Nashville, Tennessee - 2010

September 2010 brought the wedding of Joel and Liz - Jace's brother and his now wife. They went to school in Nashville and ended up staying there, so it was a natural place for their wedding.  Since school for Jace and I had just started, it was a very quick trip that I wish we could have seen and done more. But like all Widmer adventures, we packed in as much as we could with the time we had.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon. We walked out of the airport and it felt like we walked straight into a brick wall - humidity. There had been a rain storm so it was so muggy it was unbelievable. We went to the hotel, changed and got ready, then headed over to the wedding site for the rehersal. The wedding was on the rooftop of a tall building in the heart of Nashville.

Rehersal

Then we went to a restaurant for the rehersal dinner for some good ol' fashion southern cookin'. It was just as you'd imagine - grits, biscuits, fried chicken, collard greens - delicious!

The Widmer's

Amy can't get enough

The next morning was the big day. Since the wedding didn't start until the afternoon, we had a few hours to kill. Jace was with the boys eating this breakfast....

Beer and eggroll/ice cream concoction

...and I was bored sitting at the hotel, so I decided to go for a walk. I ended up in some neighborhoods that had classic southern homes - made out of brick with shutters and big willow trees. It was a sunny and hot morning. I walked and walked through the neighborhoods. I like to see the everyday life of where I travel, so this was perfect. I think this was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.

Then we got ready, took pictures, and went to the wedding. It was amazing! The ceremony was beautiful atop the roof in downtown. The ceremony finished around sunset and the party started, lasting well into the night! We danced and had a great time!

I had to loan out my head to fix the veil.

We can clean up nicely when we want to.

My date for the wedding.

View from the rooftop

The new Mr. and Mrs.

After the wedding was over, we went out to some places with Amy and Treve and some of Joel and Liz's friends. It was so much fun. Of course Nashville is one of the most famous places for music (which I love) but you don't even need to like country to have fun in Nashville. There are the most talented musicians there, all competing for the limelight and they are all so good!

Right before I got to sing into the mic. Awesome.

I loved them!

The next day, we decided to do a little Tennessee sightseeing. We all drove to Franklin which is about 20 miles outside of Nashville. We walked around the town a little, ate a typical southern meal, and then we were off on our next adventure.



Franklin was established in 1799. Many buildings are still the originals but others have been refurbished in a way to keep the old town's charm.



Amy and I found this porch that we took a little break at.

Classic southern vegetable

After lunch, we went to a plantation home where part of the Battle of Franklin took place during the civil war. The home was transformed into a field hospital during the battle. You can still see the blood stains on the hard wood floor.



Grandparents and grandkids

Jace and Grandpa George waiting for the tour to begin.

The building in the middle was the slave headquarters.

After the battle was over, there were so many bodies they just built a cemetary on the plantation property.

Tombstones of the soldiers. They were marked with numbers and were in groups based on states that the soldiers were from.

The little stones are slave tombstones. They were not marked at all.



There is something very special about the south. I never had any desire to go there, but now that I've been there, I can't wait to go back. There is so much history. Sitting on the porch of the plantation home, I could look out and easily imagine the union and confederate armies fighting in a battle in the civil war, imagine wounded and healing soldiers sitting on the same porch that I was sitting on. As we drove, we saw many plantation homes. It was a conflicting feeling to see them because they are beautiful homes and properties but there's also a sadness thinking about the slaves and what life was like there.

Wherever we went, the people were very hospitable and spoke with such a drawl! When we first arrived and checked in at the hotel, Jace and I thought the front desk ladies were faking their accent for our entertainment. Then we realized that's how they talked for real! There is such a culture in the south that can only be experienced first hand.