Tennessee
Where the music sets the tone.
Bristol · Knoxville · Pigeon Forge · Nashville · Memphis
The Journey
Tennessee quickly became one of my favorite states.
Our first trip began in April 2021, entering from Virginia near Bristol and making our way toward Knoxville.
In Knoxville, we visited the zoo, where after making our rounds among some great animals, the girls insisted on riding the little choo choo train around the park. Then came the petting zoo, where they got to feed the animals, which made convincing them to leave significantly harder.
We also visited Muse Knoxville, a wonderful children’s museum where the girls got to play, experiment, and explore before we headed toward Pigeon Forge.
Pigeon Forge was basically a dream built for children.
There was so much to choose from that our biggest problem was deciding what to actually do. We settled on The Island, where the girls bounced from rides to games to activities, trying to squeeze in as much as possible before the day ended.
Then came Nashville.
We stayed close to where everything was happening and immediately understood why people love the city. Traveling with the girls meant that Broadway after dark was not exactly on our itinerary, but Charny and I saw enough to make a pact that we would be back.
We visited the Tennessee State Capitol, continuing our journey through every capital in America, and then the Country Music Hall of Fame. Rachel was especially excited to see Taylor Swift’s dresses and memorabilia, imagining herself becoming a singer one day.
Who knows.
We also visited historic RCA Studio B, where Elvis Presley recorded some of his most famous music. Standing in the same room where songs we had listened to for years were actually recorded was surreal. We heard the story of how, while recording “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”, Elvis wanted the studio darkened to create the right mood. Hearing that story while standing in the room where it happened made the song feel completely different.
From there, we headed west to Memphis, which gave us another Tennessee entirely. Nashville carries country music, while Memphis carries blues, soul, and its own unmistakable sound.
But Memphis also brought us into a much heavier chapter of American history. We visited the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. Standing there with the girls, looking toward the balcony, we told them who he was, what he fought for, and why that place still matters.
Since that first visit, Charny and I have returned to Nashville multiple times, sometimes just for a random weekend.
It has become one of our favorite cities in America. The bars, live music, people, food, Southern culture, and constant energy make Nashville one of those places where we never really need a reason to go.
Jewish Tennessee
Our Jewish Tennessee experience became especially personal in Memphis.
We prayed with the local Jewish community, visited shuls, ate kosher food, and got to experience a Jewish world that was much more established than I had expected to find in western Tennessee.
Memphis has a particularly strong Orthodox history. Generations of Jewish families built synagogues, schools, kosher life, and institutions that continue today.
Jewish life in Tennessee reaches even further back. Congregation Ohabai Sholom in Nashville traces its beginnings to 1851, making it the oldest active Jewish congregation in the state.
Today, Jewish life stretches from Memphis and Nashville to Knoxville, Chattanooga, and smaller communities in between.
What I enjoyed most was simply living Jewishly there. Praying with people, eating kosher, meeting local families, and seeing how Jewish life had found its own place inside Tennessee culture.
What Stayed With Me
What stayed with me about Tennessee was how music can define a place.
Nashville breathes country. Memphis carries blues and soul. The music affects the streets, the businesses, the people, the nightlife, and the entire personality of the cities around it.
Even when nobody is on stage, you somehow still feel it.
Tennessee taught me that music does not always have to be something you listen to.
Sometimes you get to live inside it.
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