson. I seem to have missed a couple of others here and there.
I stopped by the info desk to ask the guide for food recommendations and a gift shop before I left. There was no gift shop, but she recommended the State Museum shop down on the Bicentennial Mall. Back outside, I made my way to the Polk grave for a photo. Then, while waiting for the light to let me cross the street to the church where I'd parked, I noticed that the architecture bore a resemblance to the capitol building, especially the unusual cupola. It turned out it was the oldest standing Catholic church in Nashville, St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows. It dates to 1847, so it obviously replaced the one torn down to make way for the capitol.
I was back in the car at 12:10 and headed down to Bicentennial Park and its Farmer's Market. I had a really hard time finding a parking spot. I tried the adjacent museum lot, the market lot, the street along the park, and got more and more frustrated. Finally, a spot opened on the street and even though I wasn't convinced that it was a spot I was allowed in rather than a vendor, I took it. No one had stickers or anything. So, I was parked at 12:22 (56699) and headed into the market to find food.
The market was mostly small food shops or counters selling meals, not really farm goods. There were tables in the central area that were long, so it looked like a giant picnic. There were tables outside, too, but smaller. I looked around a bit and decided the most authentic thing to have would be Memphis-style barbecue from B & C Market. I consulted the lady at the counter and she recommended the combo, which was a pork sandwich, corn pudding and soda. I found big jugs with dispensers and chose a sauce, before heading out to find a seat. There were lots of people to watch as I enjoyed my delicious meal.
Although it had not been in my plans to visit the Tennessee State Museum, it was right here and it was free, so I really had to go. I picked up the brochure at the desk and noted the location of the gift shop before heading upstairs.
The brochure made it look like everything was laid out in a nice chronological order. However, it was really hard to follow that chronology within sections, as there were things along the wall and in the center of the sections. I will give them props for having a children's section for so many of the topics. I also congratulate them on being fairly honest on a range of touchy subjects- Native Americans, slaves, the Klan, etc. There was a lot to read and I didn't have a lot of time. So, I photographed a lot of the plaques that I thought would be of interest later. Here are some on the natural history and the native peoples.
Ah, there's that horrible Duke of Cumberland that we heard so much about in Scotland, in particular in relation to the massacre by his troops at Culloden in 1745. Not a fan.
Then, I encountered some objects from the 1800's, a dugout canoe from 1750, and then a Conestoga wagon. See what I mean about chronology? The wagon was a surprise, since I thought they were used only for going to the far western areas of the country. Oh, and we have a corner cabinet from K's grandmother, but it's woodwork is not that fancy. It does have two sets of doors, though.
The next displays were about settling the area and statehood. This served to remind me that I'd learned in grade school US history that Tennessee had been part of North Carolina. Oh, and even this was in a crazy order, as the plaque about Stations was definitely about settling, but it was after statehood. Oh, and I checked- Nashborough was the forerunner to the settlement that would become Nashville, as I suspected.
There were displays on various native sons, both good and bad. I was pleased that they acknowledged that Jackson has a "complicated" legacy. Here are some of the plaques.
When it came to the Civil War, they let you know that not everyone in the state was for secession. They also admitted the ugly facts of the Klan and segregation that occurred here after the war.
Did you know that cars were once made in Tennessee? Neither did I. The Marathon began in Jackson in 1907, but moved to Nashville in 1910. By 1912, they made 10,000 cars in a variety of models, but they stopped in 1914. The sign didn't say why. This car is from 1914.
The things you forget! Like the Scopes Monkey Trial was here and the TVA was here, of course.
There were some artifacts among all the signs. This chest is Art Deco, a style you might not expect to have been made here. The rocker is a wild folk interpretation of the Tortoise and the Hare.
You know what else I forgot or just didn't think about? All the music and musicians that came from Tennessee. I'm not into country music, but I do know the Grand Ole Opry is here and that a lot of that kind of music is produced in Nashville. I did not know that Tina Turner (black outfit) was from Tennessee, but I may have known that Justin Timberlake was. This exhibit, believe it or not was a temporary one. You'd think it would be permanent.
For an unplanned stop, the museum turned out to be a good find. Before I left at 2, I made sure I went to the gift shop, which turned out to be quite nice. On my way back to the market, I saw these cool metal sculptures, the black-eyed Susans (Maryland's state flower), and the interesting line plaque.
