Tennessee Trip: Day 7 - Parthenon and Ghost Tour

Saturday, July 12, 2025

I woke up just before 8am and worked on a puzzle until Lisa badgered me to get my swimsuit on and go paddling with her and her boys on the lake. The water on the shore of Hickory Lake was pretty gross, but it got better as we paddled out. Lisa and her boys swam, but I didn’t since I already out makeup on. Also, swimming in that lake still grossed me out a little bit. Lisa wanted to paddle to a small island, but I told her it was too far out, and Calvin was already tired. Besides, we needed to get back so that we could do the rest of the things Erik planned for the day: the Nashville Farmers Market and the Parthenon replica. The market was really busy. Erik didn’t see a parking spot, so he dropped us off (us as in me and Gabe, Ian and Calvin). He found a spot while we looked around. I tried a few samples of food items and then met up with Erik and eventually the Blaylocks. We looked around but didn’t really buy anything. When we split off from the group, Elisa and Lisa found a place that was selling cute leather journals and gems. Ian was with us, and he picked out a star made of amethyst, or at least quartz dyed purple. Elisa picked out a cute fox journal and a suncatcher. That was all we bought from the farmers market because everyone was either hungry or just wanted to leave.

Me and my boo-bean

Luckily, the Parthenon was five minutes away, and we walked around the outside. There was an option to go in and see the museum inside, but we were just too hungry at that point and the kids were done.

The Parthenon was closed from the outside. You could only enter through a tunnel from the basement.

For lunch we stopped at Caney Fork. The Blaylocks must’ve gotten lost because we waited for them at the restaurant for at least 10 minutes even though we left at the same time. The main attraction of this restaurant was their game meat platter, which Erik and I shared. Erik wanted to try the frog legs most of all, but there were also alligator bites, venison stew, elk sliders, and game meat sausage. It was hard to tell the flavor of the frog legs since it was breaded and fried, but it reminded me of eating chicken wings. I guess it tasted mostly like chicken. I’ve had alligator bites before, and they’re really chewy. To me they taste different than chicken. The sausage was good but didn’t taste different from any other sausage I’ve had, and the rest of the platter I didn’t care for. Lisa ordered the buffalo burger and shared with Ian and me. Instead of ordering a dessert, we went next-door to an ice cream place and ordered some ice cream cones. They gave us some coupons for 10% off and a free topping, so we used those. I got strawberry cheesecake and a cone, but I wish I would have gotten a cup. My toppings were gummy worms, which I stupidly put the ice cream on top. They got all soggy and gross, so I had to throw them out eventually. The Blaylocks didn’t participate in the ice cream, though we did buy Aaliyah a cone. They went back to the Airbnb house while we— we as in me, Erik, Gabe and Ian, browsed a nearby gift shop. We found some T.O.E. jam (tangerine, orange, elderberry), a magnet, and a nail clipper keychain for souvenirs. Gabe didn’t find himself anything, but Ian found a cowboy squeaky duck that he bought with his own money.

Waiting at the restaurant for the Blaylocks.

The kids had way too much fun goofing off on phones while waiting for our food.

The Wild Game Platter

Eating Bluebell Ice Cream for dessert

When we got back to the house, Lisa wanted to go out on the lake again: this time with the girls. I went fully dressed and just hoped I didn’t fall in. The girls had a great time pushing each other off the paddle board and into the water. I’m glad I came because someone had to remind them to stop swimming and paddle back so that we could get ready for our ghost tour that evening in Nashville.

The water inside the inlet (by the shore) was ICKY. lots of dead mayflies floating around. It got better/more swimmable the further out we went.

Lisa and I and the girls headed to our Ghost Tour in Nashville. I made the girls some popcorn bowls using coffee filters and that kept them happy during the drive there. The drive wasn't too long, and we found a parking spot really close, even though it was paid. Lisa was upset about something dealing with the parking...I think it was because I asked her to pay the parking fee since I had paid for all of the tickets. I can't remember who ended up paying. Anyway, we walked over to Skull's Rainbow Room bar where our group was waiting. We were handed a free "ghost detector" (EMF detector) device, just because there was an extra. The girls used it mostly, but we all took turns with it. It really made the ghost tour so much more fun. Our guide was just okay, because the tour wasn't my favorite ghost tour, but it was still interesting to hear about the water tunnels under the city that smugglers and murderers used. The EMF detector did turn green a few times, but mostly it was red. It kept the girls from getting bored though. They said they liked the ghost tour, so maybe they weren't as bored as I thought they might be. I mostly liked being in the city, learning some of its history, and seeing the sights, even if I didn't think the tour was particularly scary. Nashville is called music city for a reason--every other door seemed to have music (mostly live) coming out of it! What a fun city, I would love to visit it again. After the tour was over, Lisa wanted to visit the Hermitage Hotel (it was just a few blocks down) which was said to be possibly haunted, especially one of its bathrooms. I didn't notice any hauntings, but it sure was a beautiful (and expensive) hotel. Here are the pictures from our Ghost tour:

It was fun to see the city up close.

Its green! I wonder what's coming up out of that sewer drain, Yikes.

We saw this funky-looking building from a distance as we were driving, and Erik wondered what it was. I was close enough to take a picture and see that it was an AT&T building.

A cold spot? I felt one during the tour, and meanwhile the EMF detector turned green

In the supposedly "haunted" bathroom of the hotel. Well, it wasn't haunted for us.

The lobby was so pretty!

Outside the hotel, ready to go back to our airbnb house.

When we got back to the Airbnb, we started packing and eating all of the leftover food since we would have to leave the next day.

Eric bought some yellow peaches in Chatanooga, and Erik found some white peaches at Walmart. We had a taste test and decided that the white ones were sweeter, but the yellow ones tasted peachier.