Visiting Nashville
I always knew Nashville was a large city famous for music and its culture, but I didn’t realize how big it was until I arrived. With over 600,000 people Nashville is the state’s second largest city and just behind Memphis in population. I think most people outside of the United States haven’t even heard of Nashville, but there is a lot to do and I’d recommend it as a fun unique destination in the south. The photo above shows the city center, taken from the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge.
I’ve been to Nashville twice, and both visits were about ten years apart. From my perspective nothing much seemed to change, but I’m sure locals would say otherwise. There were a lot of things I missed out on during my first visit, but both times I walked across this pedestrian bridge for a great view of the city. During the summer it can be crowded with couples, photographers, and families enjoying the nice weather. The bridge crosses the Cumberland River, which has plenty of river cruises on large ships like this one going under the bridge.
Nashville has its roots in these small cabins above and below. Originally known as Fort Nashborough, Nashville began as an outpost built during the Revolutionary War in 1779. With the Americans focused on the British, Cherokee Indians who were native to this area decided to take advantage and fight back on westward American expansion. Fort Nashborough had several skirmishes with the Cherokee Indians, but they never were able to destroy the fort and over time the attacks faded away. Nashboroguh continued to grow into the city of Nashville.
Roughly 250 years later, the city has changed from a small fort to one of America’s greatest cities. From my first photo on this page you can see Nashville’s tallest building. At 617 feet (188 meters) the AT&T building is also the tallest in Tennessee. Despite holding the state record, the structure falls short of 700 feet which is required to be considered one of America’s talllest buildings.
Nashville is famous for its Greek style revival, and that starts here with the state state capitol building. I took this photo ten years before my second trip, and had hoped to take a better one on my return. Instead I was a bit annoyed to find the entire top section of the building covered in scaffolding! The capitol building is part of the Bicentennial Capitol Mall, a sprawling area that holds several memorials, parks, and other government buildings. The photo below was one of two sets of Tennessee flags from the Capitol Mall grounds.
Either the Rivers of Tennessee Fountains didn’t exist on my first visit ten years ago, or more than likely somehow I just completely missed it on my first trip! Each fountain represents one of Tennessee’s 31 major rivers. As you can see it was a perfect place for little kids who enjoyed cooling off in the hot summer. The capitol mall area is pretty enormous, and the Rivers of Tennessee Fountains are just one site. Some of the other places you can find on the capitol mall include an amphitheater, the Court of Three Stars, the 95 Bell Carillon, multiple memorials, and more.
One of the biggest places I missed on my first trip to Nashville was the Parthenon. This is a full-scale replica of the original Greek Parthenon and was built in 1897. Although the capitol building was influenced by Greek style revival, the Parthenon here is what really earns Nashville the nickname, the “Athens of the South”.
The Parthenon sits in the center of Centennial Park. On my walk out of the park I went a different direction and came across the Alan LeQuire’s Women’s Suffrage monument. The story behind the monument is pretty interesting. As a baby Alan LeQuire, who was born in the 19th century became sick, to a point where doctors had given up on him and told her to accept he would likely pass away. His grandmother was always outspoken and determined, in a time when women largely were expected to be more humble. Refusing to accept this as an answer, she demanded second opinions and went to multiple doctors. After discovering he had a simple milk allergy, Alan LeQuire made a full recovery. He credits his grandmother for his life, and she is one of the women in the statues above.
Another Greek revival style building is the Nashville War Memorial Auditorium. It served as a memorial for those who fought in World War I, but also functions as a 2,000 seat auditorium. The building was dedicated in September 1925. It remains a popular venue in Nashville, and has hosted many famous international musicians and other events. The statue below is called Youth, and is at the entrance to the war memorial.
What I liked most about Nashville is that it’s a pretty lively city. For some reason some state capitols I go to or reasonably sized cities seem to be completely empty, even during business hours. I walked miles through the city both day and night and always came across people. This photo above shows a closed off street that had been taken over by several food trucks. I had already had lunch so didn’t get anything, but from the long lines of people there seemed to be some good food here.
Somewhere between the Parthenon and the river I passed this impressive building above. I later found out it’s the Union Station hotel. Originally built in 1900, this was a major station for the railroad. At some point when rail travel became less popular the station was bought out and converted to a luxury hotel. I should have taken a peak inside! Another historic building I passed nearby was this old house made of stone below.
Going back to Nashville’s second nickname, Music City, it doesn’t take long to find out why. Even before I got to Nashville on my first visit, I was driving along Highway 40 when I came across government signs that said music highway and showed musical notes on them. Once inside the city music is everywhere. While country music is by far the most popular, you’ll find lots of jazz clubs and other types of music as well. Photographed above is the Country Music Hall of Fame. Both times I visited the city I didn’t have time to go inside, so I’ll have to save this for round three!
Nashville definitely isn’t famous for its symphony music, but as I mentioned they have a little bit of everything in the city. The photograph above shows the Shermerhorn Symphony Center, with a photo of one of their advertisements below.
Close to the city center I came across these murals. There were maybe about five or six of them. Even though most of the paintings themselves didn’t have anything to do with music, the figures were still painted inside a guitar. The photo below shows a bar nearly right across the street in the same neighborhood.
You could call Broadway street the real Nashville, because this district is what the city is famous for. Along the strip here are endless restaurants, plenty of live music, and several clubs. It’s crowded both during the day and the night but I think its much more alive once the sun goes down! Since Nashville is mostly about country music, many of the shops sell items you’d expect further out west in say Texas or Wyoming. Below is a photo I took from a store window showing cowboy hats and boots along Broadway street.
I wish I had taken more photos during both of my trips. Broadway Street at night is what makes Nashville. It’s such a crowded place that is packed with live music, bars, and dancing. Of course in those social environments when you’re having a drink or making your way through the crowds the last thing you’re thinking about doing is whipping your camera out to take photos!
I came to Nashville before I was in Austin, Texas, but both cities remind me of each other because of all their live music. As a matter of fact, my hotel which was at least two miles from the city center even had a daily live band each night. This man above was singing his own tune along Broadway.
On my first visit to Nashville I got my first flight of beers ever at the Big River Grill. This brewery seemed to be pretty popular at the time, but when I returned ten years later I was said to see it was closed down and had been replaced by a chain! The Big River Grill still exists in other cities in Tennessee. I specifically remember being here over a decade ago because I had just bought my first ever digital SLR camera. It arrived to my house right before my flight, and it wasn’t until I got to Nashville that I sat at this restaurant and took one of my first photos ever with a DSLR.