Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: American Double 2014
There are log cabins, and then there's Fontanel!
It was Veterans Day in the United States, a federal holiday, and Armistice Day in the UK. We had breakfast at the in-house Starbucks concession at the resort, and once again noticed that items were more expensive than at a regular branch of Starbucks and not actually as good. We decided there and then to avoid making future purchases of food at the hotel.
Fontanel Mansion
10am
saw us departing for the 30-minute drive to Fontanel Mansion; we had
prepaid tickets for the 11am tour and needed to check in by 10:45.
The mansion, a 27,000-square-foot log cabin with more than twenty
rooms, was once the home of country music singer Barbara Mandrell.
The name meant nothing to me, but for Bruce it evoked childhood
memories of watching the star's regular TV shows with his mother. Now
owned by highly successful country music executives Dale Morris and
Marc Oswald, the house has become one of Nashville's most popular
tourist attractions.
As with my Graceland experience two days previously, I ended up enjoying the tour much more than I thought I might. This was in no small measure down to our young and enthusiastic guide, who even gave a competent performance of one of Barbara Mandrell's songs at the piano during the course of our visit. In contrast to many similar locations, the touching of objects by guests was actively encouraged.
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Prichard's Distillery
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Before leaving the site, we took the opportunity to visit the tiny Prichard's Distillery, the company's second such facility in Tennessee. Known for its small-batch production technique, Prichard's specialises in what one might call 'designer' rums, Tennessee whiskeys and liqueurs.
Afternoon and Evening
| RIGHT: Nashville Farmers' Market |
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We then drove to the Nashville Farmers' Market, but were a little disappointed to find that there wasn't much doing on an ordinary weekday. We took the opportunity to have lunch - I had something called a "Redneck Reuben" sandwich! - but didn't acquire anything for the planned evening picnic in our hotel room. Instead, we got 'Louise' (that's Bruce's US sat-nav device) to locate the nearest branch of Whole Foods, and did our shopping there. As always, the experience was an absolute pleasure! As it was not possible to buy wine in a supermarket in the state of Tennessee, we had to call at a liquor store on the way back for this purpose.
We had a bit of 'chill time' available on our
return to the hotel, part of which I used to get a few more pictures
of the place. Later, we decided to have a cocktail before setting up
our picnic. In so doing, we had the misfortune to encounter what
must surely have been the most breathtakingly rude and disinterested
server on the North American continent!
Having already decided that
there would be no further hotel food, this experience was enough to justify
an extension of our self-imposed ban to cover hotel-served beverages as
well.
Fortunately, our do-it-yourself picnic provided a
delicious and perfect antidote to the twin menaces of overcharging
and staff with an attitude. It's an idea that has never yet let us
down!
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LEFT: Dodgy (as it turned out) drinks venue |
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| RIGHT: Delicious in-room picnic |