Page 4 of 5
Nashville, Tennessee
They didn't name her for a saint, they named her for a storm
On Broadway, between the Ryman Auditorium (the original home of the Grand Ole Opry) and Bridgestone Arena (the current home of the NHL's Nashville Predators, or Smashville Predators as the giant banners suggested), not even a heavy rain could distract a really wet Elvis (or a really wet me) from seeing the streets of Nashville (or is that Smashville) first hand.
The rain that fell that weekend wasn't just an inconvenience for me (although it most certainly was) but it was also a much, much bigger problem for the people of Nashville. Almost 20 inches of rain fell in what is now considered a thousand year flood in Nashville, creating over a billion dollars worth of damage, killing about 30 people (some while sitting in their cars on the interstate), destroying the Opryland Hotel and generally creating an unprecedented level of havoc. Areas where I stood and drove were destroyed just hours or days after my departure, with even Broadway (where this photo was taken) under some water and the Bridgestone Arena across the street sustaining considerable damage. Lucky to get out when I did (the airport remained open despite visible lightning strikes just outside) and already looking forward to returning at some point, hopefully after Smashville has had some time to recover and hopefully not during another thousand year flood.
I know that a building can have history, but I'm not sure if it can have a soul. But if a building can have a soul, I'm pretty sure it would feel a lot like the historic Ryman Auditorium. Just up the hill from Broadway (a hill that saved it from all of that awful flooding in May), the building was originally a church and later became one of the most famous buildings in music and certainly the most famous building in country music. Between concerts by the likes of Hole and The National and Wilco, the building still celebrates its heritage with Planet Hollywood type display cases featuring artifacts and interpretive panels all about its past- my favorite easily were some hand written lyrics by a spelling challenged Johnny Cash.
Over by Vanderbilt University and not all that far from downtown Nashville is the Parthenon, not of course the real Parthenon but a real interesting diversion nonetheless. The building is an exact replica of the original but (of course) there are a few exceptions. First up is that the building is not on top of a hill or even a low berm, and having been to the real Parthenon in Greece, that whole Acropolis thing is pretty important to making the Parthenon feel like the Parthenon. The second big exception is that the Nashville Parthenon is not built as a ruin but rather as a complete replica of the 400 BCE Athens version which, of course, is a total and complete guess as to what the 400 BCE Athens version probably looked like. The big shocker is obviously the giant, killer Athena statue stuffed in the main hall, a real jaw dropping surprise for anyone not expecting to see a giant, too big for the room, gold draped woman holding a smaller gold statue in her hand.
The best view of Houston (or at least downtown Houston) is from the 60th floor skylobby at IM Pei's JP Morgan Chase Tower. As someone who is used to the draconian security measures of big city Manhattan buildings, it is a bit disconcerting to me that the skylobby is open to the public and that there's no security at all for anyone who walks in to the building (the tallest in Houston) to do whatever they want. There's not even a security guard kind of paying attention at the front door and pretending to check for large ticking bags.
Two buildings designed by the one time powerhouse architectural firm of (Philip) Johnson and (John) Burgee stand across Louisiana Street in Houston from one another, with each constantly wondering what's up with the other one. On one side is the all black glass Pennzoil Place (from 1976), an abstract sculpture of two towers and angles all over the place and on the other side is Bank of America Tower (from 1983), all stone and right out of Amsterdam, if of course Amsterdam had massive stone skyscrapers. The dialogue between the two buildings designed by the same architects isn't a dialogue as much as it is a confused muttering or wordless stare down, although at least the front door of the Bank of America Tower does frame Pennzoil Place rather nicely.
I am not a big baseball fan, I can't even say that I follow or care about one team or another (ok, I’m probably a Mets fan by default), but I do at least understand how the game is played and scored (unlike, say, tennis) and if given an easy opportunity to see a live game I'll often make time in my schedule, although in all honesty that's probably more because I like to be outside than because I actually care about watching baseball. So when my schedule and the Houston Astros scheduled were in sync this past May, I took some time to see the Astros play the Pirates at Minute Maid Park, to enjoy the stadium (a rather nice one actually), to be outside and watch day slip into night.
Foreshadowing some far better Chicago pictures (coming up in Part 3) is a view from my very good seats at Wrigley Field on a cold day in Chicago, further proof that regardless of the temperature, I just like to be outside every now and then.
