Governor's Mansion & Tuba-palooza, 2011

A Grant and Jacober homeschool fieldtrip!

On our way into the Governor's mansion.  The 49th governor of Tennessee is Bill Haslam.   Haslam was elected to office in 2010.  He previously served as mayor of Knoxville, from 2003 until his resignation in 2011.

Dining for 14 in the dining room.  The girls loved the chandelier.

Isabell takes a peek into the governor's study.

The girls pose in front of the dulcimer cabinet.  Amy and I are going to take dulcimer lessons--right Aim?

Pictures of Elvis and Dolly Parton are really, really common around Nashville...and the governor's mansion is no exception.

Amy and Will were moving SO fast that they were just a blur.  ;)

Walking from the main residence to Conservation Hall.

Conservation Hall, which was completed during the spring of 2010, has a lot of space dedicated to Tennessee folk art as well as photos of big political and show business names.  It is a 14,000-square-foot mainly underground dining and meeting room capable of seating 160 people. The center of Conservation Hall is a glass-walled oval atrium that opens to the sky. The Tennessee Governor's Mansion is the only official executive residence in the United States to have an underground gathering space.

Here are some of the folk art pieces.

These are carved peach seeds. 

The kids enjoyed trying to see shapes and images in this abstract wood art.

This is a 2007 piece by Thomas Lowell Edwards of Cookeville, entitled "Blessed are the Barren".

This is the atrium.

 And here are some extreme close ups of some willing, and some not so willing kiddos:

This is a big wooden bowl.

Another picture of Elvis with one of the first ladies.  And that is my reflection on the King's shoulder (proving that I was indeed there!).

The Clintons visit the governor back in the '80's.

The bathroom.  Fancy, huh?

 After we left the governor's mansion, we headed straight to 1st Baptist Church to see "Tuba-palooza" (a.k.a. "Merry TubaChristmas" Nashville).  Personally, I like the name "Tuba-palooza" better.

This was the opening act--bluegrass and a sousaphone.  Interesting mix!

I tried to capture the blinking lights on top of the tuba in the back row.  A lot of the instruments were decked out in lights, scarves or ribbons.