Goin’ South – Part 5 – The Hermitage

There is so much more to Nashville and Tennessee than the hustle and bustle and bright lights found on the downtown strip. There is a lot of history and natural beauty too.

Bruce, Julia, Larry and I all decided the bright lights and busy streets of the Broadway strip wasn’t really for us. We’ve been there done that. It was time to see and do something else. Julia suggested we go to The Hermitage. Visiting The Hermitage and learning the history of Andrew Jackson was much more our speed. All of us love history.

The Hermitage is the historic home of President Andrew Jackson, just out side of the Nashville city limits. Andrew Jackson was the 7th President of the United States, from 1829-1837. The Hermitage was a world apart from the busy streets of Downtown Nashville. Hermitage is a French word and roughly translates to mean “rural retreat”. It is 425 acres of rich, green, lush fields filled with a rich illustrious history as well.

Andrew Jackson made The Hermitage into a plantation with one goal in mind: To produce cotton as a money-making enterprise. Cotton plants occupied about 200 acres of the property. The rest of the plantation was filled with crops that included corn, oats, wheat, barley and other grains, as well as potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas and beans. There were also orchards with many different types of fruit trees, including diverse varieties of apples, pears, peaches, quince, cherries and other fruits. And there was also a wide variety of livestock found on the premises as well.

When we first arrived we were told there was going to be a duel starting soon, so seeing the duel was our first priority. We hurried past everything else to get to the location of the duel. Everything else could wait, and after the duel, we had no time limits, and could visit the rest of the grounds in a leisurely manner.

Before the duel took place, the actors gave a very good history lesson about the duels of the 19th century.

After the duel was over, we explored the mansion, the grounds and the museum. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the mansion, but we could, and did, take pictures everywhere else.

This was the “summer house” before the big house was constructed. It was situated above the running creek, which made it cooler.

These were typical slave shacks on the property.

These two shacks used to be one bigger, two-story house, where President Jackson and his wife lived for 17 years before building and moving into the big mansion. They removed the second story and converted it into more houses for the slaves.

These accommodations were reserved for the most revered and trusted slaves. Slavery was indeed a dark period in our history, but it was a dark period of history all over the world as well (and still is in some parts, even today). It is still part of history, and we cannot rewrite history just because we don’t like it or disagree with it. History is meant to teach us and to learn from. Fortunately, we have come a long way since these dark times.

Mrs. Jackson’s prized gardens. There were many types of flowers, but I am only highlighting a couple that really stood out to me.

Beautiful, fragrant magnolia trees decorated the grounds too.

There were many birds all around too. You know I love my birds. 🙂

Many wealthy people had their own family graveyards on site too. The Jacksons were no different. The mausoleum houses the gravesites of both Andrew and Rachel Jackson and the tombstones in the rest of the graveyard are for everyone else.

Horses definitely used to be a part of The Hermitage, but we didn’t see any this time. Maybe they are still there. Who knows? But I loved the sign. 🙂

After exploring the grounds we entered the Andrew Jackson museum before we left. Maybe I am more Jacksonian than I ever knew. I too must have been born for a storm, because the calm definitely doesn’t suit me either. I thrive on controlled chaos. 🙂

If you love history, I highly recommend going to The Hermitage when in Nashville. It is a history lesson surrounded by a lot of natural beauty. We all enjoyed our visit.

After visiting The Hermitage, we continued heading south, on to Muscle Shoals. Stay tuned. I have so much more to share. 🙂

Life is short. Make the most out of every minute while you can, and live life to the fullest. It’s much more fun to do that with good friends all along the way too. Have a great day and make everyday great. ‘Til next time.