As Regional Editor for MyWay.com,* I created and managed content for online "newspapers" in 25 cities in Illinois, Tennessee, and West Virginia. One section, Local Culture, was great fun because it involved researching and writing about a variety of historic, cultural, and geographic themes. Here are a few excerpts of Local Culture from Nashville:
Museum of Beverage Containers and Advertising
Soda pop culture effervesces at the world's largest gallery of beverage containers. 50,000 items are on display, including rare bottles and caps, cone-top beer cans, and the first soda cans. www.nostalgiaville.com/museum
Middle Tennessee Drive-in Theaters
Movie stars once eclipsed distant stars. Mesmerized, we watched them move across the sky; their giant voices crackling through a monotone speaker attached to the car window. Row upon row of families, friends, and young lovers huddled together to munch popcorn, snuggle, and sometimes fall asleep. www.driveintheater.com/drivlist.htm
Middle Tennessee Mod Motels
Remember those cross-country treks known as the family vacation? Revisit the posh resorts where you rested peacefully in a comfy double bed with two siblings and three cousins! www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/moteltennessee.html
Jack Daniels Distillery and Mary Bobo's
Take a rustic journey along Tennessee's back roads to Lynchburg, home of the oldest distillery in the country. Then feast on country cookin' at Mary Bobo's Boarding House. The wood stove is gone and there's modern plumbing, but the name and locale is the same as when Gentleman Jack took his noon day meal one hundred years ago. www.jackdaniels.com/
Tennessee Antebellum Trail
Embark, unencumbered, from Nashville on a self-drive antebellum tour of 55 plantations and historic sites. View at your leisure while looping through three picturesque counties along the Natchez Trace.www.musiccityusa.com
Manskers Station
Step back through time to the 18th century frontier. This authentic fort, 30 miles north of Nashville, is a living history site where pioneer life is portrayed as it was 200 years ago.
www.mansker.org/index.html
Natchez Trace is regarded as the oldest trail in North America. Wildlife started the migratory path thousands of years ago and were followed by Chickasaw, Natchez, and Choctaw hunting parties. Next came French and American settlers, who used the Trace as a trade route to New Orleans. The National Park Service paved the Natchez Trace in the 1930's to allow travelers to access botanical, wildlife, and historical bounty by car and bicycle. The 450-mile trail starts in Nashville and stretches south through Tennessee and Alabama to Natchez, Mississippi. Today, travelers can venture along parts of the trail for as little as a day or as long as desired.www.nps.gov/natr/
WSM 650 AM / 95.5 FM Country
One of the elite, WSM-AM has broadcast the Grand Ole Opry to the world every Saturday night since 1927. In 1941, its second channel became the first commercial FM station in the country. www.wsmonline.com
WYYB 93.7 FM Progressive
Hear the rebirth of American music on The Phoenix. Radio soars with an innovative blend of live and recorded acoustic, blues, bluegrass, new grass, traditional country, folk, and jazz. www.wyyb.com/
WSIX 98 FM Country
Big hearts and humor give the Big 98 its edge. Current hits and refreshing wit from mornings with Jerry House and the House Foundation to "Nashville Nights," with Dallas Turner. www.wsix.com
Opryland Hotel
One of the largest hotels in the country with 2,883 guest rooms, more than 300,000 square feet of meeting space and 288,000 of exhibit space, dozens of shops and restaurants. Its centerpiece is the Cascades Conservatory, nine acres of interior tropical gardens, waterfalls, rivers, and fountains.
www.opryhotel.com
Belmont Mansion
Architectural historians call it the most elaborate domestic space built in antebellum Tennessee, with 10,900 square feet of living space and 9,400 square feet of service area in the basement. The 36-room mansion was built in 1849 in the style of an Italian villa set in elaborate gardens with numerous outbuildings including a 200-foot greenhouse, art gallery, gazebos, bowling alley, bear house, and zoo.
www.belmont.edu/about/mansion.cfm
Union Station
This massive Romanesque limestone landmark was built in 1900. It has been restored to its original splendor with a stained-glass barrel-vaulted skylight, polished wood and wrought iron railings framing plushly carpeted stairs and balconies, and walls depicting ancient and modern symbols of transportation. www.wyndham.com/hotels/BNAUS/main.wnt
Parthenon
The world's only full-size replica of the Greek Parthenon, complete with full-scale Athena statue. Permanent Hellenistic and Nashville historic art collections and visiting exhibits are featured throughout the year in the East, West, and Special Events galleries. www.parthenon.org
Nashville Sounds
This affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates draws bigger crowds than many major league clubs! Why? Because, win or lose, these Boys of Summer play for the love the game and hearts of the fans. www.nashvillesounds.com
Nashville Speedway
Saturday nights sizzle with weekly NASCAR and ShorTrack Series racing; plus super truck, late model stock, and street modified events.www.nashvillespeedway.com
U.S. Space and Rocket Center
The world's largest hands-on space attraction is 90 minutes south of Nashville. Become an astronaut: land the Shuttle, trek to Mars, inspect MIR. Or stay on earth and tour NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and Rocket Park--the universe is the limit. www.spacecamp.com
Mammoth Cave National Park
Our planet's longest cave system lies 90 miles northeast of Nashville! Discover a distinct realm teeming with life, history, and natural beauty. www.nps.gov/maca/home.htm
Fall Creek Falls State Resort Park
The highest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains, which plunges 256 feet into a pool at the base of its gorge, is located 80 miles east of Nashville. Visitors can hike, bike, fish, picnic, and camp for extended periods.
www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/parks/FallCreekFalls