The Hermitage and Old Hickory

I love a rainy night, I love a rainy night. I love to feel the rain on my face...

My oh my, what a fantastic rain storm! It's been y e a r s since I've heard thunder like this! Peanut actually said, "What was that noise that sounded like an avalanche coming into the hotel?" I wonder if Tennessee children know what an avalanche sounds like?



Grandma shrugged her shoulders and said to the kids, "It's a good thing none of us is made out of sugar; we're not going to melt." Deciding our intended "Walking Tour of Downtown Nashville" would be best saved for another visit, we decided to learn more about President Andrew Jackson by going to The Hermitage, his beloved plantation home.

Grandma had a high school obsession with Old Hickory and now I get it. There's a introductory video on Jackson's life that did a wonderful job staying objective, unabashedly stating his faults (slavery support, Trail of Tears, autocrat) while at the same time presenting his most notable and lasting qualities (devotion to Rachel, extreme compassion, the Democratic Party).

"Andrew Jackson was a patriot and a traitor. He was the greatest of generals, and wholly ignorant of the art of war. He was the most candid of men, and capable of the profoundest dissimulation. He was a democratic autocrat, an urbane savage, an atrocious saint."
- James Parton, Jackson's first biographer, 1859

Besides the video, you can walk through the museum which was just small enough for them, and interesting enough for us then move on to the actual Jackson house. The tour guides within the house, were dressed in period pieces and they treated the kids with the utmost respect. An upstairs guide explained that in Jackson's time there would have been children everywhere. He loved children and raised about 11, not to mention all the cousins and visitors! This particular guide was charming and spoke to the kids forever about the sleeping porch (could they bring a pillow? men wore nightgowns?), and he told them why his grandmother used to send him to sit on the horsehair couch when he was naughty -- it was prickly.

Outside, you followed an audio tour around the resplendent grounds. On a sunny day we could have spent twice as much time here, letting the kids run around. Check this out: they had an audio version specifically for children, narrated by Poll, Jackson's pet parrot. Even Doodle managed to use it effortlessly and thoroughly enjoyed it. Me, too! (Grandma listened to the adult commentary.)

Keep in mind that the rainstorm raged on and we were getting soaked! We still managed to walk through Rachel's lovely gardens, the tomb and one of the slave family cabins. I turned around at one point and the kids were happily barefoot, sloshing through puddles, soaked to their skin. We were quite a sight when we finally made it to the gift shop and I explained to the employees that these kids have never experienced a thunderous and warm downpour. We were all giddy!

Praise, praise, praise is all I can offer for every moment we spent here. It was such a breath of fresh air after our experience with Guide back in Louisiana (see Rant post). In fact, one guide in the museum passed us into the hands of another guide with the words, "Pay attention to these kids; they're not the usual lot -- they really want to know." That's just the medicine I needed.