Labor Day in Music City

Mark and I decided to be spontaneous this past weekend, so we woke up and headed south to check out Nashville, Tennessee, since it is only about four hours from our house. On our way out there, Mark wanted to stop and check out the Corvette Museum. We couldn't go in, since it was 95 degrees outside and we had our dogs with us, so Mark settled for just checking out the facade.

And, of course, Mark had to take pictures of the "Corvette Parking Only" row gracing the parking lot of the museum. Someday he thinks he'll be parking there...
Once we got into Nashville, we dropped our dogs off at the hotel and headed downtown to check it out. First we drove down "music row," which is a collection of just a few streets where recording companies are just lined up and waiting to sign the next big thing. It was pretty crazy to see, and I'll bet pretty overwhelming for people who are trying to break into the music business. After our trek down music row, we decided it was time for dinner - this is me on the phone with mom, walking toward Joe's Crab Shack, and finding out that she "outed" me to Brent. Just kidding, mom.
We walked all over downtown - there were tons of bars with live country bands, one right after the other. It was pretty crazy to see all the people trying to "make it" in Nashville. After our long walk, we drove over to the state capitol. Mark always takes pictures of state capitols - I guess it's his proof that we have been there...
On our way back to the hotel, we decided to drive by the river. Of course, Mark wanted to stop and snap a picture, since there was conveniently a little park area complete with benches. It was actually quite pretty, and there was a huge concert going on just across the river.

The next morning, we went to check out the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. It has tons of memorabilia belonging to singers from Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash to Faith Hill and Garth Brooks. It also boasts original copies of every gold and platinum country album ever made. Garth Brooks' No Fences album sold something like 11 million copies. Nuts.

This is actually a piano that was commissioned by Priscilla Presley as a gift for Elvis. She had a Kimball piano placed in 24-karat gold leaf. Seriously. And if that wasn't extravagant enough, Elvis' diamond-crusted cadillac was also on display. It was gold plated on all the fixtures too (including the back-seat television set), and the paint job was done using 40 coasts of crushed up diamond and fish scales. Bling, bling!

And this collection belonged to Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, and Faith Hill. One funny thing is the job application to the Hall of Fame Museum from "Patricia Yearwood." Apparently she worked there before she became a star...

And this room was full of plaques dedicated to all the country music hall-of-famers.

After leaving the museum, we went to check out the park which hosts an exact, to-scale replica of the Parthenon. Yes, you read that correctly, the parthenon. I guess I have no reason to go to Athens now, I have already seen the Parthenon. The funny this is, it was done in some ghetto looking stone mixture, so the color is funky. It was a total WTF moment!

After the parthenon experience, we went to check out Belle Meade, a very exclusive neighborhood just outside of Nashville where a lot of the stars live. Some of the houses were just spectacular, but it was hard to see many of them thru the thick landscaping. That's what I would do if I had a house like that, too. Here is the famous Belle Meade plantation - it had "slaves quarters" and the works, since it was once a functioning plantation. Now it is just a tourist trap.

And this was the community park in Belle Meade... I want to live there.

This is another view of the park. It was seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It makes Indy look ugly - even springtime Indy.

And last but not least, this picture has become a new addition to our "tour of the temples." We like to check them out wherever we go - this one was quite tiny. It was next to a bunch of farms, but the neighborhood was beautiful. Typical of a temple...