A Walk Through Downtown Nashville
Downtown Nashville is historically a WILD place. And I mean that literally. Before it was "Music City" it was "Brothel City."
19th Century Nashville was known for its insane amount of brothels and taverns. In my tour guide days I used to joke around with my guests and tell them that if they saw an original 19th century building anywhere between 1st through 5th Ave, there's a 90% chance it was once a brothel.
FUN FACT - prostitution was actually legal in Nashville during the Civil War. I'm being completely serious. Look it up.
Anyways, that party tradition has continued on into the 20th and 21st centuries. And after a brief hiatus during the pandemic, locals and tourists (but mainly tourists if I'm being honest) are ready to party on Broadway once again.
With all of that said, I took a little Sunday stroll around Downtown Nashville and the party brigade was out in full force. IT WAS PACKED.
A packed anything isn't necessarily my cup-a-tea (unless it's a burrito of course) but I decided to do a little photo journaling regardless. Take a walk with me...
PRINTERS ALLEY
I parked on 3rd Ave so naturally started my adventure in Printer's Alley. Surprisingly this area wasn't really 'Lit' as the kids say. I mean there were people coming in and out of bars but it wasn't crazy.
PORTRAIT TIME
Since there weren't many people around and I felt like the light was moody, I decided to snap a few portraits of my beautiful girlfriend / adventure partner. Read em and weep...
ARTSY STUFF
I noticed some pretty cool potential compositions as we were leaving Printers Alley so I framed up a few buildings and let-er-rip. Just a heads up though, these are a bit artsy.
THE RIVERFRONT
Movin on up outta Printers Alley, we headed to the legendary Nashville Riverfront. This spot is full of photo ops. Downtown Nashville runs right into the Cumberland River. Just a hop, skip, and jump across the river leads you to the Titan's Football Stadium. GO SPORTS!
The stadium and river make for some primetime photo subjects...
I was super pumped when I saw the green boat chugging on down the River because I thought it might add a bit of juice to the foreground of my photo. I think I was right. ;)
SIDE NOTE - typically when I'm down here I see TONS of homeless people sprawled out on the lawn but not so much today. I was surprised to only see a few.
2nd AVE DAMAGE
For those who may not know, a bomb went off on 2nd Ave at 6:30AM on Christmas Morning last year. The blast caused irreparable damage to several historic buildings on the street. Most of this area is still, 7 months after the event, fenced off to the public. It's upsetting to see because I used to give ghost tours in and around all of the damaged buildings and now I can't even gain access to the sidewalk.
I decided to approach the buildings from the back (via 1st Ave). Here's what I saw...
The damage isn't as apparent on this side but you get the gist. Hopefully these historic buildings can be saved. It'd be wonderful to see 2nd Ave restored to its former glory.
BROADWAY TIME
After thoroughly exploring the Riverfront, it was time to head into the belly of the best. AKA BROADWAY.
And let me tell you, it didn't disappoint. Never does. Unless you're looking for cheap drinks. In that case, it disappoints EVERY TIME.
Anyways, I hadn't even made it past 1st ave before running into several party buses. More emphasis on party and less emphasis on bus. You'll see what I mean...
Hell of a start to the party if you ask me!! But up Broadway we go.
BROADWAY TIME (FOR REAL THIS TIME)
My only goal here was to snag a photo of Merchants Restaurant. Aside from the building's aesthetic, which is beautiful, it used to be a.....yup you guessed it...BROTHEL! It was also a pharmacy for a number of years and at one point was a speakeasy owned by Al Capone.
I made it up to Merchants but couldn't get a clear shot due to traffic. The damn party buses kept photobombing my shot!!
Actually, come to think of it, the party bus above may be the same one from earlier. LOL. That man driving is certainly tearin up the town!
After a few more failed attempts at a car free photo, I decided to frame the street outta the shot and call it a day.
Success!!! That's basically the photo I wanted - Basically. I guess I'll just have to come back at dawn if I want a picture without any cars in the foreground.
But the day wasn't yet finished with my journey!
I snapped a few classic tourist shots of the signs on Broadway. So vibrant!
I also snagged this uber patriotic photo of an American Flag flying off the side of a building...
Merica!! I loved that I could frame it up against the white sky.
CLOSING TIME
After making it up to 7th Ave or so I decided to leave the craziness and head back home. I was only downtown for about an hour but all the hoopla exhausted me.
All in all, it was a successful walk through Downtown Nashville - AKA Music City/Brothel City/ Party Bus City.
I'll leave you with a photo of the iconic Batman building.
See you next time!!
PS. You can purchase prints of any and all pictures you see on my site!! Just click on the pictures you want and follow the prompts!