Nashville, Spring 2000

By Sherry

Friday, 3/31
I came to Nashville to visit Bob while he was on temporary assignment. I'd been holding off because neither of us really thought wintertime was a good time for the visit, but now it was spring, and this was about my last chance to get there before his assignment was over.

The trip was safe and uneventful. I arrived in time for us to have dinner at a cute little Mexican restaurant called Mazatlan very close to where Bob was staying in Brentwood (just south of Nashville).

Saturday, 4/1
After a bagel breakfast, we took a little drive around the neighborhood of Brentwood--very nice. Bob showed where he does his walking workouts--lots of hills! Nashville is definitely not flat!

Today we went to the Nashville Zoo. It's really nice, and very pleasant to walk around. There are good assortment of animals, but most of them were not very cooperative about posing so I didn't get much in the way of decent pictures.

Most of the animals (except the snakes, lizards, fish, etc.) were in open outdoor habitat areas. The cougar (left) was the only animal that was enclosed in a cage, although it was a very large cage with lots of grass, shrubs, rocks, and even a stream running thru it. We inferred they had to have a cage because they are such good jumpers. They can jump 40 feet, and just how very big a jump this is was well demonstrated by markings along the walkway.

After the zoo, we went back to Brentwood and had lunch at a place called O'Charlie's, which we were both pleased with. Then we took a walk in one of the local parks. I was impressed with all the flowers, spring was definitely in force. I was especially interested in a tree with purple flowers that grow very close to all the branches. I'm not sure what kind of tree it is.

Then we just relaxed until dinner, which was at a very nice Thai restaurant very close to Bob's hotel, called Royal Thai.

Sunday, 4/2
Today we planned to see the Parthenon and Opryland. We drove downtown to see the Capitol and the place where Bob worked, with the intention of then doing the Parthenon which is nearby. However, it didn't open until 12:30, so we drove over to Opryland. The main thing at Opryland is the Opryland Hotel, which is just amazing. It is more amazing even than any hotel I've seen at Disney World! The picture at left is the "Magnolia" entrance. Keep in mind as you look at the following pics that this was the ONLY one shot outdoors.

Sherry on the big staircase just inside the Magnolia entrance.	Bob in the Cascades section. This is just one of three large indoor gardens at the hotel.
Another view in the Cascades.	A view from an overhead walkway in the Conservatory section. We're looking down on one of several restaurants in the hotel, and of course what would you expect in Music City, they have strolling musicians.
A view of the dancing fountain in the Delta section. Remember, this is inside the hotel.	Bob relaxing outside one of the restaurants in the Delta section. (We had lunch there.)
There are even boat rides in the river in the Delta section.	We didn't even get any pictures in the convention center area of the hotel, which is also huge.

But we weren't done exploring yet. Next we went back to the Parthenon. Nashville built a full-scale replica of the Greek Parthenon 100 years ago for its Centennial celebration. It's not a replica as it is today in Athens, in ruins, but a replica as it was in its heyday. However, it still has a strong connection with the current one in Athens--they're both undergoing reconstruction, so are surrounded by a lot of scaffolding. Right is the view from the front, and to give you a sense of scale, there's Bob standing on the steps.

Left is another view, showing a section without scaffolding. It's not really clear from either of these photos, but there's actually a roof on this Parthenon (as there was when the Greeks first built it) and you can go inside. The inside has a small art museum, and upstairs is something else amazing....

...a 42-foot tall statue of Athena (there was such a statue in the original Parthenon). I couldn't help but say "Wow" when I entered this room. To give you a sense of scale, there's Bob standing down by the lower right.

The park has some interesting things outside the Parthenon as well. There are some nice gardens (left and right).

There's also a small jet on a stick, and a full-size locomotive you can go into.

That about maxed us out this day, except for dinner. We'd planned to go to an Indian restaurant near Bob's hotel, but it was closed for some reason so we went to O'Charlie's again and had a perfectly delighful meal.

Monday, 4/3
Bob had to go in to work, but let me have the car to explore on my own. It was raining off and on, so I stuck to indoor stuff, namely shopping. I went down to the Harley Davidson in Cool Springs (near the Galleria) amd got us each a T-shirt. I also went down to the Factory in Franklin, which is an old stove factory that is being renovated and turned into a shopping/eating/activity complex. They have a bunch of interesting shops there, including antiques and art galleries. I ate lunch there at a perfectly delightful little restarant called the Stoveworks.

I went and picked up Bob and we had dinner that night at the India Club Cafe, the place that was closed the night before. Another lovely dinner. That was pretty much it because I left for home early the next morning.