Tennessee State Capital
(Nashville,
Tennessee)
Excerpts from Beth:
 A
requisite stop in ANY state is the Capitol building. To the
casual observer, this may be a "you've seen one, you've
seen them all" type of attraction, but after taking guided
tours of many State Centers, we've learned that we can gather
enough tidbits on a particular state to make a fairly decent
showing on Jeopardy.
Tennessee is no exception. Different externally from a lot
of the buildings we've seen due to the lack of a gold dome,
the interior still had the effect of a "rotunda under
a dome." Before the tour, we browsed through the collection
of portraits hanging in the rotunda.
 It
wasn't until the tour began that we learned we were viewing
the last 40 governors. When a new governor is elected, there
is an elaborate "shifting" operation whereby the
oldest governor is taken off and the portraits are shifted
in series ensuring a nice long stay in the public consciousness
and some changing scenery in the building.
The tour progressed to show the governor's office and legislative
rooms--fairly standard looking for all intents and purposes.
An interesting factoid is that the House is seated according
to geographic location (East, Middle, and West Tennessee)
and not party affiliation.
But a trip to the Tennessee center of government would be
incomplete without mention of the famous "Roadkill Bill."
State Senator Tim Burchett introduced legislation that permitted
motorists to take possession of animals they hit on the highway.
Yes folks, you can eat your roadkill in Tennessee. So get
your recipes for squirrel fritters and skunk a-la-king ready!!
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From
the World's Largest Guitar to Graceland to Jack Daniel's, it's all
in here.
Get your t-shirts, mugs, license plate covers and bumper stickers
for all your roadtrip needs.