"The Volunteer State"

Welcome to Tennessee

Tennessee/Kentucky border on I-65
May 18, 2007

Music plays a large role in Tennessee's identity. Between the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and Elvis' Graceland in Memphis, it's hard not to find something musically relevant in the Volunteer State. But even the state itself is worth the trip. The Great Smoky Mountains in the eastern part of the state are spectacular and the Mississippi River in the west provide quite the dichotomy at opposite ends of this elongated state. For my trip, I was fortunate that I only had to drive across Tennessee north to south; I would imagine the trip east to west would take at least four times as long. One thing I was surprised to learn from my visit that three Presidents called Tennessee home: Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, and James K. Polk.

It seems fitting that a state that is short but wide would have a welcome sign that reflected its geography. This sign is quite massive, and I apologize for the funny angle of the picture. There was a large tree branch directly to my right, which impaired me from taking a picture of the sign head-on. I liked the way the state flag is tucked into the corner, almost as if the designer said, "Gee, we're going to have excessive open space in this corner. What could we put there?" Aside from the cool outline of the state, this sign is dull. I'm disappointed more of the musical heritage of the state couldn't be incorporated somehow.

Welcome to Nashville

May 18, 2007

When you think Nashville, you should think country music. Not only is it home to the Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame, but the Tennessee capital also features countless country bars and restaurants around the city. Not being a country music fan, I wasn't interested in visiting those kinds of sites, but I could appreciate their importance in American culture. I was very impressed with Centennial Park, which was a great place to spend an hour walking around. It included large groves of trees and flowers, a large pond for fishing and even a full-scale replica of the Parthenon.

Ugh, this capitol was a nightmare to photograph. Located on top of a imposing hill, the Tennessee capitol is in the perfect location that it can be seen almost from any point in the city. While I really liked the selection for location, it didn't help it was also surrounded on the ground level by dense trees on the front side and other government buildings to the rear. I took pictures from eight different locations on the capitol grounds, as well as other parts of the city looking for the perfect angle. It would appear it doesn't exist, so I settled on the one above. The building itself is rather ordinary, with an even lesser-than-impressive rotunda. Although it was difficult to incorporate land around a building on a hill for walking paths, the capitol grounds are respectable, complete with the burial plot of James Polk and a statue of Andrew Jackson.

Miscellaneous Tennessee Symbols

State Route Sign

License Plate

Seal

Quarter