I love historic photos of places and old postcards, so when I stumbled upon this Historic Nashville website, I thought I would share the wealth with all of you. There are some interesting images and write-ups here. I know virtually nothing about historic Nashville, so even reading about who Granny White was (there is a road named after her, after all) was interesting.
What’s your favorite picture or tidbit?
Sunday, March 26, 2006
How's Your Pooh-sticking?
I was scanning through the various news pages today and stumbled across this story on a real Pooh-sticks competition that is held annually in Oxfordshire. I read the books as a child and have played Pooh-sticks on a number of occasions, so I thought it was fun that someone got serious about it for charity.
This story also seems to demonstrate that you can make an event out of anything, which is comforting. I do enjoy easily entertained people (like myself).
When I mentioned this news story to my husband, he said, “You should include a link to some information about that UK band called the Pooh Sticks. Are they even still doing anything?” It appears that the Pooh Sticks have disbanded, but I’m including a link to their unofficial fan page here anyway.
This story also seems to demonstrate that you can make an event out of anything, which is comforting. I do enjoy easily entertained people (like myself).
When I mentioned this news story to my husband, he said, “You should include a link to some information about that UK band called the Pooh Sticks. Are they even still doing anything?” It appears that the Pooh Sticks have disbanded, but I’m including a link to their unofficial fan page here anyway.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Second Friday of Exploration
As part of my own March “use up that paid time off” Madness, I left work early two Fridays in a row (this time I actually made it out of the office by 1:00 p.m.) to have some fun with Les. We got a late lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant, Sitar (where I actually enjoy the non-buffet better than the buffet), and then went exploring in search of the old City Cemetery.
Les knew approximately where it was, but I had never even heard of it. We started just driving south on 4th Avenue, looking for signs of a park-like atmosphere among the industrial buildings. Suddenly, there it was! But unable to react quickly enough, we drove right by the entrance! We tried to circle the block, but ended up not being able to find a way around and found ourselves over by the Nashville Sounds stadium instead. In attempting to loop around another way, we noticed Fort Negley up on the hill. Surprised that we had never noticed it before and curious to see what it was about, we parked our car and got out and walked around.
The area seemed well-maintained and well-documented. Although it was virtually empty when we visited on this cold, gray day in March, I would imagine that it’s much more active during the summer months when droves of Civil War enthusiasts visit the South. At least there were a lot of parking spots.
From the top of the fort, we could look across the valley to the City Reservoir, yet another thing we had never noticed before, despite the fact that one of our favorite record stores – Grimey’s – sits right in its shadow. I always wondered what that “Reservoir Park” across the street from them was all about. A Nashville local landmarks page says: “Located at 1401 8th Avenue South and built between 1887 and 1889, the Reservoir is an elliptical masonry structure with a holding capacity of slightly more than 51 million gallons in two sections. In 1912, the southeast wall broke, pouring 25 million gallons toward the fair grounds. There was property damage, but no lives were lost. The gate house visible from nearby streets and highways contains the valves that control the flow of water from one side of the reservoir to the other.” You can’t get too close to it because it is surrounded by a high fence, but it was interesting to see it anyway.
Eventually, we did manage to make it back to the Nashville City Cemetery. Although it was colder and getting too late in the afternoon to really enjoy our time outside, we did a quick circuit around the area. It was kind of sad to see the state of disrepair that our oldest cemetery is currently in. A lot of headstones are broken and unreadable and the grounds seemed neglected. There were bullet holes in some of the windows and the fences around family plots were bent or missing entirely. It looked abandoned and uncared for. This is a shame considering how many famous early Nashvillians are buried there and what a part of our history this site represents. If you haven’t been there, I suggest you go and check it out before it gets any worse.
This Friday wasn’t as fun as the Friday before due to the colder weather and lack of sun, but we still stumbled upon three interesting things here in our fair city.
Les knew approximately where it was, but I had never even heard of it. We started just driving south on 4th Avenue, looking for signs of a park-like atmosphere among the industrial buildings. Suddenly, there it was! But unable to react quickly enough, we drove right by the entrance! We tried to circle the block, but ended up not being able to find a way around and found ourselves over by the Nashville Sounds stadium instead. In attempting to loop around another way, we noticed Fort Negley up on the hill. Surprised that we had never noticed it before and curious to see what it was about, we parked our car and got out and walked around.
