Kathy and her husband, Jeff, are full-time RV-ers and spend about half the year down in Florida, not too far from us. We don't seem to be able to get together down in Florida. Once you get down there in your own park, you've got your own "family" of friends and activities and you don't have time for much else. Anyway, Kathy and I do manage to hook up every year or so and we make the most of that time. This year it was some sight-seeing in Nashville and then another night on Broadway.
Wall of History
We started out with a tour of Bicentennial Park and its 1,400-foot granite Wall of History. A granite Pylon marks every 10 years during the 200 years of history. The wall "breaks" at the time of the Civil War.
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| Rudy, Jeff and Kathy by the Wall of History |
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| Granite Pylons |
An interesting quote from Daniel Boone:
Court of 3 Stars
Another point of interest in the park is the Court of 3 Stars with its 95-bell carillon. There are 50 Greek-style columns holding the 95 bells.
The carillons are some of the largest in the world and they play Tennessee-themed music every hour on the hour. The 95 carillons represent the citizens of the 95 counties in Tennessee. There is a 96th bell, known as the answer bell, that is located on the State Capitol grounds. The 96th bell rings in answer to the 95 bells, symbolizing government answering to the people. Now if we could just get that point across to some of our senators........
The Court of 3 Stars, made of red, white and blue granite, signifies the three divisions of the state -- mountains in the East, bluegrass highlands in the Middle and river-bottom lowlands in West Tennessee. You'll also see the 3 stars on the Tennessee state flag, bound together by the circle as one entity. No two stars are parallel to any edge of the flag.
I just about dropped my camera when the bells started playing as I was standing next to them. I was sure that Rudy and Jeff had started them somehow.
World War II Memorial
This memorial features an 18,000 lb. granite globe floating on 1/8 inch of water. (Don't ask me how THAT works!) The countries are shown as they were during the war. You can even stop the globe and turn it with your hands but don't try lifting it!
The large granite markers like the one to the left of the globe below, give a brief history of some of the major events of the war. The pictures on the markers are sand-blasted from engravings of actual photographs.
There's a time capsule that will be opened on November 11, 2045. I don't expect to attend that event as I'll be 97-years-old.....with luck.
The Rivers of Tennessee
Of course, the main attraction for the kiddies is the Rivers of Tennessee Fountains. (My granddaughter loves this!)
The 31 fountains represent the 31 predominant waterways in Tennessee. The curved granite wall behind the fountains has inscriptions about the waterways. After the significant damage from the May 2010 flood, the fountains were upgraded with LED lights with changing colors. We must go see this at night.
At each end of the River Walk are clusters of Tennessee flags. As in the upper picture, each cluster consists of 8 small flags and 1 large flag. The 16 small flags represent Tennessee being the 16th state admitted to the union in 1796. The two large flags represent the state's bicentennial celebration.
Are you wondering why the American flag is not flown here? Well, the park is an extension of the State Capitol and the American flag is flown there.
Other Notable Stops
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| An Honored Guest |
Also impressive is a 200-foot granite state map designed to scale with 12 inches equal to 2.5 miles. We always have to find our "town" but it's a little confusing. Our post office is Chapmansboro but the closest populated community is Cheap Hill, about a mile away. The post office was originally designated as Cheap Hill in 1877 but changed to Chapmansboro in 1921. I think it was something to do with one of the influential citizens in the area at the time by the name of Chapman.
So there's your history lesson for today, folks. Now we're off to see what's downtown.
Downtown Nashville
Downtown Nashville is full of street performers, some good and some not. These are the "Nashville Bang This Twins." There are a lot of YouTube videos of them but I really think that standing around they're just as impressive (and I use that term loosely).
The main street downtown is Broadway. There are numerous bars with different types of country music playing from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. The bands change out every 4 hours and it's a great place to potentially see the next big star. Most places have a small dance floor. Admission is always free but the tip jar will be passed around periodically. That is the only money that the bands make.
I was able to find someone to take a picture of the four of us but Kathy gave her camera to someone else to take a picture. That person could not seem to take a picture and messed up her camera by fiddling with it. Lesson here!
Our favorite place is Roberts Western World. It started out as a boot store and boots still line the shelves. They have some of the best bands playing a lot of Johnny-Cash-type music.
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We had some fun with some guys who took our pictures as we worked our way back from the bathroom.
Leaving the bars and going to dinner, we ran into a mime. He's giving me a silver necklace!
One of the most interesting sights we saw was the Pedal Tavern. It has 12 bike seats, a driver and a keg. It is totally powered by pedals. For $30 you can go on a 2-1/2 hour bar tour, stopping at different bars in the downtown area.
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Jeff and Kathy are heading back to Wisconsin for the summer. I don't know how we'll ever be able to top this time we spent with them.
