The word of the weekend was appearances. In DC, and to a smaller extent, Boston - the two places where I've lived- if you don't look good, people won't talk to you. If you're wearing clothing that doesn't fit right, or just looks unkept, it's a HUGE faux-pas. But in Nashville, I didn't see a single person wearing a suit. Professors were walking around looking just like students, and the only recognizable profession were doctors, who were wearing white lab coats and had stethoscopes hanging around their necks.
When I stepped off the plane back to DC, most of the people, and especially the men, at the gate, heading from DC to Boston, were wearing suits, or at least had on some sort of button down shirt with fitted dress pants. There was none of that in Nashville. In fact, while driving around, there were absolutely no upscale fashion boutiques, unless you count the K&G we drove by at one point. There were a ton of discount liquor stores, including one drive through one with a gun store around back. To each place, their own culture.
The city itself was not at all what I was expecting, and it seemed that my parents and sister had overhyped it. There wasn't all that much to do or see, especially for a person under the legal drinking age. We did, however, see the Hermitage (not Catherine II's, however!), which was beautiful and indulged my history geekyness. In typical fashion, my sister and I did the tour our way, and didn't listen to the audio- guidebook at all. I've now been to see a bunch (5) of presidential houses- the Kennedy Compound (yes, I've been on the Compound!), Mount Vernon, the Hermitage, and the Adams Mansions (as well as the
birthplace of Abigail Smith- gotta love living in Weymouth!).
I also love being well traveled. Once I download my pictures, I'll upload two of them here, as well as a comparison picture taken four years ago. The older one is so much better, as I think everyone can agree!
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