The area seemed well-maintained and well-documented. Although it was virtually empty when we visited on this cold, gray day in March, I would imagine that it’s much more active during the summer months when droves of Civil War enthusiasts visit the South. At least there were a lot of parking spots.
From the top of the fort, we could look across the valley to the City Reservoir, yet another thing we had never noticed before, despite the fact that one of our favorite record stores – Grimey’s – sits right in its shadow. I always wondered what that “Reservoir Park” across the street from them was all about. A Nashville local landmarks page says: “Located at 1401 8th Avenue South and built between 1887 and 1889, the Reservoir is an elliptical masonry structure with a holding capacity of slightly more than 51 million gallons in two sections. In 1912, the southeast wall broke, pouring 25 million gallons toward the fair grounds. There was property damage, but no lives were lost. The gate house visible from nearby streets and highways contains the valves that control the flow of water from one side of the reservoir to the other.” You can’t get too close to it because it is surrounded by a high fence, but it was interesting to see it anyway.
Eventually, we did manage to make it back to the Nashville City Cemetery. Although it was colder and getting too late in the afternoon to really enjoy our time outside, we did a quick circuit around the area. It was kind of sad to see the state of disrepair that our oldest cemetery is currently in. A lot of headstones are broken and unreadable and the grounds seemed neglected. There were bullet holes in some of the windows and the fences around family plots were bent or missing entirely. It looked abandoned and uncared for. This is a shame considering how many famous early Nashvillians are buried there and what a part of our history this site represents. If you haven’t been there, I suggest you go and check it out before it gets any worse.
This Friday wasn’t as fun as the Friday before due to the colder weather and lack of sun, but we still stumbled upon three interesting things here in our fair city.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Cedars of Lebanon, TN
Over a year ago, a person I met on a graveyard tour of Warner Parks ("Take a walk back in time visiting the cemeteries of the Parks. Take a step into the future to see what park staff and volunteers are doing to preserve these historical treasures.") suggested that I join her and a group from Tennessee Trails on an excursion to the Cedars of Lebanon State Park, about 35 minutes East of Nashville.
The scheduling didn't work out at the time, but this Saturday Les and I ventured East to check it out for ourselves. Since I am still obsessed with "getting steps" (thanks to my hip-side step counter), I suggested that we take the five-mile trail through the woods. We started around 3:00 p.m., and I was sure that we could hike five miles in three hours, getting back to the car before the sun went down around 5:45 p.m.
The "cedars" in this state park are actually juniper trees (I looked that up on the internet -- I'm not that much of a tree-identifying genius...), but were mistaken for cedars by the first settlers in the area. Aside from a forest of juniper trees, the other interesting thing about this park is that there are a lot of limestone sinkholes throughout the area, many large enough to fall into and crack your head open. We also saw a few sinkholes that looked like they could be caves, but since we didn't have our spelunking gear with us, we stayed top-side.
The discovery of these big holes did create a sense of urgency as we considered navigating the trail post-dusk, and our first-hour exploratory attitude shifted to, “Let’s not dawdle too much!”
By 5:30 p.m., I was convinced that we were certainly never going to make it around the loop to the trailhead where we had started. It seemed like we had been walking for hours, and I was reminded of the time I walked the 8-mile loop at Kensington Park, convinced by mile 5 that I had surely walked past my parked car and was going around a second time (I hadn’t – it was just a really, really long trail). Back in the juniper forest, I was encouraged when we came out of the dead-quiet of deep wilderness and emerged on the edge of a housing development. We hiked in sight of open fields and houses for 15 minutes, before heading back into the woods. Just as I was starting to feel a little nervous (again), we saw signs for the trailhead and were back in our car by 5:55 p.m.
Overall, the Cedars of Lebanon State Park features a variety of terrain, a pretty level hiking path, and a definite sense of being far away from civilization. But we hardly saw any wildlife, which seemed odd for being so far out in the woods with nary a human in sight (new slogan for Cedars State Park: “If you hate wildlife, you’ll love our park!”). Because of the tree cover, you are rarely hiking in direct sunlight, but you don’t get much of a breeze either. We were glad to be visiting the park during a mid-70s day rather than a day with a higher temperature. We thought it could get a little hot in there during the summer months.
