Honeymoon in Music City

Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, is America’s "Music City". Home to scores of recording studios and hundreds of country music stars, Nashville offers a wealth of music attractions as well as the historic home of President Andrew Jackson, the Hermitage. Nashville is a thriving metropolis with over 550,000 residents and is a major publishing and health care industry hub. The city straddles the curving Cumberland River, and Nashville’s downtown waterfront is filled with restaurants, shops, and restful parkland.

Nashville has been home to numerous music stars, including Kenny Rogers, Shania Twain, CeCe Winans, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton as well as to Presidents Jackson and Polk, former Vice President Al Gore, and Pulitzer Prize winning author, Robert Penn Warren. Centrally located, Nashville is an affordable city to visit and is easy to get to by air and car from cities in the east, Midwest, and the southern United States. In short, it's a great place to spend your honeymoon. Among the many popular Attractions in the city are:

Country Music Hall of Fame and the Ryman Auditorium
Opened in 1892, the Ryman Auditorium was originally built as a church, but is best known as home to the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. Today, the large Greek revival building is a surprisingly intimate and acoustically perfect concert venue, recently voted "America’s Theater of the Year." In addition to attending concerts, visitors can tour the facility, including the stage, backstage, and the Auditorium’s extensive collection of country music memorabilia.

The Country Music Hall of Fame, located adjacent to the Ryman Auditorium, is a treasure trove of historic recordings, printed material, and music memorabilia. The permanent collection includes over 800 stage costumes, 600 musical instruments, and hundreds of objects from microphones to automobiles, that tell the story of country music. Also part of the museum is the off-site, historic RCA Studio B, once the recording home of Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, and Chet Akins, among others. Buses take visitors from the Country Music Hall of Fame for the studio tours.

Grand Ole Opry
No trip to Nashville would be complete without a trip to the Grand Ole Opry. The 4400-seat theater, adjacent to the Gaylord Opryland, is home to the world’s longest radio show as well as star-studded thrice-weekly shows. The country music classic moved to its present location from the Ryman Auditorium in 1974 to allow more visitors the opportunity to attend the concerts. Over the years, the Opry has been a springboard for such country music greats as Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff, Hank Williams, and Patsy Cline, among hundreds of others. Daytime visitors can tour the backstage workings of the Opry as well as the famous main stage.

The Hermitage
The Hermitage is the former home and estate of president, Andrew Jackson and his family. One of the first presidential homes to be preserved for the American public, the Hermitage is filled with original furnishings and artwork from the Jacksons. The 1120-acre estate includes the mansion, the Hermitage church, the tombs of Andrew and Rachel Jackson, and extensive gardens. A visitor’s center hosts revolving exhibits and helps tell the story of Jackson’s life and presidency.

Gaylord Opryland
More than a place to spend the night, the Gaylord Opryland is a destination in itself. The 2881- room resort includes a championship, 18-hole golf course, twenty varied eateries, a children’s club, a full spa, and a spacious atrium filled with tropical plants and birds as well as several swimming pools, a fitness center, and sweeping pastures complete with resident thoroughbred horses. Gaylord Opryland comes alive at Christmas time with thousands of poinsettias, a Radio City Music Hall Rockettes show, and special holiday feasts.

Belle Meade Plantation
The gracious antebellum plantation, Belle Meade, built in 1853, welcomes visitors to tour the "Queen of Tennessee Plantations" and see a slice of Nashville TN life from the period preceding the Civil War. The 550-acre site, carved from the original 4050-acre horse farm, includes the house, an early authentic Tennessee log cabin, and Discovery Paddock, an interactive kid-friendly exhibit depicting life on a horse farm.

Image:
Ryman.jpg
Nashville's Ryman Auditorium
(copyright istockphoto)

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