Here is part 2 of my trip to Nashville, and of course - your soundtrack :-)

 

The next day, I was working taking photos of keynote speakers, etc. so my partner decided to venture out on his own, with camera in tow. I don't know if he made it to the official "West End" area but he made it to the Parthenon, which is two miles west of downtown Nashville. Anyway, I think he's trying to muscle in on my turf - he got some pretty good shots!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was taken through a window of what appeared to be a former factory/auto showroom - possibly installation art pieces?

 

Starting to look a little quirky...

 

Okay, concert posters and stickers - must be the collegiate/artsy area!

 

And eventually to Centennial Park - he wasn't sure what this was:

 

There's the Parthenon (replica)!

 

Detail on the door:

 

The 40+ ft. statue of Athena - it's probably good I didn't see this in person, honestly - it looks incredibly tacky but that's just me:

 

Hmm, I'm titling this "Cover - or shield, your @ss!"  :lol:

 

According to my partner, this is part of Vanderbilt University:

 

This church bears a striking resemblance to St. Agnes in Cleveland, which formerly stood at East 79th(ish) and Euclid:

 

Looks like he took a side trip to the Holy Land ;-)

 

And back toward downtown...

 

I know I got a good one - he knows I'm cooped up working, so he takes skyline shots for me :-)

 

The building with the clock tower was once a federal building, but now owned by the city - not sure what it's used for:

 

I saw this building from the glass elevators of the hotel, but thanks to my partner I know it's the electric company's HQ:

 

Alright, *I* finally had some free time:

 

The gothic arches of Ryman Auditorium:

 

Nanananananananananana BATMAN!!!

 

 

Looks like Elvis isn't allowed to leave the building  :|

 

Detail shot of the Pinnacle office tower:

 

Old and new, and I like both of them!

 

Trying to understand the logic of building a luxury high-rise smackdab next to a 60s office tower...

 

This covers a lot of ground when trying to describe Nashville:

 

As my partner said - you can't knock them too much; along Broadway and the "bar/club" area, there's more contiguous historic urban fabric than a lot of places - Cleveland's Warehouse District could only hope to have as much existing stock  :| .

 

Over to the Cumberland River - looks like they used former bridge pylons as a foundation for a public art piece  :?

 

The riverfront was pretty desolate, other than some homeless and the occasional tourists.

 

Yeah, that's not a wacky camera angle, that's how some of the hills are - btw, the bar on the left (Riverfront Cafe) was a nice, mellow respite from the honky-tonk joints - and they serve Yazoo Brewing's Pale Ale on tap. It's no Burning River, but it'll do in a pinch in Tennessee:

 

Like I said - surprising amount of historic building stock:

 

And every now and then, a surprising example of quality architecture:

 

Still - there was a disconcerting amount of heritage well, you get the idea:

 

And I never got close to this building but I swear it's a five-story office building on top of a ten-story parking garage - please correct me if I'm wrong!

 

Anyway, the next day - just some shots from the upper floors of the hotel again. Looking west toward Vanderbilt:

 

The historic Customs House:

 

The Gulch area:

 

Still not sure what this was - west of downtown:

 

The Country Music Hall of Fame:

 

Another glassy residential tower - further south of the CBD:

 

One last look at the entertainment district (and homebase for me for the past few days):

 

And some night shots - pardon the blur and noise; no tripod and was in between assignments:

 

 

 

 

And leaving off - I kinda like this, even with the overpass:

 

Hope you enjoyed! :-)

I think you're confusing the old Union Station with the Customs House.  They look very similar.  The old train station has been a hotel for at least 20 years.  Also, you missed The Frist Musuem, which is an old post office, and located directly between those two buildings. It opened about 10 years ago and they have very pop-oriented art shows there. Nashville does not have a real art museum.  There is an old mansion in the suburbs called Cheekwood, but it is neither a particularly impressive house or art collection. 

 

The south has a very distorted sense of its wealth, culture, and importance, both in the 1800's and now. The weak or non-existent art museums I think are really indicative of the difference in the post Civil War north and post Civil War south. Then and now the north just plain had way, way more wealthy people to support the arts. 

 

To me, Nashville has a lot of visual appeal. There appears to be a good blend of historic with contemporary architecture, and the downtown looks pleasingly dense. I can't vouch for the vibe, because it's been more than twenty years since I visited, and that was just passing through on a Sunday en route to Murfreesboro for a work assignment.

 

Looks like your partner blew his cover with this one. He should realize that once you post a photo like this on the internet, it's too late to try to call it back:

 

 

:wink:

Your partner did good.

Your partner did good.

 

Real good.

nice job by team mayday!

 

well nice to see the 'ville has filled out quite a bit since i was briefly in grad school near there way back when.

 

oh yeah, elliston place and the exit/in are big parts of that college music oriented neighborhood. i saw some southern/nashvilley type 80's bands there like the georgia satellites, lone justice, etc.

 

jmecklenborg is right. The building with the clock tower in the picture that May Day's partner took is Union Station. It is a hotel. Back in the 80's there was a plan to turn the old train shed behind it into one of those "festival marketplaces", like Portside was in Toledo. The plan never became a reality. I think the customs house is the building in the picture that May Day took from his hotel room.

The L&N either like neo-romanesque limestone architecture or used the same architect becuase the Louisville Union Station looks very similar (but without the big clocktower).

 

I can see why Nashvillians are so up on their town.  I visited a few years ago (stayed at an old hotel near the Capital) and saw some of the same areas (including that Arcade and the neighborhood below the capital).  But I can tell I missed a lot and a lot of this is newer, too.

 

Did a good job of capturing that low density wasteland between downtown and the Vandy/Elliston Place area. 

^^^^ Rob, I don't get it? Fill a curious brother in.

^^^^ Rob, I don't get it? Fill a curious brother in.

 

Urban railyard scene. Foamers will think he's one of them and try to adopt him, and they're an unsavory bunch.

 

(Foamers are rabid raiflans, slobbering, drooling, foaming at the mouth at the sight of trains. In any conversation, even if they're only eavesdropping bystanders, if they overhear anything remotely related to railroads they jump in and take over, making the whole thing all about their too-fabulous-to-believe railroad experiences. Interactions between/among foamers are always games of can-you-top-this.)

I also found it odd how little activity there was along the riverfront.  It seemed like everything fronted onto the other street where there are all the bars and what not.