Nashville, GPS Adventure Maze & Ft. Negley

 Ok, after a brief intermission where I was attacked by a killer wasp, we can get back to our vacation.

The other day we drove to Nashville, Tn. because I wanted to see something called the GPS Adventure Maze. 

This is the infamous "Bat Building" that you see upon arrival.  It does kind of look like Batmans head.

The maze was at the Adventure Science Center of Nashville.

Of course we didn't pass up an opportunity to phoon!

The maze is designed to introduce people to the fun of geocaching and is an interactive exhibit.  Some aspects of the maze were really good - the amount of information was staggering, the exhibits were chock full of stuff to search for....

there were lots of sample geocaches to find and it was all contained in very colorful areas.

As we walked through the maze we had to stamp our cards at different check points...

There were a couple of things I didn't like tho.  First of all, it was hosted by the Adventure Science Center in Nashville and you have to pay the full price of $ 12.00 per person admission, even if you only want to see the GPS exhibit. 

There was nobody associated with the exhibit there to talk to or explain anything.  And even though we got there early, it was still crowded and it was difficult to move through the maze and see and do everything.  I also would have liked to see some booths set up with brochures about GPS units and more take-home general information about geocaching. 

Afterwards we found a cache hidden right out in front of the building.  Cute huh?

On a scale of 5 points, I'd have to give it a 3 and I don't think I'd recommend it as a "must see" event.  But if you are interested you can visit this site for more information:
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC2MYM0

After that we headed over to Fort Negley to find a geocache.  Ft. Negley is the site of a Union fortification during the Civil War.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Negley

Unfortunately the visitors center was closed...

Fort Negley was built using mostly slaves and free blacks...

The grounds are really huge and there is a nice walking path around the whole compound.  We hiked up to the top of the hill and we were treated to this beautiful view...

At the top there is a series of boardwalks leading you to different points....

And we found the cache we were looking for.  Don't worry, it's been placed with permission.

I particularly liked seeing the old ruins of the fort....

 And here's Capt. Ron standing on top of the hill near the ruins of a wall.

If you're in Nashville and would like to visit the fort, you can get information here:
http://www.nashville.gov/parks/historic/fortnegley/

Our origianl plan was to do some more geocaching in Nashville and eat lunch at The Wildhorse Saloon.  Unfortunately, the Wildhorse wasn't open and the construction and rebuilding going on in Nashville was unbelievable.  Traffic was at a stand still in some areas so we ended up leaving.  But we'll be back.  I love visiting Nashville and I am determined to eat at The Wildhorse Saloon one of these days!