After waking up in the Wal*Mart lot (me anyway.. Alex did not sleep at all) we freshened up in the restroom and then found a little place to eat called Mammy's. It was good traditional breakfast food with a lot of entertaining people around to listen to. There was a table of old guys who were regulars and amused us greatly.
We were not far from the Jim Beam distillery so we went to check that out. We took a tour of the grounds and learned the family history of the company. They took us into one of the barrel barns which store thousands of barrels of whiskey to age appropriately. That was my favorite part of the tour.
When we got back to the main bar area, we were all treated to two shots of whiskey, with explanations on how to appreciate and enjoy it properly of course. Whiskey for breakfast. That was pretty exciting. I could drink whiskey sometimes but not at 9am.
Next up we went to Mammoth Cave National Park. We looked over the possible tours we could take and, after we found out we couldn't do spelunking, we chose the two we would go on.
The first two was a long descent into a very deep part of the cave, which is the longest in the world. The walk down was fun, with parts we had to squeeze through and duck under. We saw a lot of really interesting formations and deep chasms. I think this room was called the chapel. Something similar to that. It had stalactites hanging all over the ceiling.
We had a little break for lunch in between our tours and then we joined our next one. This one was great because the only light provided on the tour was the light from our oil lanterns. It was really cool seeing the cave in this different type of lighting and realizing how amazingly dark it is. It made me think of how it must have been exploring the cave for the first time with no one else around and no idea where it might go. It was a lot of fun too, so I would recommend doing one if you ever get the chance.
We used the park showers after our tour since we were quite dirty and in need. It felt nice to shower and then we got back on the road as the sun was setting.
We found a Panera Bread and couldn't pass that up for dinner before we continued on to Nashville.
This city at night is awesome. The weather was great and there was a great pedestrian bridge over the river that offered a wonderful view of the skyline. We walked along the waterfront for a a while and sat on the edge in awe of the beauty. It's a very walkable city. It was a perfect night for walking as well.
We went back over the bridge and found a local brewery to get a few beers. They closed early so we headed into the main downtown strip to find another bar. We stopped into a karaoke bar first and watched people dance on the bar singing and then went to McFadden's to find a group of singers playing acoustic sets on stage. We got a free beer and a few more after that. We talked to one of the guys who was playing. He was really good so we got his info to find his music online.
After leaving the bar when all the artists had finished we found ourselves a KOA campground nearby and put up our tent in the dark. There was no problem falling asleep, even with the somewhat bumpy ground. 'Twas a great, fun day.
After showering and checking out of our KOA, we headed back to downtown Nashville in the daytime. We walked around a bit more and checked out the little shops and a strange Charlie Daniels museum. After that we went for another free beer at McFadden's thanks to FourSquare. The bartender was young and quite knowledgeable about the art scene in the area so we talked about where to go and photography a bit before finishing our drinks and taking our leave.
We took his advice and checked out the Cheekwood Museum, which is in a mansion on a large estate. The art was really nice, but they requested no photography. I liked the shadows the rail made on the wall though so I thought that would be okay. There were some well-known artists in the collection and pieces I had never seen. It was a small but nice museum.
Outside there was a sculpture trail that seemed like much more trail than sculptures. There were a good deal of sculptures along the way, but the trail was rocky and muddy in places. Some of my favorites were the tree, which I thought was real for quite a while and the white bridge. Unfortunately no images of them right now.
There was a Japanese garden along the trail as well. It was really nice and well-groomed. Reminded me of San Francisco, though we never saw the garden there. I want to check out more of them.
Once we left the Cheekwood grounds we stopped at Centennial Park to check out the full replica of the Parthenon as it looked before its destruction. It was pretty impressive and cool to walk around. There wasn't much going on there, though it was a really nice park that I would spend time at if I were spending any time in the area.
We hit the road and headed toward North Carolina. We found a bar we wanted to check out and went for it. When we arrived we were right on the border of the time zones and Alex and I were in separate time zones despite sitting right next to one another according to our iPhones.
When we went into Barley's, it turned out to be the best possible night we could have chosen to stop by: Pint Night! Which meant all pints of beer (of their at least fifty beers on tap) were two dollars. Winning all the way. Look at that selection.
I stuck with mostly dark beer. I liked most of them a lot. The one Rogue that I tried I was not a fan of, but the majority of what I had was great. Our bartender was really nice too. We had a great time sitting at the end of the bar, watching people play pool and drink Miller Lite despite the special for some reason. I wish this bar was next to my house and always had this special. So great.
We went to the closest campground we could find, which was a way down the road and put our tent where we thought it was supposed to go on the grass (even though the signs said "No tents on the grass," it didn't seem to offer another option.) Another easy sleep night. Thanks, beers!
