See y’all later Nashville..

Saturday,

A busy day of touring..

We started off the day at

Belle Meade Plantation

Jeff and I took the inside tour of the home.. we were not allowed to take photos..

The tour was guided and very informative. The home retains 60 percent of the original furnishings. Most from the late 1800s.

After the tour we took a quick walk around the grounds. What used to be a 2,600 acre estate is now 30 acres. Much of the land was sold to pay for a growing debt in the early 1900s.
The rock building was the Dairy the log building beyond is a replica of what a slaves home would look like.

The brick building is a Smoke house~ used to smoke and preserve meats.

This plantation is most famous for its Thoroughbred horses.

 

Billy Jackson had a flair for marketing Belle Meade’s image as the finest horse-breeding establishment in America through the annual sales at Belle Meade and in New York, and the acquisition of a world famous Thoroughbred. Jackson brought Belle Meade international fame by purchasing Iroquois in 1886 to stand at stud. In 1881 Iroquois had been the first American breed and born horse to win the English Derby. This fame led Jackson to demand a remarkable $2,500 stud fee for Iroquois service by 1892. When Iroquois died at Belle Meade on December 17, 1899 he was still considered the most famous Thoroughbred of the time.

We left Belle Meade and continued our tour..

Marathon Village~commercial spaces and Studios.

The building used to house Marathon Motor Works.

In 1884, the Southern Engine and Boiler Works opened to business in Jackson, Tennessee. The company manufactured gasoline engines and boilers for industrial use. In the first twenty years, by 1904, it had grown into the largest plants of its kind in the nation.

There is a small museum and collection of cars in one of the studios.

Jeff and I came here to see

Antique Archaeology

Ever hear of the show American Pickers?

Not these kind of pickers below, though, we did happen upon a nice show.

This kind of stuff..

If you haven't watched American Pickers I suggest you watch a few episodes.

Its fun to see what treasures are found.

The store was filled with funky old bikes, antiques and lighting made out *finds*

The Antique Archaeology RUSTORATIONS® collection gives new life to old fixtures and vintage lighting parts by forging them into functional, one-of-a-kind furniture for your home or office. From fire buckets to funnels, metal tubes to hay pulleys, if it can be wired it's fair game for Mike and Nashville designer, Dave Phillips. Every ding, nick, scar and rusty stain on a RUSTORATION lighting fixture tells a different story, shedding light on a fascinating past while illuminating the present.

Click on this lighting gallery

We go back further in time when we visited Nashville’s

Parthenon

Originally built for Tennessee's 1897 Centennial Exposition, this replica of the original Parthenon in Athens serves as a monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture. The plaster replicas of the Parthenon Marbles found in the Naos are direct casts of the original sculptures which adorned the pediments of the Athenian Parthenon, dating back to 438 B.C. The originals of these powerful fragments are housed in the British Museum in London.

The Parthenon also serves as the city of Nashville's art museum. The focus of the Parthenon's permanent collection is a group of 63 paintings by 19th and 20th century American artists donated by James M. Cowan. Additional gallery spaces provide a venue for a variety of temporary shows and exhibits.

 

In the 1920s the Parthenon was rebuilt as a full-scale replica of the ancient Parthenon with one large exception. The colossal statue of Athena from ancient times was not in this replica. In 1982, the city commissioned Alan LeQuire to build a full-scale replica of Athena Parthenos. Soon after, a group of concerned citizens formed the Athena Fund.

Jeff and I planned to attend two Tin Pan South Festivals Songwriters events that same evening….we needed to rest and refuel~

We took a short Starbucks break to power up..

This is the second show we went to Saturday evening.

It was great! I highly recommend traveling to Nashville when this festival is happening.

Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival

Leslie Ellis, Casey Kelly, Wood Newton, CJ Watson

This round of writers have written songs that nearly everyone will recognize no matter which musical genre you/they prefer: The Letter, Soul Deep, You Were Always On My Mind, I See The Want In Your Eyes, She’s Actin’ Single I’m Drinkin’ Doubles, Somebody Like Me, Soon, Some Hearts, The Cowboy Rides Away, Only Game In Town, Anyone Who Isn’t Me Tonight, The Road Not Taken . . . They are joined tonight my Grammy winning singer/songstress Ellis ("More Miles On The Heart" and "Life On Eleven").

[CJ Watson (Voodoo / Talk About Saving The World / I Believe / Whole Lot Of Nothing) has been added to this show.]

[Wood Newton (Riding With Private Malone, Bobbie Sue, Twenty Years Ago, Midnight Hauler, What I Didn’t Do) has been added to this show.]

That’s it..

We have left Nashville…

Had a great first visit and will return again.

See y’all later Nashville!

We are now on the road..

Next stop

Gatlinburg ~time for some hiking and nature.