A cousin just happened to be visiting Nashville when we passed through and we were able to have breakfast together in the morning before she left. The place was yummy and it’s a good thing we got there when we did because there was a long line out the door when we left.
After breakfast, we went to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art. We took a tour of the mansion, which was built at the end of the roaring 20s and the beginning of the Depression. Many of the upstairs bedrooms were made into an art museum. We also got to see what used to be the kitchen and a full set of cutlery. Afterwards, we toured part of the massive gardens. There was a special exhibit with Lego art. Everyone enjoyed Cheekwood. I also enjoyed seeing all of the grand old houses on the way to Cheekwood.
After Cheekwood, we went back into Nashville to see the Parthenon. We recently watched Percy Jackson so the kids were excited to see a location where one scene was filmed.
We grabbed lunch and ate in the car again on the way to the Lost Sea Adventure, an underground lake. We thought the time change to Eastern time was just after this stop but it turned out to be just before so we had an hour less time to get there than we thought when booking the reservation. Luckily, when we called, we were able to push back the reservation by a half hour. It was not as impressive as other caves we’ve seen with stalagmites and stalactites. But the underground lake was unique.
Throughout the trip, we ended up getting in to hotels later than expected and the kids were getting pretty tired from lack of sleep, as they generally refused to nap in the car. We thought our last night might end up being an earlier night. But, we stayed in downtown Knoxville and, to our surprise, it was a real city. When we arrived, it was very busy with people out in bars/restaurants. The hotel did not have its own parking lot so we had to park in a public lot about 2 blocks away and go through the crowded streets with our suitcases. This time, we really tried to condense how much stuff to bring with us into the hotel!