My wife and I recently visited Nashville. She had never been to Nashville before. I’d been there a few times, but it had been a while and we wanted us to attend the Grand Ole Opry among other opportunities, so off we went. It turned out to be one of our better trips.

Nashville is the capital of Tennessee and is its largest city with over two million in population. The Grand Ole Opry is northeast of the downtown area and is right next to a mall called Opry Mills. (The old location of the Opry is the Ryman Auditorium which is downtown. You can tour the Ryman.) Very briefly, the show we saw at the Opry was outstanding. Even if you are not a country music fan, all the acts were excellent and we got the see Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill. The Opry is truly a piece of Americana. I would also recommend taking the backstage tour if you get a chance. The different rooms where the performers stay are interesting and you get to go on stage and get your picture taken.

There are plenty of other sightseeing options in the area. If you are a history enthusiast a visit to The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson’s home, is a must. Jackson had a number of concerning actions as president, but I was reminded of the importance of his presidency by one of the displays in the visitor center. It reviewed how presidents were chosen before 1828 and what changed from 1824. (The 1824 election was controversial because John Quincy Adams won the presidency despite losing the popular vote.) Specifically, “Between 1824 and 1828, laws governing presidential elections changed as more states allowed voters to directly elect the electors and a greater number of eligible voters decided to cast ballots.” Too long to go into here on presidential election history, but the key point was Jackson was considered a people’s president and represented the “common man.” (Quiz for the history buffs: What do Andrew Jackson, Samuel Tilden, Grover Cleveland, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton have in common?)

We also visited Civil War locations in Franklin, which is about 20 miles south of Nashville. The November 1864 battle at Franklin was a disaster for the Confederates and was particularly bloody. According to the American Battlefield Trust, “The scale of the charge at Franklin rivaled that of Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg.” There are two locations (among several possible) I recommend you visit from the conflict. The first is the Carter House, which was in the middle of the battle. Incredibly, Captain Tod Carter, who grew up there, was in the Confederate Army and was mortally wounded during the battle about 200 yards from his home. He was brought to the house and died in the parlor.

The other location I highly recommend visiting is Carnton Plantation. Carnton was one of the premier farms in middle Tennessee and was on the eastern flank of the battle. The home and grounds around the home were used as a hospital afterward. The home was completely inundated with wounded—literally every floor was covered. You can still see the blood stains on the floors. Six Confederate generals died in the battle and four were laid out on the back porch of the home for soldiers to file past and pay respects. Right next to the home is the family cemetery and the McGavock Confederate Cemetery, the final resting place for about 1,500 killed during the battle.

See www.boft.org, the Battle of Franklin Trust website, for specifics on how to visit.

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Doug McCormick is retired from the Air Force after spending 21 years as a space operator. He spent 14 years as a defense contractor supporting Air Force Space Command. He is now a tour guide and has started his own business, American History Tours, LLC, specializing in taking people to see locations associated with significant American history. His email address is doug@historytoursamerica.com.