Wednesday, we had planned to do the tour of the Tennessee State Capitol Building, but it was closed due to the weather. We opted to take a neighborhood walk to the organic food store. We had dinner at at the neighborhood craft beer restaurant ML Rose. They were packed when we got there, but fortunately it didn't take long to get our seat.
I did not bring my waterproof fur-lined walking boots with me and I haven't missed them until this past week in Nashville. Fortunately, I have my Yak Traks and they have been super handy. They have not cleared the neighborhood streets or sidewalks. They are packed with ice and the Yak Traks work great over my walking shoes.
Today (Thursday), we drove to the capitol building for the 1:00 pm tour. We arrived at 12:30 pm and took the visitor's guide and started exploring. We were in the representative chamber, when the tour guide found us. She suggested we start the tour early, as it was likely that the capitol would close early.
The Tennessee Capitol Building is fairly small, with only two floors to explore. The state offices are in another building next to the capitol as it is too small. The building sits on the highest point in downtown Nashville .The capitol was completed inn 1859 and is one of the oldest capitol buildings. Tennessee was the 16 state. It took a number of years to decide which city would be the capitol between Knoxville, Nashville, and Murfreesboro; so the capitol was not built right away. It was built with local limestone in the Greek revival style. The architect, William Strickland, died suddenly during the construction and he was buried in the north facade of the capitol. Samuel Morgan, chairman of the Capitol Commission during the building's construction, is buried in the south wall. There were three U.S. Presidents from Tennessee; Andrew Jackson, James Polk, and Andrew Johnson. Polk and his wife, Sarah were buried in the east garden of the Capitol.
In the 1950's, restoration on the exterior of the building began and in the 1980s, restoration of the interior began. The interior has restoration has attempted to returned the Capitol back to it's original appearance and the Capitol building is now a historic showcase.
The library room was one of the most interesting rooms, with it ironwork balconies and metal spiral staircase.
Our tour guide is the state historian and she was a good tour guide. Even though our tour was shortened by the closure of the Capitol Building, she was still able to show us the main features of the building. The state legislation was also recessed for the week due to the inclement weather, allowing us to go in to both the representative and senate chambers.
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