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Athenian Treasure in Nashville

No one knows why or how Pericles convinced his fellow Athenians to build the Parthenon back in 447 BC. Legend says the treasure of Athens was stashed there – people have been vandalizing the place looking for Athenian gold ever since. In 1897, Nashville celebrated Tennessee’s Centennial with a temporary recreation of the Parthenon. Twenty-five years later, the citizens decided they couldn’t live without it and a project was commissioned to make a permanent re-creation faithful to the original. Like so many grand plans, they’ve been working on it ever since. In 2016, it’s finally done. Almost.

The Parthenon is hidden on a small hill in a park right in the City of Nashville. Unlike the one in Greece, you can walk through it the way the Athenians once did. The details of Classical Greece is profiled in every curve, relief, and capstone. This place makes everyone go quiet. All great design does that. It’s like virtual reality – only it’s real.

Nashville is all about music, but this is my favorite spot.

The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee   … August 5th 2016

The Trail That Time Forgot

Two centuries and 16 years ago President Jefferson ordered the build-out of an ancient trail stretching 440 miles from Nashville to Natchez. Carved out of the dense forest in a bygone time by the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Natchee tribes the trail itself became dense on Saturdays with people hauling hand made goods and farm products to the Mississippi River boats where they hoped to make a buck. The Trace became a commercial artery filled with hopes and dreams.

Today, The Natchez Trace is a smooth two-lane Parkway. But Jefferson’s project will likely never be finished which is as it should be. New discoveries of ancient artifacts keep coming and need to be shared. The speed limit is 50 the whole way which makes stopping on a whim easy. Motoring along through the dense forests, sorghum, maize, and hay fields housing wild turkey, deer, and God-knows-what transports you to a meditative state … you’ll soon find yourself in another place in time.

Do The Trace in a day leaving from Natchez about mid-morning. Stop at the Historic Home. Get a feel for how people lived in the early 1800s. Breathe-in the ancient vines, cedar fences, and Spanish Moss. And do not fail to visit Mr. D’s for the best southern fried chicken served on white table cloths (the people at the Historic Home will give you directions). Hit as many stops along the way as you dare. Nashville ain’t goin’ nowhere. There are some mystical short hikes through Cypress Swamps and dirt trails on the Old Trace. It’s a national treasure and a never-ending story.

August 4th 2016

 

Ghost of the Nat-chee

Last night, we arrived on the 300th Birthday of this dying City on the Mississippi River. The original people – the Nat-chee – left long ago, victims of a French retaliation-massacre. The antebellum plantation owners fled to wherever such people go. Over the last few years all the Casino River boats have paddled-off to greener waters. Today, the young flee to college and never return. The people here now are the ones who can’t leave along with the lost souls who find themselves drawn for some strange reason to this haunted city on The River. They operate B&B’s, work in hotels & restaurants, and drink mint juleps every day between 5 and 6, living lives of quiet desperation retelling old tales to tourists. Locals lament drugs, petty crime, bad streets, and ruined sidewalks. The glory days are long past. But we heard talk of plans to recover, so stay tuned. You never know what might be comin’ down the tracks.

Natchez Mississippi – August 4th 2016