After the Hillsdale seminar was over, and the Ricochet folks had dispersed on Wednesday night, we had a day to visit Nashville proper. For the first time that week, we slept late on Thursday, and when we awoke, it was raining pretty hard outside. Not that we are not used to rain! We live in the Pacific Northwest, where precipitation is common. We got lunch around Franklin, then drove into Nashville to see what we could see. First of all, we saw traffic! We did find a place to park on the street right downtown, and got out to do some sightseeing.

Hubby’s first order of business was to find the building which had been bombed on Christmas day last year, just to see the damage. It turned out that the entire street area had been blocked off, and we couldn’t get within a short distance, so while he was maneuvering around, I walked down the street. Even a block away, there was considerable damage still evident. But I saw these signs that made me smile.

Those treble clefs were everywhere around the downtown area!

Evidently, French’s is well-known for its shoes, and I thought the signs were interesting.  The actual store was damaged in the bombing.  As we walked toward the river, this interesting vehicle passed us.

We saw more than one of these mobile

 

party buses making the rounds of the downtown area, with crowds of young people with their drinks in hand.  Well, it’s better than if they were all driving.  Next, River Front Park, on the Cumberland River.

Across the river is the football stadium, along with some obvious “public art”.  We didn’t get close enough to it to see what it is called.  Hubby said it looked like a broken roller-coaster.

Turning around, I took pictures of some distinctive looking buildings on the downtown skyline, and interesting mix of old and new.

Around this time, Hubby was scrolling on his phone, and he discovered that, right here in Nashville, there was an outlet of our favorite restaurant.  He gave them a call, and was able to make dinner reservations for us.    We then began our walk back to the car, so we didn’t overstay our parking meter.  Located a few blocks away was the old Fort Nashborough Park, which we didn’t even know existed.  Its old buildings were nicely preserved.

Also on the way back, I did notice some of the bombing damage.

While passing the fort, a denizen of the Nashville Downtown asked me to take his picture, so I did.  He was very friendly!

We walked through an alley, and found this.  Interesting logo.

And from the car, I got this bit of Nashville history.

And it was onward to dinner.  Our local place has been closed since last March, and we are not sure it will even open again at all.  Rant coming: Damn Jay Inslee!

And Onward to Friday, and Franklin!

Finally, on our last day, we were able to visit the historic center of Franklin, on whose outskirts we stayed for the week.  We didn’t have enough time left to visit the Civil War Battlefield of Franklin, but we did notice it on the highway.  Wherever we go, I notice the styles of housing, and I really liked what we saw in the parts of Tennessee we visited.  As we approached the town, I rolled down the car window and took some video of the houses along the highway.

We got to town and managed to find a place on a side street to park, then headed into town.  On the way, we found some interesting places to photograph.  The town really does have some great architecture from bygone days.

Across the street was a house that just exuded “plantation”.  I loved the 2-story porch!

I also got a kick out of this piece of history.  I don’t imagine many horses need tying up on this particular street.

We almost considered lunch at this place.  A whole menu of biscuits!

We walked on, and got to the center of town.

This was one of three Presbyterian churches we found in the center of town.  Then I remembered that this area was settled by Scots-Irish, and they were heavily Presbyterian.

Finally, we hit Main Street.  A nice mix of different building styles, I thought.

We wandered to the other side of town, and found a little park in front of the County administration building.

I especially liked the map on this stone.

Next, three signs we saw on Main Street establishments.  My readers will know how I feel about the Health Nazis and their mask regulations, which are strict where we live.  In Tennessee, businesses can choose whether to enforce mask rules, and we just roared when we saw these two stores’ signs, on the same block.

 

And then, I saw this one.

On a back street, we came to a music store.  I just loved the sign outside.

And on the inside:

We definitely enjoyed the time we spent in Tennessee.  All the people we met were very friendly and helpful, and the countryside was green and welcoming.  I could see living there, if it weren’t for the hot, humid summers.  Well, we won’t be moving soon, but I am going to keep Franklin on my short list of places to retire to.