After hiking, we drove further down Route 231 to Murfreesboro to get dinner at The Clay Pit, an Indian restaurant we had read good things about. Although the cafeteria-style buffet is unusual (you feel like a piggy getting up in front of everyone to ask for seconds; on the plus side, there is less wasted food), the food was great and the staff made you feel very welcomed.
All in all, it was a great day!
The scheduling didn't work out at the time, but this Saturday Les and I ventured East to check it out for ourselves. Since I am still obsessed with "getting steps" (thanks to my hip-side step counter), I suggested that we take the five-mile trail through the woods. We started around 3:00 p.m., and I was sure that we could hike five miles in three hours, getting back to the car before the sun went down around 5:45 p.m.
The "cedars" in this state park are actually juniper trees (I looked that up on the internet -- I'm not that much of a tree-identifying genius...), but were mistaken for cedars by the first settlers in the area. Aside from a forest of juniper trees, the other interesting thing about this park is that there are a lot of limestone sinkholes throughout the area, many large enough to fall into and crack your head open. We also saw a few sinkholes that looked like they could be caves, but since we didn't have our spelunking gear with us, we stayed top-side.
The discovery of these big holes did create a sense of urgency as we considered navigating the trail post-dusk, and our first-hour exploratory attitude shifted to, “Let’s not dawdle too much!”
By 5:30 p.m., I was convinced that we were certainly never going to make it around the loop to the trailhead where we had started. It seemed like we had been walking for hours, and I was reminded of the time I walked the 8-mile loop at Kensington Park, convinced by mile 5 that I had surely walked past my parked car and was going around a second time (I hadn’t – it was just a really, really long trail). Back in the juniper forest, I was encouraged when we came out of the dead-quiet of deep wilderness and emerged on the edge of a housing development. We hiked in sight of open fields and houses for 15 minutes, before heading back into the woods. Just as I was starting to feel a little nervous (again), we saw signs for the trailhead and were back in our car by 5:55 p.m.
Overall, the Cedars of Lebanon State Park features a variety of terrain, a pretty level hiking path, and a definite sense of being far away from civilization. But we hardly saw any wildlife, which seemed odd for being so far out in the woods with nary a human in sight (new slogan for Cedars State Park: “If you hate wildlife, you’ll love our park!”). Because of the tree cover, you are rarely hiking in direct sunlight, but you don’t get much of a breeze either. We were glad to be visiting the park during a mid-70s day rather than a day with a higher temperature. We thought it could get a little hot in there during the summer months.
After hiking, we drove further down Route 231 to Murfreesboro to get dinner at The Clay Pit, an Indian restaurant we had read good things about. Although the cafeteria-style buffet is unusual (you feel like a piggy getting up in front of everyone to ask for seconds; on the plus side, there is less wasted food), the food was great and the staff made you feel very welcomed.
All in all, it was a great day!
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Oblivious to Modern Technology (once again)
I was sitting at a red light the other day and happened to look up and notice that the traffic light for the cars crossing my lane was really thin. Like razor-thin. Like if-you-took-off-the-glare-shields-and-the-light-turned-sideways-you-could-barely-see-it thin. When did this happen?Sure, I had heard the rumors about LCD lights being used in traffic lights. I had even noticed that some traffic lights appear to have flat lenses now instead of the rounded lenses I was used to. Yet in my mind, the depth of traffic lights remained the same, regardless of the type of light used. I was picturing all lights to be as thick or thicker than the light in the photo above, only to find that I am completely oblivious to modern technology once again!
On a related topic, for years I have been curious about how lights know when to change colors. Sure, some lights are obviously just on a basic timer, but what about those lights that seem to know when a car is waiting on a low-traffic road and can change in response? If you are curious like me, you need to wonder no more, because I have finally gotten around to doing the research for you! You will be happy to know that some lights have a metal-detector-type sensor buried under the pavement that can detect the metal in your car and know that someone is waiting. Of course, if you drive an all plastic car, this will be an issue. Otherwise, it works nearly flawlessly.
