(Sorry about some of the above pictures - I could not straighten them up on this new version of Blogger.)
After a hearty make-your-own-waffle breakfast, we got on the road this morning by 9:30. The driving conditions were terrific - no snow and no rain, just a few flurries. In Tennessee, we got off the highway and visited a place called the Appalachian Center for Crafts - possibly the Tennessean equivalent of RISD? The school had a gallery amongst the art facilities. The Center is associated with Tennessee Tech University. We saw gorgeous ceramics, blown glass, candles, carvings, and metal work - a real treat.
We pulled into Nashville around 3:30 (EST) and dropped our valuables off with Shellie and Mark before heading into the city. Turns out that Nashville has over 700 churches - hello Bible Belt. We went to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts which is located in the old Nashville post office built in the height of the Art Deco movement. The building itself is gorgeous and, in addition, we saw a great exhibit on Mexico and Modern Print Making with gorgeous lithos by Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros (muralists who made political prints).
Nashville is known to be glitzy. We didn't see too much evidence for this. The Grand Ole Opry is located in a wonderful building just a block away from a strip of live music bars. At 5PM, there were 4 bars with live country and bluegrass bands playing to as many people. BUT, there WAS live music at 5PM - quite something!
We thought the NY-style deli called Noshville is pretty funny. . .
Anyway, the weather here is just as cold and uncomfortable as it is up North, to my surprise. I had dreams of sunny warmth, but no such luck. . .
We head off to Memphis, TN tomorrow morning and hopefully we will reach Little Rock, AR by nightfall.
[approximately 295 miles]
6 comments:
Noshville! Did you grab a hot pastrami or a corned beef sandwich? Would love to know how NY deli translates in the Bible Belt.
Hope Noshville is better than the "NY deli" in Charlottesville which did not have corned beef sandwiches, hot pastrmi, knishes, matzo ball soup, chicken noodle soup, egg creams...I never went in there after ascertaining this.
The fine arts museum is pretty! Too bad about the Frist part.
Yeah, except for music row, Nashville not all that glitzy! Then again, the part I've seen most of is down by Vanderbilt/Peabody (Peabody being where Eric and his friend Trey did their education masters thingys) and beyond that...
Did you stop at the Parthenon? I visited there a couple times when I was little (I have family in Nashville) and learned at an embarrassingly late age (after exposing my ignorance in a humiliating fashion) that the one in Tennessee is not, in fact, THE Parthenon.
Rachel - we never made it to the Parthenon - we drove right by it and didn't stop. That's a hyserical story! I love it!!
Daniela - Nashvile, was fun - great museum. Seeing Frida there reminded me of you of course!
Needlemom, we actually didn't try the sandwiches - somehow, there was very little magnetism there for us! Funny enough, we keep seeing lots of Northern references - NY City clothing stores, Philly cheesesteak restaurant, etc.
You should definitely do the Parthenon on your next trip through Nashville-- it's really cool! They now have a replica of the cult statue of Athena which is pretty impressive. And there are some nice exhibits inside. But the main thing is just to see it, which you did by driving by...
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