I stayed in Hermitage, TN on Saturday and toured
The Hermitage, home of Andrew and Rachel Jackson. This is one of the goals I had listed on my blog of places to visit! Check off another goal, even though it came about unexpectedly.
I enjoyed reading some biographies of Andrew Jackson and especially enjoyed,
The President's Lady, so it meant a lot for me to be able to see this. I was able to stroll through beautiful, serene land. I found Tennessee to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The Smokey Mountains aren't the Rockies, but the rolling and endless green was quite pleasant and it wasn't as humid as South Carolina. If I had to relocate to the south I believe this would be my choice. I loved the warm Atlantic Ocean but Tennessee captured my heart.
A perfect day with a wonderful walking trail.
Andrew Jackson worked the property as a farm with enslaved African-Americans. He considered himself a farmer and General but his presidential term was done as a "community service" and not the remembered identity he desired. Throughout the tour he is called, "the General" which is even how Rachel referred to him.
A beautiful southern-style estate. The original log cabin he built for Rachel is still on the property and it was later "downsized" so it could house slave families. It was considered inappropriate for slaves to occupy a previous two-story home of a senator so it was reduced to one level, the walls were whitewashed and the nice things removed in order to make use of the vacated home. What a travesty and scar in American history these atrocities were.
The front of the home as it was restored by Jackson following a fire. Rachel never actually saw it with this facade; only with the red brick since she died before the restoration. Her adopted son and daughter-in-law, Sarah, rebuilt and furnished the home. They also named their first child, Rachel, after her grandmother whom she never knew in this life.
Rachel and Andrew dressed as they were for a birthday celebration for George Washington. The models are made to scale, he being 6 ft. 1 and weighing 140 lbs; she being a foot shorter and "stout."
Trees surround the property and General Jackson brought a tree back from every battle site which he planted at the Hermitage.
Tour guide in period costume.
I'm at the well
The back of the mansion
Part of the property
Beautiful grounds
The back of the home that opens to the farm area
I enjoyed reading some biographies of Andrew Jackson and especially enjoyed, The President's Lady, so it meant a lot for me to be able to see this. I was able to stroll through beautiful, serene land. I found Tennessee to be one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The Smokey Mountains aren't the Rockies, but the rolling and endless green was quite pleasant and it wasn't as humid as South Carolina. If I had to relocate to the south I believe this would be my choice. I loved the warm Atlantic Ocean but Tennessee captured my heart.
A perfect day with a wonderful walking trail.
Andrew Jackson worked the property as a farm with enslaved African-Americans. He considered himself a farmer and General but his presidential term was done as a "community service" and not the remembered identity he desired. Throughout the tour he is called, "the General" which is even how Rachel referred to him.
A beautiful southern-style estate. The original log cabin he built for Rachel is still on the property and it was later "downsized" so it could house slave families. It was considered inappropriate for slaves to occupy a previous two-story home of a senator so it was reduced to one level, the walls were whitewashed and the nice things removed in order to make use of the vacated home. What a travesty and scar in American history these atrocities were. 
The front of the home as it was restored by Jackson following a fire. Rachel never actually saw it with this facade; only with the red brick since she died before the restoration. Her adopted son and daughter-in-law, Sarah, rebuilt and furnished the home. They also named their first child, Rachel, after her grandmother whom she never knew in this life.
Rachel and Andrew dressed as they were for a birthday celebration for George Washington. The models are made to scale, he being 6 ft. 1 and weighing 140 lbs; she being a foot shorter and "stout."
Trees surround the property and General Jackson brought a tree back from every battle site which he planted at the Hermitage.
Tour guide in period costume.
I'm at the well
The back of the mansion
Part of the property
Beautiful grounds
The back of the home that opens to the farm area
Really? Tennessee? Who would have guessed it?! I guess I better go there someday so I can see if you're right or if you're crazy. :)
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