Virtual Vacation Day one

Is cabin fever setting in? Need to get out and enjoy the countryside. Get back to traveling? Well now you can. Join me this week on a virtual vacation.

Posting every night from Tuesday through Saturday. Enjoy

Grabbing a small bite for breakfast, I'm on the road by 9AM. Morning rush hour has died down and I shoot right through the City of Saint Louis on I-70 and cross over the new bridge into Illinois. Following the signs to I-24 East will take me right into Nashville. Once out of the metropolitan area rolling county sides and reasonable amounts of traffic greet my travels. Local Saint Louis radio stations follow me well into the start of my trip. The sun has returned like it was giving me a blessing for this trip.

This is the first vacation in a long time. I want to stop along the way to top off for gas, perhaps near Kentucky's border.

I miss the rest stops. Use to find them every 50 miles or so. Made a great time to get out and stretch the legs every hour of driving. The few that were still open were not too clean and there was a huge locked iron gate in the vending area. You have to stretch your hand through to get to the machines. Very unfriendly! Kentucky was a little better but nowhere as nice as I remembered them being when everyone drove the highways.

Driving through the Shawnee National Forrest is beautiful. The fresh air brings back all kinds of childhood memories. Forrest's have a music of their own. I had lost the Saint Louis “Oldies” station over a half hour ago. For a break and fill up the tank I pick a Love's Travel Stop in Calvert City, Kentucky. These are a bit generic but reliable and I'm going to wait to eat in Nashville. Restrooms are clean and bottles of cold water available to keep me hydrated. Over the loudspeakers: Claire Lynch singing “If Wishes Were Horses.” So far, the trip has been just over 200 miles, so the car only needs 9 gallons! I'm not used to long distance driving so I made a note to keep checking the gauge.

It was not quite 2 hours until entering Nashville at just after 2 PM. Hunger has returned and I decide on grabbing a quick lunch at “Pals Sudden Service”. How can you pass up a fast food place with a name like that? Got a “Big Chicken” sandwich, order of “Frenchie Fry” and a Big Tea (sweetened)! Overheard a kid explaining to his sister that: “Onion rings are vegetable donuts.” This carry-out will go with me to Centennial Park to enjoy at a table under a tree. The park holds my 1st attraction. Before I head off to explore, I make a quick phone call to my bed and breakfast “The Bear House”. I plan on hitting two places this afternoon before checking in, then getting recommendations for dinner from the host.

The first destination takes me back over two and a half thousand years.

In Nashville's Centennial Park stands a full sized replica of the Parthenon of Ancient Greece. The original is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Built as a temple it served worshipers for over two thousand years. I have long read about this marvel, now here I could walk inside one of the worlds most beautiful buildings as it was when completed in 432BC.

This replica lets you experience what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture. Nashville's nickname, the "Athens of the South", was the reason this was the centerpiece of the 1897 Centennial Exposition. Here is an exact reproduction.

I'm told that a typical visitor spends 40 minutes in the Parthenon. I, however, felt the need for more time. This is a self-guided tour. Brochures with a floor plan and basic information are provided. I looked for more. I found a great young “Docent” (volunteer guide) that explained the hidden mysteries of the building in a soft southern accent.

Evidently the Classical Greeks understood optical illusions. They saw how flat sides look caved in slightly or columns appear to get narrower in the middle. So this architect used “reverse optical illusions”. Extremely slight curves were built in to correct for these natural illusions. Everything appears perfect as they intended. However, there are no straight edges or 90 degree angles in the building! I swear I could not even see anything even slightly “untrue”.

On either end of the temple, above the columns, are triangular areas that held statues.

The plaster replicas of these, known as the Elgin Marbles, are direct casts of the original sculptures. I saw they were perfectly carved on all sides, by artists who knew the backs would never be viewed that far above ground.

My guide told me this building survived as a temple to the goddess Athena for nearly 1,000 years. Then in the final decade of the sixth century AD it was converted into a Christian church. As such it became the fourth most important Christian pilgrimage destination in the Eastern Roman Empire.
Some time before the close of the fifteenth century, the Parthenon became a mosque. So in effect its beauty served to enhance worship for over two thousand years.

It has been described as "a work less of human hands than of Heaven itself, (it) should remain standing for all time". The original did stand for 2,125 years.

In 1687, an explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its statues. The Ottomans had thought no one would bombard this beautiful building, so during the siege of Athens, they hid an ammunition dump inside!

Since 1975 numerous large-scale restoration projects have been undertaken; the latest was expected to finish this year. However with things going as they are now, who knows.

