Nashville is More Than Country Music – October 19, 2012

Original Homestead in 1807

Homestead in 1853 – actual bullet holes in columns and front door from the Civil War

South of Nashville is a plantation called Belle Meade and we spent most of the day there being amazed.  This plantation started as 250 acres in 1807 and grew to be 5400 acres and one of the major thoroughbred horse farms in the country.  Now the historic site is 30 acres of recreated and preserved memories.  We were told that 62% of the artifacts are original to the family and the other 38% are authentic antiques from the era.  This plantation was the home of Bonnie Scotland, one of the six sires of the american race horse blood lines.  Here’s an interesting fact we learned during a tour of the home and grounds, all the horses in the Kentucky Derby for the past 10 years have a geological connection back to Bonnie Scotland.  This horse got around!

Stallion Barn at Belle Meade

The home on the plantation went from a two room cabin (still standing, by the way) to a 10,000 square foot mansion (pictured in beginning of blog) and many outbuildings including a dairy, multiple stables, a race track and many homes for slaves and workers.

Homes of Slaves at Belle Meade (Two families lived in this structure)

After the Civil War, 72 of the 132 slaves chose to stay on the plantation as paid workers.  Most of the domestic workers and skilled workers stayed and led me to believe the Hardings/Jacksons were good people who took care of their workers.  In fact, Bob Green was the lead Trainer on the plantation as both a slave and a free man.

There is also a restaurant on the property so we had lunch there.  It appears that many people come to the plantation for lunch on a regular basis and there are even facilities for weddings and special events.  I like to eat different things and found a sandwich on the menu called the Belle Meade.  It is pimento cheese, fried green tomatoes, carmelized onions, and arugula on ciabbata bread.  I can only tell you it was worth every calorie.

Most of the attractions close here at 4:30pm so we didn’t have enough time to go to the other place we had planned (saving it for tomorrow), so we went to Plan B and stopped at the Parthenon.

Parthenon in Nashville, TN

We saw the original Parthenon on the Acropolis in Greece, but this is an exact full-scale replica built in 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition.  It shows what the structure looked like back in the time it was originally built.  It includes a 42′ 10″ statue of Athena and you can easily imagine the Greek philosophers debating in the center hall.

Athena, Goddess of Wisdom

If you come to Nashville, you have got to put this place on your list of things to see.