Cheekwood Gardens, Nashville

The Cheekwood Gardens was a little disappointing for me. Somehow, the website did not match up to the reality of the Gardens. You can not complain about the price it was very reasonable; however, while the property is very well groomed, I thought the gardens lacked something. I still haven't really put my finger on it yet. Maybe the pond needed Koi fish, or maybe they needed some play equipment for the children. Without the parade of Scarecrows there would have been nothing to hold my children's attention. The only excitement the children had was when my oldest got to close to the edge of the pond to get a better look at a frog and fell in. Not really the kind of excitement I was looking for when I had a 4 1/2 hour drive back to Atlanta. This was after we went into the museum thank goodness. I liked their contemporary collection called From Washington to Warhol:Americana redefined. The museum also has on loan a collection of Faberge eggs. It was nice getting another opportunity to see these eggs again after 20 years. I saw them in Russia. I also enjoyed the collection of stone sculptures by William Edmondson. William was a free slave and his work shows some of the very best of African American artistry. The building that houses the art is also beautiful. , and just getting to the museum was a treat because you drive through the West End and Belle Meade section of Nashville. The streets are lined with beautiful estates and mansions that bring you back in time of over a hundred years ago. One more thing to be fair, if you do stop at the visitors center you can pick up the Museum Bingo and Garden Bingo worksheets for the children.