So until then, I guess I can always drive back to Nashville TN to experience this wonder.

Now for a quick trip over to the Belle Meade Mansion before their last 45 minutes tour at 4 PM!

My next stop is a beautiful southern plantation mansion named Belle Meade. In the 1800s, it was one of the largest and wealthiest private estates in Nashville. They raised the nation's finest thoroughbred race horses. I had seen pictures; now I wanted to learn the history.

They offer three different tours: a 45-minute guided tour of the Greek-Revival Mansion and furnishings. A Journey to Jubilee tour has the stories of those “skilled laborers” (slaves) who made the glory and renown of this estate possible. Additionally, they have a guided Segway tour of the grounds and gardens. I choose the house tour. According to the guide, by the turn of the year 1800 the Natchez Trace was a major pathway. It connected various Native American settlements from Nashville to Natchez MS. In 1807, John Harding, from Virginia bought Dunham's Station log cabin and 250 acres on the trace. He began to develop the property, naming it "Belle Meade" — French for beautiful meadow. The second generation built this into a 5,400-acre plantation. By the time of the Civil War, there were 136 enslaved African Americans to provide the labor.

How can I describe the elegance of the 19^th century mansion? The 14-foot high central entrance hall runs the full length of the house from west to east. This follows the prevailing wind direction for natural cooling. The same layout is used on the second & third floors. Above are chandeliers that were once lit with methane gas made from the horse manure. They are beautiful and practical. But what was most impressive was the fantastic curving stairway. Completely cantilevered so that it seems to float, like the sweeping gesture of a southern belle inviting you to rest.

I was informed that in 1883, the home was renovated and improved with the addition of three full bathrooms, indoor plumbing, wow! One on the second floor included a deep soaking tub and a shower, complete with hot and cold running water. (The third level has single rooms flanking the central hall with only 8-foot high ceilings.)

On the main floor was the library and dining rooms on the south side of the hall. According to the guide, Confederate General James Chalmers occupied the Belle Meade library as his headquarters during the Battle of Nashville. Early on December 15, 1864, Union and Confederate forces fought on the front yard outside the mansion. Damage from bullets are still visible on the stone columns of the house.

In the dinning room, among other things, the silverware caught my eye. Asking about it, I was informed that this was not sterling silver but rather coin silver! It was much harder having more copper added to the alloy. “Yes, it does tarnish quicker but with all these slaves to polish it, who cared?”

After the Civil War, they resumed the successful horse farming operations, although with a much reduced workforce. Of the 136 slaves who had lived on the plantation, 72 workers chose to stay and work for pay. They lived in the former slave cabins as part of their compensation. They had to sign a contract their former owners drew up of "18 Rules & Regulations" that reduced pay for breaking the rules.

By 1875, Belle Meade decided to focus exclusively on breeding. They developed the plantation into a nationally renowned thoroughbred farm and showplace for high-quality livestock.

Due to financial problems since the Panic of 1893 and the death of the male heirs, the estate's trustee decided to sell the plantation in 1906. It had served the family for 100 years.

The mansion and just 30 acres were saved by private owners. It passed through a series of owners until 1953, when the State of Tennessee bought the mansion and eight outbuildings on the property to ensure its preservation.

What a busy afternoon! Now I search out my first nights rest. They give me good directions to drive across town to the east side where my hosts proved to be like long lost old friends!

They had made dinner reservations for “Catbird Seat”. Sounded good with its thirty-two seats surrounding a U-shaped kitchen. I could watch and interact with the chefs preparing the meal. Great for taking out the tension of a long drive. I was lucky to get a reservation (usually you have to do it a month earlier).

The culinary team is truly talented, creating wonderful tastes, course after course, deliciously presented in/on unique serving dishes. I opted for a addition on the beef course and loved the wagyu beef. The dessert presentations were spectacular!

This was dinner as it should be. Red beef man was intended to gnaw on! This is what made this country great. Sometimes you have to say to heck with the “healthy foods”, once in awhile you have to give in to the urge to eat beef. It is the reward this country gives for toiling all day in the sun. I was given a big knife but I hardly needed it.

When my steak came, filling the dinner plate, the smell was so good it nearly drove me crazy. It was sizzling so hard in garlic butter that they had to wait a few minutes to serve it. I was told to hold up my napkin so it wouldn't splatter on my shirt. It was very hot at first and I could hardly taste it as it melted in my mouth. My toes curled!

I took my pampered and full tummy off into the night to sleep and do my write up while I remembered all the wonderful experiences. Eddy Arnold sings me to sleep with: “I Really Don't Want To Know”.