Tag Archives: Nashville Tennessee

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Nashville: Architecture, Food, Books, and Basketball

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Gonzaga Men’s Basketball has been my #1 team since 1995, the first year that they appeared in an NCAA Regional Basketball Game. I jumped on the Gonzaga Bandwagon at that time and have been a dedicated fan ever since, a fact that tends to confuse people since I live in the mountains of Southwest Virginia and Gonzaga is a small Jesuit Catholic University in the Pacific Northwest. Nonetheless, I am devoted and whenever the team plays on the East Coast, we travel to see the game. We’ve now seen the team play in North Carolina (a loss), Lexington, KY and Nashville, TN (both wins).

Travel, even if for a weekend, offers the opportunity to explore a new place, or to see something new in a place we’ve visited before. Most folks think of Nashville as a Country Music mecca, or more recently, as Bridal Party Central. In the three times that I have visited, I’ve always been impressed by the food, the architecture, and the history, and I found this to be true this time as well.

But first – basketball! We drove the 6 hours from our home and after checking into the hotel, immediately drove to the Bridgestone Arena, a massive venue (to me) that seats 19,000 for basketball games.

The Zags won the game (to be honest, they destroyed Kentucky, winning 95 – 59) and afterwards, we walked the busy streets in order to find a place to celebrate. Go Zags!

We started Saturday by visiting Parnassus Books, an independent bookstore owned by author Ann Patchett. Per the website, “in Greek mythology, Mount Parnassus was the home of literature, learning, and music. We are Nashville’s Parnassus, providing a refuge for Nashvillians of all ages who share in our love of the written word. We provide a venue for writers to connect with readers, and for readers to connect with books. We strive to complement and contribute to the rich cultural character of Nashville, the Athens of the South”.

The owners describe the bookshop as “smelling like new books and old wood. Perfect.” Plus, they have shop dogs! What a great vibe! Despite our commitment to abstain from the purchase of more books until we have read the ones we already have, we did not leave empty handed.

After shopping, but before lunch, we walked around the campus of Vanderbilt University, a private research institution with an enrollment of over 13,000 students. We were struck by the classic campus feel, with it’s Collegiate Gothic Revival style buildings inspired by Oxford / Cambridge, as well as the many campus sculptures.

I was particularly drawn to the original boiler smokestack, one of the campus’s first structures, which powered early campus heating. The brick and architectural embellishments added much to this formerly functional structure.

Our lunch spot for the day was one we learned about on Somebody Feel Phil, a TV show which is a “goodwill eating tour of the world”. If you haven’t watched this series, I highly recommend! Phil Rosenthal, the creator of Everybody Loves Raymond, shares his love for food, friends, and travel, and he does it without being critical or judgemental. He’s all about joy!

When we watched the Nashville episode, we learned about Maiz de la Vida, and immediately made a reservation. When we arrived and told our server that we heard about the restaurant from the show, he said “we love Phil!”. Phil had in fact, revisited the restaurant just 2 weeks before. We were welcomed enthusiastically and the menu options were described in detail. The restaurant serves “vibrant, authentic Mexican food centered around heirloom corn featuring homemade tortillas and rich birria (a traditional mexican stew), alongside Mexican street food favorites”. The cocktails were creative and delicious, too. I don’t claim to be a food photographer and besides, I was too busy enjoying my meal to spend time on photography.

After a thoroughly satisfying meal, we drove downtown to walk through The Union Station Nashville. “The former train station, established in 1900, was a bustling terminal on the L&N Railroad. The imposing Gothic design – complete with turrets and towers – made The Union Station an architectural marvel in its day”.

Now a luxury hotel, the public is invited to enjoy one on the bars and / or restaurants, or even just to be wowed by the “designs that marry the art-deco style of the station’s heyday with the Romanesque Revival architecture in which the station was originally constructed”.

Architecture, Food, Books, and a Basketball WIN! What an incredibly satisfying 36 hours in Nashville, Tennessee!

