My entry has got
nothing to do with the story of the song or the movie but Tennessee Waltz was
one of the discoveries that I made during my introduction to Nashville. My
visit was short but intense, and the striking contrast between Berkeley and
Nashville made it even more unforgettable. As the black coat-check staff at
Frist Center for Visual Arts commented after handing my rainbow-colored
carry-on: “Wow, it is like flying to another country! I wish you a safe journey.”
The most impressive
image of the city were the giant magnolia trees, the vast well-maintained
greenery of the Vanderbilt University campus and the Centennial Park. Check out
the free summer concerts on the park. The weather gets so pleasant in the evening, pack a
picnic & enjoy the sound of music... and the screaming kids and the dogs and…
hah haa.
When it comes to
southern magnolias, I share the passion with Kathy Mattea: https://www.nature.org/photos-and-video/video/if-trees-could-sing-kathy-mattea-the-southern-magnolia
"If trees could
sing!" sounds like an amazing project by the way except that I already believe
that they do sing, they sing to me. I
may not have an ear for music but I do hear trees and animals talk…
Having confessed
that, I might change the title to "anti-waltzing magnolias"! 😜
The first evening
began in East Nashville at a pizzeria called Lockland Table. Although I was
irritated by the idea of crispy pig ears on the menu (I even took a picture
like a silly tourist which I am not going to post here), I immensely enjoyed watching
the pizza-barman’s creating pizza orders right before my eyes. I was sitting
right in front of the wood-fire pizza oven and was mesmerized both by the fire
and the creation process of the food. I can’t remember the last time I had such
a delicious pizza. For the first time in my years in the U.S. I didn’t ask for a
box because there was no leftover of my vegetarian pizza! Kudos to the chef and owner Hal M. Holden-Bache.
The next morning, I joined
to a tour that I had scheduled through TripAdvisor called “Discover Nashville”
which included admission tickets to Ryman Auditorium and the Country Music Hall
of Fame. It was well-organized and people on the tour were also nice with very
different backgrounds. My pickup spot was at the company’s office which was
located in a dismal looking place (2416 Music Valley Drive) which brought back bad memories of strip malls
and highway plazas with no character and with a lot of soulless chain food places
across the country. However, the
characters in the office, the travelers of different kinds, were something to
observe. Not a single young person in sight, they all complained about their
health and old age, clearly wanted to take some advantage of the remaining time
on the planet in their budget and exchange some stories and wisdom. An old
black lady walked in with a cross hanging on her chest and greeted us all. One
ancient guy advised the other “you just can’t stay at home all day, you need to
make an effort to go out of that house every day!” He was so loud that we all
could hear him although his friend was sitting next to him. A black guy whose
white hair created the most beautiful contrast to his deeply wrinkled face
shouted from the other corner: “That’s why I am here! Yeah, you need to go
out…”
Because I don’t
happen to be a fan of country music, I couldn’t appreciate the places we were
taken as much as some other folks. However, as an intellectually curious being, I make an
effort to learn about the history of places I visit. What I felt is that it was too much
localized information with just recent history. Not surprisingly, I can’t
remember a single moment when I heard any language other than English
throughout my stay (you can't walk by more than 5-10 minutes without hearing a foreign language or colorful accent in Berkeley. I call it an unending U.N. Youth Forum). After the tour I had a late lunch at http://www.anotherbrokenegg.com/ before checking out the public library and
some local stores such as Fire Finch Boutique where I was
introduced to the local products with a good cause such as the Thistle Farms
and in-store cats who of course acted like the real owners of the store.The public library deserves five stars and mind you that "no firearms or weapons allowed on this property"(as opposed to the usual "no eating or drinking allowed except water" sign)!
In general, people
and the food didn’t disappoint me with the exception of one place: the Levant
Mediterranean Restaurant/Café. Maybe we just had bad luck, I don’t know. I
should stop even visiting any Levant or Turkish restaurants out of its original
geography unless they survived in the fancy neighborhoods of the cosmopolitan
U.S. cities. It might take some decades before we can call Nashville as
cosmopolitan.
My favorite coffee
spot was Frothy Monkey on the 12th St. next to the nursery. Because
I don’t drink but still like to socialize regardless, I search for places where
good coffee or fresh juice is also available after sunset. Unfortunately, there
aren’t many places like that. As my German friend who kindly accepted my invitation
to a local brewery in Santa Fe some years ago told me it is almost impossible
in the West to socialize without alcohol. She had only water and vegan pizza,
shattering any stereotype of a German and shared the story of cleansing her body in India where people offer tea, not beer or wine. Frothy Monkey is one of those rare
places where you can find good coffee and also wine or beer. The ambiance of 12th St as well as
the Hillsboro Village are appealing to my taste (Fido rules, go as early as possible
since the line gets really long at toward 11 am!).
Some of my highlights from
Frist Center for Visual Arts were:
Mequitta Ahuja’s two
paintings, Allison Ruttan’s Homs (for personal reasons: I am writing the story
of a 27 year-old Syrian woman from Homs) http://www.alisonruttan.com/projects/a-bad-idea-seems-good-again-2011-13/, Wilmer Wilson’s Brown Bag test was amazing
and informative of the history of race in the US. I noted down the name Jeff Whetstone
too.
http://arts.princeton.edu/people/profiles/jw33/
All the artists I
mentioned above displayed their selected works for “the State of the Art:
Discovering American Art Now” exhibition (May 26–September 10, 2017). Don’t
miss it if you are around.
A classic art deco
building whose location, café and gift shop are excellent too. You can combine
this visit with a drink at the lobby of Union Station Hotel to sharpen your aesthetic satisfaction for the day. The
hotel became affiliated with Autograph Collection Hotels in 2012 and completed
a full renovation of all guest rooms and public space in 2016. Nothing like the
time we visited it many years ago. Another sign of city-development, I guess.
Try to ignore the sartorial taste surrounding you and focus on the
architectural.
Some criticism: The
weather was very hot and humid during the day, and the air conditioners were on
at full blast (I am typing these in bed with a slight fever and red nose) so my
sweaters were used only indoors. Talk about energy saving and climate "agreement"!
This American obsession with A/C is across the country, and has
never made sense to me. I hear Americans going to Europe for holidays and complain
about lacking “properly” functioning A/Cs!
The biggest eyesores of Nashville
are construction sites and dozens of cranes but for many people they must
represent economic growth and a more promising future so they don’t look as
ugly.
No doubt that I will
always prefer magnolias to cranes (unless the cranes have two wings!)
