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Tennessee: the Great Smoky
Mountains, the Grand Ole Opry, Dollywood, Vanderbilt
University...Vanderbilt University? Look, it isn't all
Minnie Pearl and the Kettles here (though we confess
that the Opry, and Dolly Parton in particular, are near
and dear to our hearts; and we ain't kiddin'). There are
a lot of reasons other than the Opry to visit Tennessee
(provided you can tear yourself away from all that
pickin'). Take Vanderbilt University, for instance
(okay, it's in Nashville, so you'll be able to visit the
Opry and the school, if you want). It, along with seven
other highly regarded private universities, helped earn
Nashville the name "Athens of the South." There's even a
replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, built in 1897 for
the Tennessee Centennial.
And don't worry; we weren't about to forget Memphis.
How could we? It's the home of Graceland, and you can
bet that any fans of Dolly are bound to be fans of The
King. And there's Knoxville, site of the Alex Haley
House; or Chattanooga, where the world's largest fresh
water aquarium is located. And these Tennesseeans do a
lot of talking to each other: At last count there were
no less than 27 daily newspapers, 40 television
stations, and 220 radio stations scattered throughout
the state. The Internet? Heck, yeah. They're way ahead
of us.
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