Trip Report - Nashville
After Mammoth Cave, we drove to the Parthenon in Nashville, which was about an hour and a half drive. We didn’t park right next to the Parthenon, but at Centennial Park. So through our windshield we could see a lake with ducks and geese and then the Parthenon behind, which offered some great views of the whole iconic building. There’s a short walk around the lake and over a bridge then across a parking lot to get there.
I saw one swing and a few other swing frames...I wonder if they’ve been removed permanently or will be replaced.
It was hard to tell which side was the front, but we went left, back toward the lake and this turned out to be a correct guess. The park is open and you are free to climb up around the pillars of the Parthenon and enjoy the outside of the building.
If you look along the top of the outside of the building, you’ll see an exact replica of the Parthenon Marbles.
I admit that I learned about the Nashville Parthenon from Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson novels, which I highly recommend for both adults and children. They mention a lot of landmarks and places in the US as well as other countries in later series and I am definitely going to plan travel itineraries for Percy Jackson tours. In the first book, for example, the heroes travel from New York to Los Angeles via New Jersey, Nashville, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Denver, and a few other places.
When we left the Parthenon, everyone was hungry so we drove to the nearby Hattie B’s to get some hot chicken.
It’s complicated, eating out with Covid-19. We haven’t gone to eat in any restaurants, and didn’t here, but it’s a challenge. This was messy food, that you eat with your hands, and we were sitting in the car in their parking lot to eat it. Thankfully we had some baby wipes, since the napkins weren’t going to cut it. The paste they put on the chicken really stains everything. I was glad the kids were happy with fries! When you eat outside like this, it feels awkward to go in and ask to use the bathroom or wash your hands. They also don’t have big trash cans outside for all the packaging, so we had to keep it in the car until our next stop with a trash can.
Our last stop for the day was to a mall in Murfreesburo, TN to meet my friend since it was too cold to go for a walk outside. It felt really strange to be in a mall, and so close to Christmas. Everyone was wearing masks as it’s mandated here, but I was surprised at how many people there were. We walked around the mall, got the kids ice cream, and saw Santa Claus from a distance. By the time we left, we were all ready to get to the motel.
