THE
ATHENS OF THE SOUTH
Even the allure of great music, Tennessee
whiskey and cold American beers, did not rouse us from our Airbnb on Clifton
Avenue. It was nice and frosty in the air conditioning and as we had spent the entire
previous day outdoors we were happy with getting a slow start.
When we finally emerged from our igloo
it was into a sweltering day where the temperatures neared 100 and we decided
to drive over to Centennial Park in the West End section of Nashville to be
foolhardy and hale and take a stroll. Nashville has extreme weather swings from
blistering summers to frigid winters, which we would later learn, is great for
the aging of Tennessee whiskey.
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| NOT THE REAL PARTHENON |
We dressed in tank tops and shorts and
drove the short distance to the park. We found a spot near the Parthenon and
discovered there were plenty of others with the same idea. School groups,
tourists, locals and runners on a mile long well marked trail were all enjoying
this urban park. On Wednesdays food trucks gather near the park’s event center.
In the pavilion there a duet was playing music. We walked through the beautiful
sunken gardens to check out the fare and strolled the grounds around the
life-sized replica of the Parthenon in Athens eventually circumnavigating the
park’s mile long running trail.
Centennial park was originally created
for the 1897 Tennessee Centennial and International Exhibition celebration of
Tennessee’s entry into the Union in 1796. Yeah, they were a year late getting
around to it. Though Centennial Park was dedicated as a public park in 1903,
blacks were banned from it because of Jim Crow laws until the mid-1960s.
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| NOT THE REAL ATHENA |
IT’S
GREEK TO ME
Despite these elements of racial
inequality by the 1850s Nashville was considered one of the most refined and
cultured cities in the south. Long before it was known as the Music City the
home of country music, Nashville was called the Athens of the South. She had several
theaters and elegant hotels and a number of colleges. So, when the Centennial
came up it was easy for Nashville to embrace her sister city in its displays.
The Parthenon is a full sized
replica of the religious temple to Athena and now it even includes a
replica statue, complete with ivory skin and blue eyes and a gilded dress.
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| the real Janet on a fake boat |
Of course we didn’t pay the fee for
entry into the museum where Athena stands proudly; we had to meet a dog.
SLOBBER
PUSS
On this hot hot July afternoon we met up
with my daughter taking her pup out for a run. We met them at a school’s
baseball field across the river where the dog could run and not escape. Thankfully
Janet has a smart phone for directions for we would never have found this place.
I’m no help. I still carry my trusty flip phone. I can drop that thing and
still make calls, but I can’t get directions.
As a family we’ve always had dogs and it
makes me happy that my daughter has one still in her life. Under a year old the
American bulldog/boxer mix frantically ran around for a tossed ball before
collapsing at our feet, panting and drooling I got down and petted her and she insisted on
slobbering all over me and cut grass clung to me like a second skin.
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| NOT MY DAUGHTER'S DOG |
It was wonderful.
HUSK
As we were in Charleston just for a few
days three years ago, we never had a chance to dine at Husk, just off King
Street. A table at this well respected Holy City restaurant, boasting a
farm–to-fork approach to southern cuisine, is difficult to attain, but when we discovered
Charleston has a kissing cousin in Nashville, we started making reservations
before we even left the Philadelphia airport. Again, Janet was extremely
helpful, because I don’t text and evidently that’s the only way to contact the
kids of today.
With a day settled, Wednesday, we were
able to get a reservation at 5 pm. It was either that or 9:30 pm.
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| THE REAL HUSK NASHVILLE |
Like Charleston, Nashville Husk is very
popular and despite the prospect of dropping a more than reasonable amount of
coin on the meal we had to go. Set on Rutledge hill in a historic 1800’s
mansion ii is a very beautiful dining experience. Everyone was extremely
friendly and helpful. The wait staff was all dressed in flannel shirts and
aprons and attentive. Our waiter, sporting a hipster beard and requisite tattoos
steered us away from a white whiskey for an aperitif, cautioning us that it
might be rougher than we’d like and recommended the Belle Meade bourbon,
gleefully telling us it was distilled and aged just down the street. We did it
all; appetizers, mains, a bottle of wine and desserts. With the tip the meal
was in the mid-300s.
Now, I will never pretend to be a food
writer, nor will I ever act like I enjoy parting with money. Though I am far
from a gourmand, I do enjoy good food and great flavors, but don’t usually go
to fancy places….more meals that way. Don’t worry I’m not a bore and certainly
appreciate fine dining. I know what fork to pick up first and I have the
uncanny ability to act like I belong. But, back in High School French my
teacher, speaking in English for once, said that in Paris you can go to a
restaurant and pay a lot of money where the waiters will practically give you a
back massage to go with your great meal, or you can go around the corner for
the same meal as long as you don’t mind the waiter just plopping it down in
front of you..
I’ve learned that places that are proud
of their food, their love of preparation comes through and that’s enough for
me. Janet and I both agree that we could have gotten the same meal around the
figurative corner for a far less dent in the pocketbook.
We both had catfish, my daughter had the
chicken and we would not hesitate to order these again. By far the best shrimp
and grits I had was at a Paula Dean sister
restaurant on the road to Tybee Island Georgia. Since then I’ve ordered it at
every chance I get and the only one that comes nearly as close is Janet’s
concoction……..I know where my bread is buttered, but the Husk shrimp and grits appetizer for me just wasn't the same. For her appetizer, Janet had the steak tartar that seemed
adorned with a crown of thorns fashioned from fried potato sticks. Though tasty
it wasn’t what I expected. For dessert, my daughter had a peach pie which she
fawned over and wouldn’t share and Janet had a Chocolate Beet cake with cream
cheese ice cream.
Speaking of cheaper food there is a thriving food truck industry in Nashville. Here is a list of members of the NFTA, the Nashville Food Truck Association
NASHVILLE FOOD TRUCK ASSOCIATION Thanks for reading!
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