Part 2 of the Traveling Sisters 2013 trip. See previous post about Atlanta and Augusta.Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast at the Augusta hotel before heading up to Nashville which was about a 6 hour drive. Our plan was to stop in Chattanooga and have lunch because it was about ½ way. The weather was threatening rain even though it was warm. The previous few weeks there had been having rains and flooding in the Nashville area. Our drive would take us over the Appalachians which we heard was a beautiful drive.
As we were approaching Chattanooga it started to rain
heavily, and thunder. We were hoping to
be able to explore the city a little as well as have lunch. No such luck. By the time we got into the
city limits it was raining very hard. We
drove down by the Riverwalk which would have been fun on a nice day. We settled on having lunch at the Blue Plate
which appeared to be fun, modern place. The
location was good, right next to the Aquarium near the Riverwalk. The décor was nice and the menu had a lot to
offer. Maybe it was because we were
there after 2pm or maybe due to the storm, but we were not impressed. The fries were served at best warm and other
food was not hot either. Since we were
the only ones there it made us wonder how long the food had been sitting. We had the experience and if we ever get back
that way which I hope to do, we will know to pick another location.
On the road again we climbed the Appalachians, all the way
fighting the rain and thunder.
Unfortunately we were not able to do the site-seeing we had hoped to do.
We got to the house that we had rented through VRBO. It was a cute little 2 bedroom house with a
front porch about 2 blocks from downtown Franklin. The décor was great and it was comfortable
and welcoming.
Shortly after getting settled in Ike showed up with a few of
his friends and we headed over to
J Alexanders for dinner. It was an upscale restaurant /bar with excellent food. After dinner we went back to the house and decided to turn in for the night and get an early start in the morning.
J Alexanders for dinner. It was an upscale restaurant /bar with excellent food. After dinner we went back to the house and decided to turn in for the night and get an early start in the morning.
Monday morning we walked over to Merridees for breakfast
and coffee then to the Visitors center to make a few plans for the week. We purchased a 3 tickets each for tours of
houses that played an integral role in Civil War history. The staff member was
very helpful and told us exactly how to get to the first place we should
tour. Because it was threatening rain we
decided to go back to the house and get the car, even though the walk would be
less than a mile or so. We drove to the
first place which was the Carter House.
The Battle of Franklin took place literally on the grounds of the
Carter’s property and was one of the worst and bloodiest battles of the Civil
War. Circumstances leading up to the
battle were mostly due to some strategic errors by the Confederate Generals. It
was fascinating to hear all about it and stand on the grounds of such a
historical place. Many of the original
buildings are still standing today. Our next stop was the Lotz House which was
turned into a make-shift hospital the evening of the battle, and again held a
lot of history. We decided to leave the
last tour stop for another day. As we
left the Lotz house we stopped at the Bunganut Pig for lunch. This was one of the places that was
recommended. The food was good and since the drizzling had stopped we
sat outside in the garden area to eat.
Ike had asked his friend Danielle to gives us a list of
“must sees” prior to our trip. She had
listed some favorite music spots, dining and other things to see and do. Monday afternoon we got a call from Ike l
that Danielle had discovered that there was a free concert in Nashville that
evening in celebration of their new Convention Center. Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow and others were
singing. We quickly made plans to have
Ike and Danielle come to the house and we all headed to Nashville.
Arriving in downtown Nashville we first drove down
Broadway. When we got to Honky Tonk Row, Danielle told us to roll down the windows so we could hear
the music. It was so fun. Each little
place had their own music coming out so we got a mixture of sounds as we drove
those first few blocks. We parked our
car in one of the city garages and walked over to the Convention Center. There was a stage and huge monitors set up
and lots of people around. We were able
to go into the Convention Center and look around. It is a magnificent new venue
with huge banquet rooms and ballrooms, ready to host events, tradeshows,
etc. Outside we stayed and watched
Vince Gill and Sheryl Crow sing along with a few other singers, then headed
back to town to get some dinner.
We ate dinner at the Rockbottom Brewery on Broadway in the
heart of Nashville. We have RB
restaurants at home but this had a little different menu. I recommend the Bourbonzola Burger- it was
great! After dinner as we were walking
back to the parking garage we walked down Printers Alley and found Ms. Kelli’sbar. Some of the staff was outside the
bar enticing people to come in and do Karaoke.
Danielle convinced Ike to do it so we all went in to watch. They both are heavily involved in music both
instrumentally and vocally so they did great as they sang “Endless Love”. Next Danielle convinced Ruth to sing also…
not quite as good but fun to watch. We
had a great night and had some ideas of things to see when we came back into
town.