Next time you're sitting at a light, look up. Are you shocked by its thinness also?
Friday, March 10, 2006
Friday Afternoon Delights
I have a little extra vacation time at the end of this year (our fiscal year ends in March, oddly enough), so I've been able to take a few Fridays (or Friday afternoons) off this month, enjoy some of the warm-ish Spring weather, and spend some time hanging out with Les during weekday daylight hours.
Last Friday was a beautiful warm and sunny day, more like early May than mid-March, and I couldn’t wait to get out of the office and into the great outdoors! I left my office at 2:00 p.m. (barely “early,” but those few extra hours do count), went home and changed, and then Les and I went off in search of food (yes, I had skipped lunch to get out early). We headed to Maggiano’s Little Italy for a late lunch. It’s a chain restaurant on West End that we had heard good things about, but had also heard that it was a nightmare to get into because it was so popular. As expected, it was pretty empty at 2:30 p.m., and we were able to get in and out in less than an hour (I should say we were able to be rolled out of the restaurant an hour later, full of gnocchi with vodka sauce and roasted new potatoes), and move on to our next stop.
Being obsessed with “getting steps” like I am, the key goal for me for the day was to get my step-counter up to 10,000. I had spent most of the day at my desk (working hard so that I could leave early), so I was only at 3,000 by 2:00 p.m. We headed to Radnor Lake State Park (one of Les’s favorite walking areas because of the level terrain and the abundance of wildlife) and got moving. During our hike, we saw about 15 turtles (including two very large turtles who appeared to be mating in a small pond – racy!), a few different birds (but nothing too exciting), three muskrats, and what appeared to be a beaver (with signs of beaver activity on trees in the area). We also saw lots of cute dogs (on leashes), a few cute kids, and a variety of people walking around the lake.
Since we still had an hour of daylight 8,000 steps later, we decided to drive around the Radnor Lake area and see what we could find. We stumbled across the David Lipscomb University area, an area we had never been to before (and one where we wish we could afford to live), and got takeout from Perfect Pizza (yum!). We headed home, pizza in hand, and caught up on some of our recorded programs (we are totally digging Deep Sea Detectives on the History Channel at the moment), and both agreed that it was a perfect day thanks to good weather, good activity, good food, and quality time together.
Last Friday was a beautiful warm and sunny day, more like early May than mid-March, and I couldn’t wait to get out of the office and into the great outdoors! I left my office at 2:00 p.m. (barely “early,” but those few extra hours do count), went home and changed, and then Les and I went off in search of food (yes, I had skipped lunch to get out early). We headed to Maggiano’s Little Italy for a late lunch. It’s a chain restaurant on West End that we had heard good things about, but had also heard that it was a nightmare to get into because it was so popular. As expected, it was pretty empty at 2:30 p.m., and we were able to get in and out in less than an hour (I should say we were able to be rolled out of the restaurant an hour later, full of gnocchi with vodka sauce and roasted new potatoes), and move on to our next stop.
Being obsessed with “getting steps” like I am, the key goal for me for the day was to get my step-counter up to 10,000. I had spent most of the day at my desk (working hard so that I could leave early), so I was only at 3,000 by 2:00 p.m. We headed to Radnor Lake State Park (one of Les’s favorite walking areas because of the level terrain and the abundance of wildlife) and got moving. During our hike, we saw about 15 turtles (including two very large turtles who appeared to be mating in a small pond – racy!), a few different birds (but nothing too exciting), three muskrats, and what appeared to be a beaver (with signs of beaver activity on trees in the area). We also saw lots of cute dogs (on leashes), a few cute kids, and a variety of people walking around the lake.
Since we still had an hour of daylight 8,000 steps later, we decided to drive around the Radnor Lake area and see what we could find. We stumbled across the David Lipscomb University area, an area we had never been to before (and one where we wish we could afford to live), and got takeout from Perfect Pizza (yum!). We headed home, pizza in hand, and caught up on some of our recorded programs (we are totally digging Deep Sea Detectives on the History Channel at the moment), and both agreed that it was a perfect day thanks to good weather, good activity, good food, and quality time together.
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