Nashville and the Parthenon

The week before Christmas we decided to make once last trip to Tennessee to the Smoky Mountains. This was our last trip there. We've been there a lot, seen it in all seasons, but now it was time to move on.

On the way there we tend to split up the drive into 2 days. But this trip I decided we had to stop in Nashville. 

I saw something on television that showed Nashville had the only life size exact replica of the Parthenon that used to stand in Athens Greece. Such a random thing to have in Nashville.

I further discovered that Nashville considers themselves the Athens of the South (who knew?) and as a result they built a life size replica. From what I've read, the reconstruction and details is about as accurate as one could get, and it is the only one in the world. I've been to Athens and seen the ruins, so I HAD to see the replica in Nashville. It was quite something.

You do have to pay to get inside, but the bottom level has a nice little art gallery, as well as souvenir shop, and then you go upstairs to see the giant Athena statue. It was definitely something.

We also made a stop at the Convention Center as they had a big resort next to it. We had some time to kill before the Parthenon opened, so we wandered through. They had a lot of Christmas shops and events going on outside, but the inside of the resort was also pretty spectacular. I can see why people would want to stay there.