In the market, I did a quick, desperate search for breakfast food for tomorrow. I finally gave up and went to Butter Cake Babe, where I spent $9.67 on butter cake, lemon cookies, and 2 vegan blueberry muffins.
When I got back in the car at 2:10, it took a bit to get the GPS to figure out the next route. When I got to the end of the street, I saw this view and grabbed the camera, before finally getting on the road at 2:16.
Even though there was traffic coming out of town, I reached Andrew Jackson's Hermitage at 2:47 (56695). No backpacks were allowed, which meant I couldn't carry water. When you get your ticket ($19 for seniors), they give you an idea of when to head out to the house, so as not to wait forever. I got my map and headset, and after a quick restroom break, when in to watch the film about him.
As one could expect at his house, the film and the exhibits definitely praised him. However, like the state museum, they also recognized problems in his history, including his treatment of Native Americans and his slave-holding. They even point out that he did not free any of his slaves. They were pretty clear that his wife was not divorced when she married Jackson and I'm fairly certain they think she knew it. Of course, Jackson would have been furious at such a suggestion. Displays note that he blamed his political enemies' talking about his wife for her death, even though she had been getting sick for several years. Sounds like someone else who won't listen to facts.
On to the displays. The miniaturist in me liked the scale model of the first house on the property. It was sad to realize that after the current one was built, the farm house was turned into a one-story slave house.
Andrew Jackson was, of course, the hero of the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. His wife and adopted son joined him after the battle for festivities in the city in 1815. They attended a ball held to celebrate George Washington's birthday. Evidently, they were enthusiastic dancers, but not good ones.
Since this was his home and his adopted son inherited it (he sold it to the State of Tennessee, when his debts became too much), there are plenty of family objects here. It's certainly better that they are here rather than in a museum elsewhere. The house is full of such things, of course.
There were plenty of signs to remind you of things you learned in history class and to tell you new things.
So, about Rachel. She married young to a man who turned out to be abusive. She left him more than once, I believe. During one such separation, she went home to her widowed mother, who was renting out a room to a young lawyer. They fell for each other. Supposedly, she thought her husband had divorced her. She went to Natchez and Jackson followed. They married, although no documentation exists, in 1791. Her husband did obtain a divorce- in 1793, using his wife's current bigamous marriage as grounds. The Jacksons were in Nashville by then and remarried in 1794 to ensure its legality. So, you can see how that would have set Washington tongues wagging and it was what was brought up in the election. She was also derided for being provincial and overweight. Rachel definitely didn't want to go to Washington and her death from a heart attack in December, 1828 spared her that.
Which brings us to Jackson's presidency. I am definitely not a fan of all he did.
A little thrill to find German here:
As many former plantations are now doing, there were exhibits and information about the slaves here.
I wandered outside and followed the path, stopping to listen to some of the things that interested me along the way. I really didn't have a lot of time to listen to all the recordings. But, of course, this was my third stop of the day.
This is the gate that visitors would come through back in the day and this is the view of the house he wanted them to have when they arrived.
The sign notes that the whitewash and columns are only in the front. All of the other plantations I've been to continued the architectural design all the way around.
Although I got to the house when I was supposed to, it was a rather long wait. Only 12 or so people at a time can go in with the costumed guide. Eventually, I reached the point where I could sit on the bench with a group and listen to the intro before going in. We were only allowed to take photos on the first floor, which was a shame.
The tour was good and the young man who took over upstairs was very knowledgeable.
When finished, we were released out the back to visit the smokehouse, garden, grave, slave dwellings, etc. You'll note that the back of the house does not look like the front. Unfortunately, time was running short and I did not have time to explore a lot.
I hurried off to the gift shop, which I managed to get into just a few minutes before closing. I managed to find postcards and pins for my collection.
The restaurant was closed and things were definitely winding down, when I got back in the car at 5:44 CDT. It was a hot 86 as I headed east. It took no time at all to hit late rush hour traffic. Due to the late hour and that fact that I would lose an hour, when I crossed the time line, I did not stop for dinner. I ate one of the almond butter bars I had with me.
As it got darker in front of me, I noticed a great sunset in my rear view mirror. I grabbed my camera and just pointed it at the outside mirror. No focus, nothing. I think it turned out well, considering..
At 8:47 EDT (56820), I crossed the time line again. I just wanted to get to White Avenue, so I kept pushing on. At 9:34 (56868), I was back in the hotel garage in Knoxville.
I drove 376 miles today and visited three attractions. Not bad!
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