Ancient Greece lives on in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville isn't all country music, southern food and whisky. It's also ancient Greece.

The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee.

This full-scale replica of the Greek Parthenon stands in a beautiful Nashville park.

Visitors are as likely to check out the museum inside as they are to walk or bicycle along the nearby paths. A handful of runners use the covered portico as the gorgeous and unlikely setting for their daily workouts. On this day, one young man stood on the steps of the Parthenon, hoisted a guitar above his head and posed for what would undoubtedly become his awesome debut album cover.

The story of this out-of-place monument begins with the 1897 Centennial Exposition. For that event, the fairgrounds were littered with such monuments to help establish the worldy atmosphere. The monuments, including the Parthenon, a pyramid and others, were made of cheap, temporary materials and destined for removal at the fair's end.

During the course of the fair, however, the people of Tennessee grew attached to the full-scale Parthenon building, so it was re-built from permanent materials to remain standing forever in Nashville.

Outside, the building looks the part. Only up close could we find a few spots that revealed the plaster or cement of modern construction versus the ancient stone that one would surely find in Greece.

Inside, a cramped museum gallery betrays the authenticity, but it does help convey the history of the building and the fair, as outlined above.

Literally the biggest surprise awaits in one of two suddenly and shockingly spacious exhibit rooms.

Athena looms large inside the Parthenon.

This six-story-tall statue of the Greek goddess Athena is as impressive for its size as it is for its color and detail.

The figures and markings depicted in Athena's crown, on her shield and sandals, and below her on the statue's base, all tell their own ancient stories.

The size, though: the winged god standing in the palm of Athena's hand is a life-sized, six-feet tall in his own right.

Fist bump.

Surrounded by spectacle and the combined histories of Tennessee and ancient Greece, we wrapped up our Parthenon tour by posing for the silly photo above and exited through the park, back to our car. Next stop: Belle Meade Plantation.

Josh Turner headlines the Grand Ole Opry

Tucked in between Nashville's biggest indoor shopping mall, and the oasis that is the Opryland Hotel, we made our way to the Grand Ole Opry, or "the show that made country music famous."

Obligatory photo op outside the Grand Ole Opry.

The Grand Ole Opry features a long list of performers at every show, and each act gets to play a couple of songs. It's a fun format and the variety is impressive: we heard everything from today's hit country by Josh Turner and the deep bass of an up-and-coming performer who accompanied country legend Billy Ray Cyrus, to old-time yodeling and acapella in harmony by the impressive Gatlin Boys.

Billy Ray Cyrus accompanies an up-and-coming star.

The show is steeped in history. The round section of off-colored wood at center stage comes from the stage in the Grand Ole Opry's original theater. When a performer stands there, she feels the combined history of all the acts that have preceeded her.

We're not sure what Uncle Sy from Duck Dynasty feels when he stands there, but he indeed made a few cameo appearances during our Opry show.

Can't visit the south without running into someone from Duck Dynasty.

The Grand Ole Opry is simultaneously broadcast online and locally over the AM airwaves. From behind his on-stage podium, a buttoned-up announcer reads modern-day companies' old-fashioned-sounding ads to the audience and the listeners at home.

There's some modern history here, too. A recent flood in Nashville closed the doors of the Grand Ole Opry for the first time, and the show was forced to relocate for a time while the damage was repaired.

That same flood inundated the neighboring shopping mall, ultimately wiping out the home of Gibson Guitar, where tourists and shoppers could previously visit to see the iconic instruments manufactured.

There's plenty of live music to be found in downtown Nashville, but none of that can match the ambiance and variety of a show at the Grand Ole Opry.