Playing TN Tourist

This weekend we were honored to be guests at the wedding of a very dear friend which was being held at the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, TN.  We chose to go a day early and play tourists.  I say “play tourists” because I grew up not that far from Franklin, so I really don’t feel like we are really away from home even though we live in Alabama.  We had such great experiences at a variety of places, I thought I would blog about it and share with others that might visit the area.

After checking into our hotel, the first order of business was to find food for dinner.   Had it been earlier in the evening, we probably would have ventured to the downtown Franklin area, but as we were pretty hungry, we opted for a place reasonably close.  We have a rule that we also try new places when we travel, so we chose Buco Di Beppo, an Italian chain restaurant.   The staff was super friendly and our server did an excellent job explaining to us about their family style dining.  Basically, you pick your item from the menu and they bring it out in a bowl (small for 2-3 people, large for 4-6) and you share.  You know, just like you eat when you are at home.  We decided on a Ceasar salad, Penne San Remo, and a side of Italian broccoli.   Wow!  Even with ordering a small, we had enough left over for another meal.  But the food was yummy!  I have just recently discovered that I like Ceasar salads, and this one did not have a heavy dressing; it was just right.  The pasta dish was also rather tasty even if it did have a alfredo-ish type cream sauce (I am not an alfredo fan) and the broccoli was #1!  They added garlic, crushed red pepper, and a sprinkling of parmesan to this favorite veggie and really gave it some kick. 

While eating, I gazed across the table at T and realized in horror that I had forgotten to cut his hair this week like I had planned.  He could NOT go to the wedding looking scruffy with his combination three week beard and goatee.  So our first priority the next day was a barber shop.  Having a feeling that Franklin probably still had a REAL barber shop downtown, I did a quick search online and found exactly what we were looking for with Carson’s Barber Shop  – walk-ins and an average wait time of less than ten minutes.  We arrived shortly after they opened and walked right in and got him cleaned up.  It is an old house that has been converted into a barber shop, and they have all sorts of antique barbering items around.  They even had two little cars for little guys to sit in for their trims.  The waiting area even had a popcorn machine, TV, and games.  My favorite thing was the antique glass door knobs on all of the doors.  I know – weird.

Next stop was the Franklin Gun Shop.  T is quite the gun enthusiast, and having passed their gigantic billboard on the interstate multiple times, this was a must stop and look.  They do have a pretty good assortment of weaponry, new and used, as well as any accessory needed.  We managed to get in and out with all of our money still in our pockets, so I considered that a success.

Now we were on to the real tourist stops.  I wanted to go to the Parthenon  (1) because I had never been there and (2) we saw the real one last year in Athens, Greece and I wanted to compare the two.  It is located across from Centennial Park in West End.  The first floor has displays of items from the Tennessee Centennial and explains the history of the Nashville Parthenon.

 They are currently showing an art exhibit on the second floor called ARTWORK AMONG US: Portraits by Juan Pont Lezica that is photographs of Nashvillians posed and dressed similar to famous artwork.  For instance, one of the photos is of former Tennessee Titan Eddie George posed as The Thinker.  No photos are allowed of the artwork, so you will have to go see that for yourselves.  But photos are allowed on the third floor where Athena stands guard over her temple.  Having seen the Percy Jackson movie, I knew kinda what to expect, but to walk up the stairs and see this humongous, dare I say gaudy, statue was quite the sight.  

I have always enjoyed mythology, so I still thought it was neat to see the shield, the Medusa,  and just the total Athena package. We took several photos inside and out, and then moved on to our next destination – Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.

I basically chose Cheekwood because (1) we had never been there, (2) I thought it would provide good photo ops, and (3) we could get in for free.   The reason we could get in for “free” is because we are members at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens, which allows reciprocal visits to several other gardens and locations across the country through the American Horticultural Society (AHS).   If you visit several places like this in a year, the membership is well worth it with reciprocal visits and other discounts. 

The Cheekwood property is located in a beautiful area just 8.5 miles southwest of downtown Nashville.   We first grabbed a quick lunch at The Pineapple Room, their on-site restaurant.  Reservations are recommended, according to their website, but we did the walk-in thing, and it worked out okay.  From reading the menu cover, we learned that Cheekwood has a treehouse exhibit this year, so we got really pumped about seeing what kind of forest-y abodes were in store for us.   Here are shots of the seven tree houses:

All of the treehouses are big enough for adults to go in them and each is unique in its own way.  We did not explore the entire grounds available to us simply due to time and the heat.  The car’s temperature reading said 102F,  so I am sure it was hovering close to 100,  but it was tolerable since there were many shady spots along our route and it was dry.  All of the walking actually kinda reminded us of our time in Israel last spring, but with more grass and trees.   I would definitely like to go back and see some of the other gardens and the art museum housed in the Cheekwood  Mansion.  I bet it has air conditioning!

So many great places are available to visit in middle Tennessee, depending on your interests.  I hope this may have helped you in making the decision to hit the road and see the sights.  Happy trails!