NASHVILLE....MURFREESBORO TENNESSEE...

Monday 11th.... Around 30 mile of to the Rutherford County to a place called Murfreesboro....not sure how it's pronounced!!! Buck is doing a great job driving while I sit with our newest friend....a Garmen GPS which we'd be lost without!!!

Thankfully this wasn't our hire car....it only took us a few minutes to defrost our windscreen!!! -6 degrees Celsius....beautiful sunshine but bitter!!!

Love the letterboxes....there is one at every house and shop!!!!

Centrepiece of town square is the Rutherford County Courthouse built in 1859 and occupied by troops during the civil war....confederates were taken in by the locals in their homes...the Union were housed here as it was a temporary hospital!

Inside the courthouse.....

 

Looking down into court room from the upstairs balcony!!

 

More than 100 nineteenth century commercial buildings have been preserved and restored!

When Buck parked the car we spoke to a parking inspector to check how long we had and she happily said...go on over to the City Cafe y'all and have a bite to eat...I won't be back round here for at least an hour and a half!!!

11 o'clock in the morning so decided to have breakfast!! Egg was a bit over done but I have fell in love with the Southern White Sausage Gravy and their biscuits which are like our home made scones!!! It was a typical diner with home cooked food and an endless cup of coffee y'all !! Cheap as chips $17 for our 2 meals,Buck had an omelette with a side of bacon and toast and yes I couldn't resist and finished it off with Warm chocolate fudge cake!!!!

They certainly have a lot of pride in their old buildings and everywhere we've visited has a Main Street...makes life easy to find the centre of town!!!

 

Our last night in downtown Nashville......pic looking over the Cumberland River and the Jefferson Bridge.....we listened to some music and went to Ichiban.....Japanese Restaurant and had a lovely meal and a couple of saki gin martinis....very pleasant !!!!! Off to Los Angeles tomorrow to rendezvous with Chelsea,Joel and the boys and fly home to the land of Aussie.....hot weather here we come !!

 

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NASHVILLE ........TENNESSEE

SUNDAY 10 th..... A sleep in.....decided we would go to a great idea for a restaurant in Germantown ....Nashville for breakfast...brunch!!!!

Lovely old house.....

Pretty garden....

Amazing idea....you arrive and they seat you at a large table 10 people all up and then they start to serve the food...no cell phones allowed so we talk with everyone and......you arrive as strangers and leave as friends!!! Ok....first comes out biscuits with a sausage and white grit gravy....cinnamon scrolls to follow...pancakes with syrup and or stewed apples...2 more lots of grits which are delicious!!! I must try recipe!!! Big platter of bacon,sausage patties,bowl of scrambled eggs and fried chicken and fried potatoes,fresh coffee,water or cold tea.....I ate everything and loved it!!! $14.95 each !!!

Ok,we walked back into town and after a conversation with a young couple at breakfast decided to hire a car and head 29 mile out of town to Franklin where a bloody battle was fought during the civil war...

Houses in Germantown ....

Must sound great when the bells ring....95 bell Tennessee carillon!

 

Memorial to the wars fought...light dusting of snow falling..the day got colder and colder...-6 when we got back to hotel....Brrrrr!!!!

Tennessee parliament...

War Memorial...a history of the nation wars....

Main Street ...Franklin

Looks are deceiving ....it's bloody cold!!

Confederate Monument...erected memorial for the towns war dead...several Franklin women founded a chapter of The Daughters of Confederacy,raising $2700 to purchase monument...took 17 yrs of bake sales and quilting bees to raise the money!!!!!

Some of the houses are beautiful!!!

Canton Plantation ...area where a bloody battle was fought over 3 hrs...10,000 men were injured or dead!!!!

 

 

Canton House...used as a hospital after the battle of Franklin!!!

Fence on plantation....

A lot of blood has sullied this field!!!

Slaves quarters....

Site of Fort Granger...

Back to Nashville to visit the only replica of the Pantheon...this is used as a gallery for the fine arts...Major Eugene Lewis thought a reproduction of this Greek masterpiece would be just the thing so it was started in 1921..exterior completed in1925 then due to lack of funds wasn't open to the public till 1935!!

Brilliantly done!!! They say it's only 1 millimetre out from the original!!!

 

Back to the hotel...shuttle into town and a few more bars and more music to finish our day!!

 

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ONTO NASHVILLE ....

Finished up Friday night with dinner at the Froggy Bottom Pub.....crab cakes.......and I ended up with trouble with the bottom.....RIBET!!! Not so good!!! Early morning start 4.30 am to get our flight to Nashville!!!

Buck visited the Smithsomian Air and Space Museum.....

Lunar space module....

Airbus A329 simulator ,watch from behind as you hear the pilot talking to Ronald Reagan air traffic control and it takes off and lands!!

746 Jet Engine

This is the F16 Fighter Jet simulator that Buck got strapped into for $8 and had the ride of his life.....he said it was a fantastic experience....all the museums are free entry!

Unmanned spy plane....

Drone with missiles....

Amelia Earhart exhibit...well known American Aviation pilot!!! Go girl !!

Our third flight on South West Airlines today to Nashville and we had a female pilot and her landing was the best so far....

Broadway.....downtown Nashville...we arrived at Hotel at early hour so our room wasn't ready so we caught the shuttle bus and arrived in town 8.30 am Saturday morning .....not much happening!

Cumberland River ......running through Nashville....

Broadway.....a lot prettier with all the neon lights at night!!!

Biggest Masonic lodge I've ever seen....

Custom house...a spot of cleaning going on !

Union Hotel!

Gorgeous old church!

 

Visual Art Centre....you guys make your own decision about the sculpture!!??

 

Grand Ol Oprey radio show broadcast from this building...oldest radio show there is y'all!!!!

It's one for the money......my blue suede shoes!!! Elvis statues adorn the streets!!!

And yes we have the classical side of things as well!!

 

Music garden....although looking a bit forlorn!!

Two of many plaques along the sidewalk of fame!!

Back to hotel for a nap to refresh ourselves for the night downtown!!

Arrived back in town and ventured into the bars...first stop Moonshine bar and a glass of banana moonshine!!!! Wandered around from bar to bar......rain put a bit of a damper on things but not enough for most patrons.... Mate is it noisy.....but a big police presence so it's very safe....we caught the last shuttle bus back to hotel and had a nightcap at the bar !!

 

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