After a long but exciting and satisfying day sightseeing in Nashville, we awoke early the next morning and headed to Nashville Zoo at Grassmere (3777 Nolensville Pike, Nashville, TN, 37211; 615-833-1534). Due to the location of our hotel, we only had to spend 15 minutes in the car - 10 minutes drive time, and 5 minutes to get into the gate and park.
Nashville Zoo is an unfinished attraction - they have some heavy plans ahead for this wild animal park - but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. First, we wandered through a raised-boardwalk pathway surrounded by a lush green canopy of foliage. It made us feel as though we were in the jungle. We saw several types of wild birds, my favorite being the blue macaw (three of them).
There is a bit of a system in the zoo (as there are in most zoos) that you can follow easily in a circle and see all the exhibits from start to finish. We attempted to follow this system but failed due to two toddlers and heat exhaustion. Still, we saw the majority of the exhibits - just not all of them.
A list of what we did see: Gibbon apes, meerkats (they had the babies out!), a trip to the petting zoo (where the children lovingly patted pygmy goats and exclaimed over kangaroos), flamingoes, African crested porcupines, giant anteaters, tapirs, red pandas (which look like adorable teddy bears), clouded leopards, a white Bengal tiger, lemurs, zebras, elephants, and giraffes. We also paid a visit to the zoo's historic working farm, where we saw mules, cows and beautiful flowers.
There is a gorgeous carousel that features jungle animals and fast-paced African drum music. Betsy and I were all set to go for a ride, but when I placed her on her animal of choice (a giraffe) she backed out and wanted down, so we didn't get to go around after all.
We headed back to our hotel after passing off our tokens to a young family entering the zoo (paying it forward) and took a nap before going to dinner at Monell's (1235 6th Ave. North, Nashville, TN, 37208; 615-248-4747).
Now, some of y'all may have not heard of Monell's, and maybe some of you have. In any event, you NEED to know that this place serves the best fried chicken I've ever tasted. Tourists like to say Loveless Cafe is where it's at, but locals know Monell's is the place to go. It's a family-style restaurant, which means you are seated at a long table with complete strangers, encouraging interesting conversation. The food is a set menu and they only serve sweet tea and water (you've got to love the simplicity in that). They always serve their fried chicken every night, and I could not get enough of it. They also make a so-excellent-it-defies-description baked potato salad, loaded with cheddar cheese, sour cream, bacon bits and who knows what else. I just know it's good. And, you pay a flat rate of $13.50 per person over 6 to eat as much food as you want. They just keep it coming.
Once we were so full to the point that I actually had to use the restroom before we left, we decided it would be the perfect opportunity to experience Nashville at night. I was so excited to have the opportunity to use my camera on all the bright neon lights on Music Row and snap some photos of street musicians. I was surprised and delighted to run into Lily from Pied Piper, who was downtown doing the same thing as me. She remembered me, which cemented my belief that Nashville really is a friendly town.
After a very full day - and night - of fun, we finally decided it was time to call it a night.
(After taking a couple shots of this gorgeous fountain across the street from where we parked.)
No comments:
Post a Comment