We have been to Nashville several times over the years and developed a ‘favorites’ list which includes Belle Meade Plantation for lunch and walk the property.
This plantation was started in the late 1700s and by the 1850’s it was one of the most beautiful Victorian-era southern estates in Tennessee with 5,400 acres. John Harding started breeding race horses here and today every race horse in the U.S. can trace its lineage back to this plantation.
Beside they have really good food in their restaurant.
After lunch, we visited a new place; the Belmont Mansion.
This home was originally a summer home for a slave trader from Louisiana and his young bride. There was a 28 year difference in their ages and he died when his wife was only 24 years old making her the wealthiest woman in the U.S. Her husband had taken great pains to be sure she inherited his business and money regardless of the laws of that day. She continued to run the business until she remarried and her new husband and he then ran the business until his death. Back in the mid 1800’s she was worth over $14 million.
Entry way of house
There were additions to the house and she ultimately lived here full time and sold the property in Louisiana. Over the course of her two marriages she had 7 children and only two lived to adulthood confirming that money is not the answer to all our problems. The house was ultimately bequeathed to a girls school and now sits in the middle of their campus, which is kind of strange.
View from front door which now looks out into the campus
We left Saturday morning, stopping in Knoxville to have lunch with Bill and Carol Evans and their exchange student Sky Jin, a lovely teenage girl from China. We had a great visit and we were immediately taken in by her sweet smile and charming personality. It appears this is a match made in heaven.
We will be spending the last four days in Maggie Valley, NC just relaxing and taking in the scenery. We hear there is a hurricane coming so we are leaving before it gets here and expect to be home late Wednesday night.
Waynesville, NC right next door to Maggie Valley
Our guide must be an entertainer by profession because he kept us laughing for two solid hours and still managed to show us the high points in Nashville.
Considering all that we read and saw, it was just extraordinary that they made it all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back. The expedition started in the spring of 1804 and it took them 20 months to get to the Pacific and 6 months to return to St. Charles. After this length of time many people thought they had all perished and in fact, they had only lost one man from their group though the entire trip.
The balance of the road is still brick and I suspect maintained and replaced as needed as well. Many of the buildings are still the original structures back from the early history of the town showing the wooden early structures, the later brick and finally limestone when the brick gave out.
However, we bought some cookies from Grandma’s Cookies that are maybe the best I’ve ever eaten. I did find out they do ship so I may be in trouble.
just like other Libraries, along with explanations of all the decisions and events happening in his administration which takes in the postwar era in the U.S., the Cold War, Recognition of Israel, his re-election, sending troops to Korea, investigation into domestic communists, and turning over the Presidency to Eisenhower.
What I could gather from the information was that most people had no concept of the horrors of war and went willingly eyes focused on some fanciful idealized version of war. A radical Serbian insurgent assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria causing the two countries to declare war. Within a week, eight or ten countries, in the name of their alliances, declared war on other countries and the mess began. The ultimate results included the deaths of millions of soldiers from every country involved. What a waste if you realize the world learned nothing and WWII followed, although the world had greater justification and worked harder to avoid the ultimate war. The museum was interesting but I have to say the National WWII Museum in New Orleans and the Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Tx are still my favorites.
It took 4 years to construct the new station and remained a traffic hub through WWI, a gangster episode in 1933, the return of soldiers in 1945, a feeble attempt to save the station by adding Amtrak, and its ultimate closing in 1983. Not a bad run considering the loss of interest in train travel.
Integrity has always been the trademark of the company that now incorporates much more than greeting cards, including ornaments, movie productions, TV, Crayola Crayons, wrapping papers, and the list goes on.
goneagainblog.com 