Greetings from Nashville, TN! I'm two stops into the trip now, and all continues to go very well. A quick recap of what I've done and seen thus far:

Rocky Mount, VA to Asheville, NC --I departed my hometown at 6am sharp yesterday morning and headed for the Blue Ridge Parkway. After winding through the backroads of Franklin County (good ole Callaway Road), I spent the next four/five hours whipping around turns heading south. The views from the overlooks were majestic. Words won't do them justice, so I won't try.  Hopefully this helps a bit.

Good morning, Virginia!

--The parkway itself is pretty unbelievable. I'm not sure, but I think I saw more deer and turkey than cars. That kind of pristine nature juxtaposed with sprawling interstates was really interesting, particularly after spending the bulk of the last five years in downtown office buildings.

--I will TRY to avoid politics, but just a quick note on the "Recovery Dollars at Work" signs plastered throughout portions of the Parkway...I don't really think that filling in a few potholes on a lightly-used (comparatively so, anyways) stretch of road yielded the anticipated multiplier effect for the broader economy...or at least not the jobs I saw. It remains in pretty good shape, and I'm sure it's costly to maintain. But I may have used those particular tax dollars a bit differently...

Asheville, NC
--I arrived in Asheville around noon yesterday where one of my best friends, Richard, joined up. After a quick lunch, we headed to the Biltmore Estate, the home of George Washington Vanderbilt, grandson of Cornelius.


--The house is remarkable. It is almost as if they dropped a European castle into the rural mountains of North Carolina. The indoor space alone is four acres...and exquisitely decorated. Unfortunately, we were only permitted to take pictures outside of the house, which has been open to the public since 1930, so I won't be able to show you everything. It was amazing to see the complex organization that supported the home, both during the Vanderbilt's residence and at present day. It's inspiring, for sure, especially given that most of the existing structure remains from the original, which was built from scratch in only about six years. 
 

Richie Rich???

--After Biltmore, we visited a couple of breweries in downtown Asheville. Apparently there are more breweries per capita in Asheville than any other place in the U.S., and most of them are pretty good. We'd visited three before this trip, so we hit two new ones--Craggie and Lexington Ave Brewery (LAB). Craggie is a small operation with a small tasting room. The beer was great, though. I had a summer ale, and Richie had the Yo La Mango IPA. Both were delicious. We headed to LAB next, which appears to be more established (they had a full menu), where I had a Black IPA--very interesting. Not usually an IPA fan, but I liked this one. Richie had a wheat beer, which was also good.

Richie at Craggie Brewing Company

--From there we made camp--I guess I haven't mentioned before, but I'm trying to stay on a pretty tight budget for the trip (back to a student's budget will not be easy!), and as such plan to call various campgrounds, couches and floors my "bed" for the next couple of months. Our campground had a stunning view of the valley around Asheville, and the sunset was pretty awesome. Wet wood complicated the fire efforts, but we were eventually able to get something going and had a good time catching up before calling it a night. 

Overlook from campsite

--After bidding Richie farewell, I headed west out of Asheville, NC towards Nashville, TN. 

Nashville, TN

--After a decent drive down I-40, I just arrived in Nashville just a few hours ago. My first--and at this point only real stop--was to the home of President Andrew Jackson. I spent about an hour and a half here, ironically enough on the 167th anniversary of the President's death (June 8, 1845). The home, which for those who haven't seen it, is in the Greek Revival style (Greek columns, etc.), was pretty impressive. Not quite Biltmore, but nothing really is, I guess.

--While Jackson most definitely remains a controversial figure (Trail of Tears, pro-slavery, strong Executive branch) they emphasized that his focus on the expansion of democracy--by appealing to and working for the common man--cemented his legacy as one of the greatest statesmen in American history. He was a pretty unbelievable figure, given his challenging background (father died before his birth; mother and siblings died when he was only in his early teens). What I find interesting is that the very groups he oppressed (women, slaves, Native Americans) used many Jacksonian tactics to gain their own freedoms. Also, the "man who is greater than the circumstances from which he came" theme definitely resonates. All in all, totally worth the visit, as it appealed to the history-buff side of me.

From here... I plan to meet up with another buddy with whom I'll be staying. I'm listing out the things on the "to see" list for Nashville, and suggestions are always welcome! One quick aside before I get back to figuring out the pictures side of this...my original inspiration for this trip was partly in hopes of writing a book, either about my experiences or some other "on the road" type topic. It required little more than a cursory glance for me to realize that this had been done before. A lot. So at this point, the book idea remains in my head, but is pretty much on the shelf until I can figure out what to do with it. I will certainly be writing along the way, both here and more privately, but let's just say I'm exploring a variety of options in this regard.

I say this because from time to time I hope to use this forum to share some thoughts, reflections, or stories (most of which will be true...or at least based on the truth...). Just a warning shot to those who are reading out there...

More to come on all fronts tomorrow...

DRB