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Immersed in Nashville and Van Gogh

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Way back in November, when the Delta and Omicron variants were still wreaking havoc on the world, we made plans to see the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit Nashville, hoping that it would be safe to attend by April. And it was! Being fully vaxxed and boosted, we set off on the 6 hour drive from Southwest Virginia to The Music City. “The Fisk Jubilee singers from Nashville’s Fisk University and Queen Victoria most often get the credit for the city’s nickname”, but it was about 50 years later, in the 1920s, as WSMs Grand Ole Opry gained popularity, that the nickname began to take hold.

We arrived in the early evening and went straight to Centennial Park. This 132-acre park features the iconic Parthenon, the world’s only exact-size and detail replica of the original temple in Athens, Greece. “When Tennessee celebrated its 100th year of statehood in 1897 with the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, Nashville took advantage of its nickname “Athens of the South” and built the Fine Art Building as a copy of Athens’ most famous building and the epitome of Greek classical architecture”

I’ve now seen the Parthenon twice but only from the outside. “Since the 1930s, the Parthenon has continued to host changing art exhibitions in its galleries and to educate both Nashvillians and visitors about the legacy of the ancient Greeks and their impact on American civilization”. Someday, I’ll plan the time to go inside and really learn the history and see the interior exhibits.

A very pleasant surprise, thanks to Greg, was finding the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument, also located in Centennial Park. Nashville artist Alan LeQuire created the monument which was dedicated in May of 2020, one hundred years after women gained the right to vote. The gorgeous monument depicts the 72-year suffrage struggle which culminated with victory. It is worth noting that less than 10% of all monuments throughout the US feature women.

The next morning, we made our way to the event center to be immersed in Van Gogh. The exhibit was such a powerful and moving experience. Worth every penny spent and every mile traveled. Set to a wonderful selection of music, the video projection of the artist’s work revealed the talent and the tragedy. We were literally surrounded by Van Gogh’s art as you can see by the photo of our feet.

People walked around, sat on benches, or on the floor in identified, socially distanced spots. The patterns on the floor changed based on the work being shown at the time. 500,000 Cubic Feet Of Projections, 60,600 Frames Of Video, and 90,000,000 Pixels offers the opportunity to experience art in a new way, one that is welcoming to all. We watched the exhibit three times, moving around from space to space, seeing something different each time.

I’d love to hear from those of you who saw the exhibit in another city.

After lunch, we worked our way downtown to see the historic Ryman Auditorium. The words from the website are better than any I might write: This place is hallowed ground. This is the exact spot where bluegrass was born—where Johnny Cash met June Carter, where souls were saved and a slice of history was nearly lost. It was right here that country music found an audience beyond its own back porch, and countless careers took off as deals were signed on napkins and paper scraps backstage.

We took the self-guided tour – watched all the videos, read all the plaques, followed all the timelines. Greg bought me a Chocolate Moon Pie, which as it turns out, I did not enjoy, and even let me take a total tourist photo of him. If you are a lover of old country music, you know, before the “bro trend” as Reba calls it, you must visit!

“You know, ‘Hey bro, let’s go down to the river and catch some fish.’ And everybody’s ‘good ol’ boys’ and that’s the ‘bro music.’ I would really like it to get back to the real strong country. The country of Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, Ronnie Milsap, Mel Tillis. I miss that kind of country.” – Reba McEntire

We spent the rest of the day exploring some of the downtown area. There is a six block segment of Broadway that has turned into a mini Vegas / New Orleans combo. Lot’s of partying in the streets, bar after bar filled with music and people, and many a party bus going by. Nashville has evidently become the “go to” destination for batchelorette weekends.

We would love to return to explore the Cumberland River walking paths, the myriad of other museums, university campuses and restaurants, and to hear some live music. Much has changed since I visited 10 years ago. If interested, check out this link from that visit to see some of the incredible architecture of this city. You will also see how much my photography has improved (thankfully!).

If you do visit, be sure to take some time to walk over the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge to capture some great views of the city. The final two images were taken from Denim restaurant on the 21st floor of The Joseph, a hotel where we might stay someday if we win the lottery 🙂

Until next time, so long Nashville!