On Tuesday we stopped at Frothy Monkey for coffee then
headed to Nashville to go on a scheduled walking tour. Walkin’Nashville is owned by Bill DeMain, who
was very informative as we went from place to place, telling us stories along
the way. We got the back history of
country music, its singers and songwriters, as well local honky-tonks,
merchants, music venues, etc. We
thoroughly enjoyed our tour and highly recommend it as a first stop if you are
new to Nashville. He even followed up with an email with links to many of the things that he talked about.
After our tour we ate lunch at the Merchant’s Café then
headed for the Grand Ole’ Opry which we planned to tour next. The Grand Ole Opry used to be in downtown
Nashville where the Ryman Auditorium is today.
It was rebuilt and is now next to the Opryland Hotel. We took a backstage tour of the theatre and
got to see the dressing rooms for the singers, hear all about its history and
walk out on to the stage. In the middle
of the stage is a circle that was taken from the original theatre and
incorporated into the stage when they moved.
After the tour we went to Opryland Hotel and Resort and Convention Center. It was like going to
one of the huge hotels in Vegas. There
were shops, restaurants, a river with boat rides all in a beautiful garden like
setting. Plan to spend some time if you
go because there is a lot to see and do. That evening it was back in Franklin we went to the Red Pony for dinner.
On Wednesday morning we met up with Ike and went to the
Loveless Café for breakfast. In its day
it was a motel and still has the old sign out front, which in itself is
landmark. Some of the former motel
cottages have turned into little shops and galleries. Come for an awesome breakfast but stay and
look around. A lot to see. After we left the Loveless Café we went to
the Factory at Franklin which is a collection of shops and restaurants in the
renovated buildings that were at one time home to Dortch Stove Works and Master
Chef. That evening we met up again with
Danielle and Ike and a few of their friends and went to McCreary’s Irish Pub for dinner
in Franklin. We had a full day and
chose to head back to the house and turn in early.
Thursday morning we went back to Merridees for breakfast
then went up to Carnton Plantation which was our third stop on the Battle of
Franklin tour. This building also was
used as a hospital. The tour included
the cemetery which is next to the house.
So many confederate soldiers died during the battle that at the time
they were buried where they fell. A
couple years later they were moved to the cemetery and buried in sections by their hometown
State. Each section had a tall marker with
the State name and the number of dead.
There is a section for unknowns. History
tells us that Carrie McGavock took it upon herself to keep a create a logbook
of each soldier that was buried so if ever their loved ones wanted to pay
respect they would know where they were buried.
The book Widow of the South is a novel however it is loosely based on
the historical facts about Carrie McGavock.
After our tour we came back into town and walked around the
shops for a while then decided to drive to Murfreesboro to see the church where
Ike works . The drive was beautiful
along country roads, winding our way. Several places had historical
markers. Ike works for the World Outreach Church in the music department.
He showed us his office and how he is responsible for coordinating the
mixing and mashup of the music for various music programs.
Thursday evening we went to Leiper’s Fork Village to Puckett’s Grocery andRestaurant. Every Thursday is open mic
and we were told that we could hear some great music and might even run into
Wynonna Judd. She had actually come in
the week before and sang for the crowd.
We had their BBQ dinner and enjoyed the music. Wynonna didn’t stop in but Ashley Judd did
along with Wynonna’s daughter and Naomi’s husband. Playing the piano for any one needed the
piano back up was Wynonna’s piano player.
Several people sang including locals and others that heard it was a
great place to get some recognition.
Johnny Keyser who was a runner up on American Idol was there and sang a
few songs. We had a fun evening, which
was our last.
Friday – our time is nearly up. We drove to Hillsboro Village, a local suburb to have
breakfast at the Pancake Pantry. They
don’t take reservations and the line was out the door, around the corner and
down the street. Ike met us there and
was in line when we got there. We
actually only waited about 45 minutes.
Our breakfast was great so we were glad to have waited for it. From there Ruth had to leave and Ike took her
to the airport.
Carol and I did not leave until later so we went back to
Nashville to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
This was a great place to end our sister’s trip. The few days in Nashville gave us a new
perspective on country music, the Civil War and the opportunity to spend time
with family. I must say this every time,
but it’s true – I would love to come back to Nashville. There is a lot to see and do and only have a
few days gave us a little taste of it – so much more we could do/see if we only
had the time!
