Hermitage - Andrew Jackson's home

    It was a lovely morning with a cool breeze at 7am so I opened all the windows and watched the campground wake up.  We got going early today to drive a little outside Nashville to The Hermitage which was the home of our 7th president, Andrew Jackson.  Almost all of the 1120 acres of "old Hickory's" original plantation have been acquired by the Ladies Hermitage Association over the past 130 years and are now a National Historic Landmark.  The Association recently put a couple million dollars into additional updates to the property.  It is really beautiful.

    There are many outbuildings and sites to visit around the estate.  We took a horse and wagon tour of the vast back areas and saw cotton fields, foundations of the slave quarters, old wells and the site of the spring house, the cotton ginhouse press, and other buildings on a major plantation.  The mansion has been beautifully restored with many of the original furnishings, wall coverings, and light fixtures.  Jackson's tomb is in the garden behind the house. The roses and magnolias were in full bloom.
    The movie, tour and displays tell the story of the slaves as well as the Jackson family.  There were over 100 slaves on the plantation at some times.  Information about their living conditions, contribution to the success of the business and their daily lives were all part of the tour.  The questions and controversy of owning slaves during that period is discussed as is Jackson's role as a slave owner.  The whole site is quite worth a visit.
    After leaving the Hermitage we ran a few errands and then spent the afternoon relaxing and planning the next few stops.  The ongoing flood on the Mississippi is going to affect some of our stops.  Memphis and Natchez are both on the itinerary and are both really affected by the high water.
    Then we spent the evening listening to some toe tapping, finger snapping, hand clapping music at the Grand Ole Opry.  Our campsite is only a mile from the Opry complex so it was a quick drive to the Tuesday night broadcast.  It was a warm and muggy night as we walked in to the huge Opry complex.  It is quite impressive.  Neither one of us are big country music fans, but the show was terrific with a good combination of some favorite old (one was 90) performers and some of the new voices to country music.  We thoroughly enjoyed the show.  Even Rick started tapping his toes. I would definitely go again if we pass through Nashville.