从Indiana州南部出发，穿过Ohio河，Kentukey州的西部，我们的车一路南行，进入了Tennessee州。感觉悄然变了：取代一马平川田园风光的是盘亘于碧绿的丘陵地带的崭新的高速公路，车多起来，人气旺了，Tennessee留给我们的第一印象挺好。
在一本TourBook上，关于Tennessee有一段描写：
Why does Tennessee feel like home? Because the musicians and music many Americans listened to in their formative years started out in or came directly from Tennessee. Musically we grow up here.
与音乐相关的两个主要的城市是Memphis和州府所在地Nashville。 前者是“Home of Blues”。 后者是“home to The Grand Ole Opry – The world’s longest running live radio program, featuring American country music.”
穿过Nashville的时候，正是中午，我们下了24号高速公路，准备在这个城市歇歇脚。街上的行人并不多，非常安静。吃午饭的时候，店老板推荐我们去看一看The Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park， 说这地方可以让你快速全面地了解Tennessee。
按照AAA 的地图，很快我们就到达了公园。
The Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park is located in the shadow of the State Capitol in downtown Nashville. The 19-acre park is designed to complement the Tennessee Capitol Building, give visitors a taste of Tennessee's history and natural wonder, and to serve as a lasting monument to Tennessee's Bicentennial celebration.
从北端向南望，市府大楼耸立在山坡上。整个公园映衬在Nashville市中心的建筑群的轮廓下。
站在南山坡上，回望公园
Tennessee Map Plaza
This 200-foot Granite state map highlights the major roads, 95 counties, rivers, interesting geographic formations and details of each county. It is located at the entrance point of the park on James Robertson Parkway. Smaller granite maps depict other unique characteristics of Tennessee.
Carillons and the Court of 3 Stars
The Court of 3 Stars is a focal point of the park located at the northern end near Jefferson Street. Made of red, white and blue granite, this area represents the three grand divisions of the state - East, Middle and West Tennessee. This is also the site of a 95-bell carillon representing Tennessee's musical heritage. The 95 bells represent the citizens of Tennessee's 95 counties. A 96th bell, known as the answer bell, is located on the grounds of the State Capitol and rings in answer to the 95 bells, symbolizing government answering to the people. The carillons are the largest in the world.
Carillons and the Court of 3 Stars （also the site of a 95-bell carillon）
Answer bell （located on the grounds of the State Capitol）- symbolizing government answering to the people. The carillons are the largest in the world.
World War II Memorial
The World War II Memorial was dedicated on November 11, 1997. It features an 18,000 lb. granite globe floating on 1/8 inch of water. The countries on the globe are as they were during the war. There is a small map of Tennessee with lines showing the mileage to different theatres of war. Visitors may stop the globe and turn it with their hands.
The Memorial also has large granite markers that give a brief history of such historic events as the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Bulge, as well as scenes from here in Tennessee by using sand blasting engravingsof actual photographs on the markers.
There is a bench that lists the seven Congressional Medal of Honor winners from Tennessee. A time capsule will be opened on November 11, 2045 and contains lists of donors, persons that served, and a separate list of the Tennesseans that served and were killed in combat.
The Memorial is located near the North end of the Park at the 1946 marker and is a must-see for any visitor.
Pathway of History
Along the west side of the park, a 1,400-foot Wall of History is engraved with historic events that have occurred over the past two centuries. Each ten-year period along the wall is marked by a granite pylon. The wall 'breaks' at the time of the Civil War to represent the divisive nature of the war on the state. A 1796 monument and fountain represent the founding of Tennessee, while a 1896 monument highlights the Centennial Exposition.
The Tennessee Amphitheater
The center section of the park features a 2,000-seat amphitheater, composed of terraced lawns providing dramatic views of the State Capitol building. Its design is patterned after Greek amphitheaters, such as the one at Epidaurus. This will be the site of many special events, ceremonies and concerts for years to come. Groups may reserve the amphitheater for a fee.
徜徉在pathway of History, 刻在黑色大理石的一段段文字让人驻足不前，我们用相机摘录了一些：
♠ More than a billion years ago, massive forces – shifting rock and sediment and the slow inland encroachment of seas – began to form the land now called Tennessee.
♠ “And God stepped out on space,
and He looked around and said:
I’m lonely—
I’ll make me a world.”
--- James Weldon Johnson, 1927
♠ The woodland Indian culture, characterized by settled communities, pottery production and burial mounds, existed about 1000B.C.,A.D. 900.
♠ Contact between Native American and Europeans began in 1540-1541 with Hermando de Soto’s search for gold and silver that extended into East Tennessee and to the Mississippi River. Juan Pardo led a similar expedition,1516.
♠ “When civilization first peeped over the Alleghenies and looked down on the gorgeous landscape below, I think she shouted back to the advancing host ‘Lo, this is Paradise regained.’” --- Governor Robert , Love Taylor,1897
♠ By the 1820s, the Cherokee existed only in the state’s southeastern coner and in northern Georgia.
♠ In 1838, over 4,000 of the more than 17,000 removed Cherokee died on the Trail of Tears.
♠With the varied farm economy, Tennessee was the nation’s largest corn producer in 1840.
♠ “ When you are an old man, I want you to remember that your old teacher said, ‘Don’t ever be a spectator; take a hand in the game ’”
--- Wiliam R, “Sawney” Webb, founder of Webb School, Bell Buckle
♠ “I heared the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset. I’ve known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” --- Langston Hughes, 1926
♠ Music of Tennessee
Tennessee is unique in the contribution it has made to the musical heritage of America and the world. The lifetime careers of the native and resident performers, composers, and publishers recognized here are representative of the richness and diversity of the state’s musical legacy.
♠ The Tennessee … is as irregular, as various, as rebellions as the huge valley region that it drains
每一个正点时刻，公园里的音乐钟奏响一段tribute。 紧随着北端群钟共鸣，巍立于高高的山坡上的Answer bell 嘹亮地回应着。这悠扬的乐曲渗透在公园的每一个角落， 撞击着每一个游客的心扉。
不知不觉三个小时过去了，我们还要赶往目的地Smoky Mountain。因为文化背景的差异，我不能体会宾至如归的感觉，可却有点恋恋不舍。有一天想重回这个城市，揭开心中好多的谜 。
