Saturday was a beautiful 62 degrees (F). (Last week we had an ice storm!) It was the perfect day to go downtown and play tourist. My friend, Sue and I walked around and mingled with the tourists, seeing Nashville from their eyes. When you live in a popular tourist attraction you forget why people come until you step into their shoes and pick up the holiday spirit. The tall glass buildings on the hill overshadow the famous Ryman Auditorium and the Honky Tonks of Lower Broadway. From the Hard Rock Cafe we watched the horse drawn carriages, the bicycle taxis and the Pedal Bar go by. We could see people crossing the Cumberland River on the foot bridge and the crowd on the rooftop of the RockBottom Brewery. From Lower Broad, we walked up the hill checking out the reflections in the glass of the AT&T building affectionately known in Nashville as the “Bat Building,” for it’s resemblance to the Caped Crusader. We looked at churches beneath tall bank buildings. We went up to the old Arcade, almost deserted on a Saturday, where art galleries line the upstairs balcony overlooking the little cafes and shops that serve the downtown office crowd. Finally, we inspected the scrollwork on a few old buildings tucked away amidst the newer glass ones. All in all, it was a day to remind me of why, after years of traveling far and wide, I finally came home to Nashville. It was a good day.
For more on Nashville and the Pedal Bar check out:
“When you live in a popular tourist attraction you forget why people come until you step into their shoes …”
Miami is like this too. And I bet about one or two per cent of New Yorkers ever visited the Statue of Liberty.
I’ll bet you’re right!!
Nice pictures. And it’s so true. My cousin and I went into a store on Michigan Avenue, after going to the Art Institute, and the saleswoman asked where we were from. We said we are from here, from Chicago, and she couldn’t believe it. LOL How silly. It’s easy to forget that lot of people come to Chicago to visit and for huge conventions. It’s where we live so it just seems like home. We been there a million times. It was shocking to be asked where we were from in our own hometown. We have lived here our entire lives. I don’t think I could put myself in the position of a tourist. I wouldn’t know how to look at familiar skyscrapers as if I was seeing them for the first time. I still get excited when I see them but I know them and they are like friends of mine. I couldn’t help but notice that some of the people in your postcards were in shirtsleeves. Wow! I can’t wait. LOL
Isn’t it funny if you go to where the tourists go you are just assumed to be one! It was funny! Like you, these buildings are my friends, too. It was a beautiful warm sunny day.
I’ve read and heard a lot of words and tunes from Nashville. Rarely seen photographs (apart from of musicians). This is a wonderful set. You get a real feel of the place. It’s both like and unlike what this untravelled fellow expected. Thank you.
Thanks so much! Nashville is a place of many contrasts. From banking and insurance to healthcare to country music to 13 universities, we can’t decide which is the real Nashville! Hope you get a chance to visit sometime. We always roll out the Southern Hospitality!
By golly! – you are one clever lady, M-G! How the devil you know how to do this is beyond me. [M.R. falls silent]
Thanks, M.R.! I keep spending time with the guys at the Apple store! I think I will have to move in there and set up shop at the Genius Bar. Sooner or later I figure I can absorb some stuff from those guys! At this point, most of what they say is over my head but I’m gaining on them.
You surely are !!!
That was beautiful!
Thanks, PVJ! Home, Sweet Home!