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During your Nashville vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Travellers Rest Historic House Museum
Built in 1799, Travellers Rest, as its name implies, once offered gracious Southern hospitality to travelers passing through a land that had only recently been settled. Judge John Overton (who, along with Andrew Jackson and Gen. James Winchester, founded the city of Memphis) built Travellers Rest. Overton also served as a political advisor to Jackson when he ran for president. Among the period furnishings you'll see in this restored Federal-style farmhouse is the state's largest public collection of pre-1840 Tennessee-made furniture. Allow an hour to tour the museum, and more if you want to wander the grounds and outbuildings.
The Frist Center for the Visual Arts
Opened in April 2001, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts brings world-class art exhibits to the historic downtown post office building. The nonprofit center does not maintain a permanent collection but rather presents exhibitions from around the globe. Upstairs, the ArtQuest Gallery encourages visitors to explore a range of art experiences through more than 30 interactive multimedia stations. Creative kids and likeminded adults could spend hours here.In addition to the high quality of its exhibitions, the Frist is free to visitors 18 and under, making it an excellent value as well. Coming exhibitions in 2004: Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series from the Phillips Collection, featuring the 20th-century American artist's works tracing the movement of blacks from the rural South to the industrial North between the first and second world wars. Running concurrently will be an exhibition of European masterworks from the same collection, by artists including Cézanne, Monet, Degas, Picasso, and Gauguin. Looking farther ahead, the Frist's next blockbuster exhibition is slated for June to early October 2006. Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt is being billed as the largest group of antiquities ever on loan from Egypt for North America.Constructed during the Depression, Nashville's main post office is home to the Frist Center for the Arts. Classical and Art Deco architectural styles are prominent within the marble and gray-pink granite building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Intricate grillwork celebrates icons of American progress: an airplane, a locomotive, a ship, and an automobile. Among other achievements represented in the icons: scientific research (a microscope, test tube, and flask), harvesting (a sheaf of wheat and sickle), industry (cogwheels), publishing (a book press), sowing (a hand plow), metalwork (a hammer and anvil), the pursuit of knowledge (the lamp of learning resting on books), and nautical endeavors (a dolphin and propeller).
Fort Nashborough
Though it's much smaller than the original, this reconstruction of Nashville's first settlement includes several buildings that faithfully reproduce what life in this frontier outpost was like in the late 18th century. The current fort looks oddly out of place in modern downtown Nashville, but if you're interested in Tennessee's early settlers, this site is worth a brief look. Allow 30 minutes or more if you've got kids who want to play here.
Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center
Gaylord Opryland is recognized around the world for its extraordinary service, luxurious non-smoking accommodations and first-class entertainment. Under majestic, climate-controlled glass atriums, you'll be surrounded by nine acres of lush indoor gardens, winding rivers and pathways, and sparkling waterfalls where you can unwind, explore, shop, dine, and be entertained to your heart's content. Highlights include 2,881 non-smoking rooms, a 44-foot waterfall, laser-light and fountain shows, ...
Alexis Inn & Suites, Nashville Airport - Opryland
Now offering all NONSMOKING ROOMS and free Wireless Internet!!! The Alexis Inn & Suites NASHVILLE AIRPORT ~ OPRYLAND is near shopping, golf, fishing, entertainment and many fortune 500 companies. All of our spacious rooms are nonsmoking and feature work desk with ergonomic chair, exterior vanity area, refrigerator, four cup coffee maker, in room iron, and ironing board, hair drier, and a data port telephone with one touch connect to pizza delivery, local time & temperature, massage therapy, ...
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