Greetings from Music City! Well, technically I’m back home in the Circle City, but in case you weren’t paying attention, I just spent 3 days in Nashville. For no reason other than it’s spring, we needed a getaway, and I had never been there before!
I’m going a little out of order here – I’m skipping Friday for now and going straight to Saturday, when we did the bulk of our touristy activities. Hence the sneakers and comfy midi dress. First stop: the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Now let me get one thing out of the way: I do not consider myself a country music fan. At all. I would even say I generally dislike country. All that obnoxious twangy stuff on current country radio makes me want to punch a cowboy. But I do love music in general, and I love museums in general, so I gave it a shot, and I’m so glad I did!
It turns out there are plenty of artists who fit in the country, bluegrass, folk, etc. genres that I love! Like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Elvis, and lots more. I really think the museum has something for everyone. There were all kinds of interesting mementos (like Dolly Parton’s handwritten lyrics to “Jolene”), a crap ton of beat-up instruments that were once played by important people, and ridiculous yet awesome costumes.
If you make it to the CMHoF & Museum, I also highly highly highly recommend paying the extra $15 for the RCA Studio B tour. You can actually SIT at the piano Elvis played on all kinds of records. Here are a few more shots I took at the museum and Studio B:
Elvis’ Cadillac // a wall of gold records // the piano in Studio B // redbuds blooming in front of the museum
The next stop was the Parthenon. Wait, Parthenon? Yes, Parthenon. I did not know until a couple weeks ago when we started planning this trip that there is a life-size replica of the Parthenon in Nashville. I almost couldn’t believe it, so I had to see it for myself.
Yup…there it is.
I still don’t fully understand why there’s a replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, but sometimes it’s better not to ask questions. Just accept and enjoy the magic of Greece in the southern U.S.
And the magic’s not over yet. There is a 40+ foot gilded statue of Athena inside. When I first walked in, I thought it was the tackiest thing I had ever seen. But the longer I looked at it, I didn’t want to leave. It was like a beautiful train wreck. I just had to take it all in.
If you haven’t seen this thing in person, I don’t think these pictures really do it justice. To give you an idea of scale, the little Nike statue in Athena’s hand is 6’4″.
I don’t like to overuse those trendy millennial phrases, but I literally can’t even with this Athena. Can. Not. Even. Why? But also…why? And finally…YES. This is AMAZING. As you can see, I’m still having trouble organizing my thoughts 3 days later.
Basically, the Nashville Parthenon made my head explode and now I look like this:
BLOGLOVIN’ | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | PINTEREST | INSTAGRAM
Stay tuned…more of my Music City Diary to come!
similar Dress // similar Jacket // Bag // Shoes* // similar Sunglasses // Ring // similar Earrings
*Shoes purchased with gift card provided courtesy of Shopbop.
Athena being gold is actually a recent addition! I don’t know why they went with the gold and paint. I did some Googling and found an old photo: http://www.goddess-athena.org/Museum/Sculptures/Alone/Athena_Nashville_x.htm
Whoa, interesting tidbit! That place just gets more and more interesting.
Awesome post! I grew up in Nashville, and I don’t even really like country music either, but that is a great museum to visit. Also, the Parthenon was built for the World’s Fair in the late 1800’s I believe, so that’s why it exists! Lol.
It was the state centennial actually, according to what I read there…although that still doesn’t totally explain it. I mean, there are plenty of things you can build. Why the Parthenon? Go big or go home I guess?
Such a great ensemble! Love the pop of red!
Love seeing you in Nashville, even if I didn’t get to SEE you in Nashville 🙂
They built the Parthenon for a Worlds Fair, and while it was supposed to be temporary, the locals liked it so much, they re-did it, making it a permanent fixture!
They have some great concerts and movie nights there during the Summer 🙂
xx