Ok, so the title of this blog is misleading. When I started this blog series I was thinking mid-west, but after Indiana we crossed the border into the South. So this blog should really be South USA Photo-journal part 1 (of 1). Just for those of you who are pedantic, like myself.
The border mid-west/south border lies on the Ohio river. And in reality, the change in accents is quite distinct, making me imagine a historical scene where new settlers had to speak to some kind of sheriff or state official, and if you had a southern twang you went to Kentucky, and if you sounded more mid-west then you went to Indiana. I know this almost certainly didn't happen, but in my world I like to think things like that happened.
Anyway, enough of my over-active imagination. Here are some photos of Kentucky:
After an hour or so of beautiful driving down undulating back roads, we made a short photo stop at the Rough River Dam State Park. "Rough River" must have been named on one hell of a wild day, when we visited the name seemed entirely misleading as we watched people fishing in the still blue waters:
We continued our drive through western Kentucky amidst rolling hills and rich pastures in the evening light. Looking at the map, it seems the be the very first foothills of the Appalachians to the east. Nothing dramatic, but very pretty and deserving of its own road trip soundtrack.
We stopped with another amazing couchsurfing host, this time in Bowling Green. His house was like an African-themed luxury hotel, he cooked us a vegetarian meal (a theme of all our couchsurfing hosts) and he seemed to love just exchanging travel stories with us and inviting the world into his living room.
The next day we made a short 2 hour journey to Nashville, our final destination.
Nashville is one of those places which, in my mind has legendary status for its music scene. I was kind of excited to find out what the city was like. Initially it seemed to be a concrete jungle of intersecting interstate highways angrily crossing each other at stress-inducing junctions. As soon as we turned on to a highway, we had to cross 5 lanes to the left and take another exit on the opposite side, a procedure which seems to keep repeating itself every few minutes. We stopped in at Eighth and Roast, where Jess's friend is a barista, and the following day decided to check out the city centre.
The central area is clichéd Nashville, to the point of wondering if it is trying to parody itself. Honky Tonk bars, cowboy hats, giant flashing neon guitar signs, country rock music blaring out from overpriced bars. I'm sure a lot of people come here and love it, but it left me feeling a bit disappointed. This wasn't the cutting edge city I thought it might be. We wandered around the riverside area while I gathered my thoughts:
With the benefit of a more recent visit to Nashville for a second time I can tell you that below the surface and the veneer there is a city buzzing. It is a city that's always on the cusp of something, and that cusp generates excitement that keeps it moving. It's full of people on their way to being someone, to being noticed, to being signed, to making a name for themselves. Hope is too virtuous a word to describe it, so instead I'll call it optimism. It's a city where optimism is needed to participate, to be part of it. Lose that and you've lost the city. It's that optimism that is bringing 83 people per day to move here, a growth that seems unsustainable but is characteristic of thriving cities. It is also responsible for the growing craft coffee scene characterised by newly established icons such as Barista Parlour and Crema, a burgeoning micro-brewery movement, rejuvenated inner-city suburbs, flourishing record stores, countless gig posters for bands you've never heard of (but may do in a few years) and this young, creative Nashville vibe that seems to somehow flow seamlessly with the old, already "arrived" Nashville but may soon overtake it. What makes Nashville Nashville is that it is a city trying to better its already famous self, and having fun in the process.
The following day we visited the more sedentary town of Franklin, a hub of musical celebrity and affluence. I like its vintage small town feel, even though everything seems incredibly overpriced. A friend of mine from Iceland told me he bumped into Miley Cyrus once in the street here, several years back before she reached infamous status.
We also spent some time hanging out with some great friends in Nashville, but I enjoyed their company so much that I forgot to take photos. So here is one of their house instead:
We decided to take the quick way home to Nashville, if you consider 8 hours to be quick. Our road tripping mojo had been exhausted so we were eager to get back to Ohio and sleep, stopping only once for coffee in Louisville.
I'll end this blog with some final photos of small town NW Ohio, to bring the mid-west theme back in again and finish this series. Thanks for reading and I'll be posting a blog about New York City very soon!
