Starting Point: Columbus, OH
Ending Point: Nashville, TN
Distance Traveled: 380 Miles
This morning I woke up at 5:30 AM and leisurely showered and packed up. By 6:30 AM, after numerous run-ins with the hairless cats I was on the way to Cincinnati. In Cincinnati I first visited Eden Park, an urban park consisting of a lake, indoor conservatory, nicely-landscaped gardens and walking paths. I walked around the park for about 15 minutes, and then continued on to Louisville.
In Louisville, I visited the Old Louisville neighborhood. This neighborhood was built on the site of the Southern Exposition, a temporary wooden building that hosted 100-day event in the 1880s. The Southern exposition show was a 100-day industrial show which was held on 45 acres adjacent to Central Park, which is still an open park in its original location. The Southern Exposition is mostly remembered for the largest display of light bulbs, which were at the time groundbreaking technology.
After the Southern Exposition was discontinued, the 45-acre area was used to built a small neighborhood of homes, which surrounded a lengthy grass median. The centerpiece of the neighborhood was a circular fountain with extravagant sculptures.
In the 1890s, a man named Conrad commissioned an architect to build an extravagant, technologically advanced home/castle, which is now called Conrad-Caldwell House (http://conrad-caldwell.org/). The home, which is a museum today, is over 9,000 SF and in excellent, restored condition with most of the original details still in great condition. Some unique characteristics of the home are the carved wood staircases, enormous safe box in the dining room, and a huge custom-painted landscape above the staircase which was a gift from the man to his wife.
The tour was especially interesting because the guide was a descendant of the Caldwell Family. The guide (through her father’s and grandfather’s experience) was able to provide incredibly detailed information about the homes and memories which were created in the home many decades ago.
While driving on the highway between Louisville and Nashville, there was a freeway sign mentioning the upcoming Mammoth Cave National Park. Given the great reputation of national parks I decided to visit the park, unsure of what I would experience. My first stop was a half-mile nature walk, known as “Sloan’s Crossing Pond Walk.” According to the sign, the pond was one of only a few in the surrounding area, because of the area’s Karst topography draining most of the water from the surface.
After some hesitation, I decided to visit the the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center and signed up for a self-guided tour through a cave. According to the National Park Service, there are approximately 400 miles of caves inside this area. Historically, the caves have been used by Native Americans and within the past couple hundred years as mines for gun powder. After the war of 1812, the prices of gun powder plummeted and the owner of the caves (a sophisticated businessman) decided that this area could be a tourist attraction. Over time, with the extra-push of some creative/misleading marketing (native american preserved bodies), the number of visitors to this park vastly increased until it became designated a National Park in 1941.
As we descended into the cave, the humid Tennessee weather quickly became dry and cold (probably reaching around 50-60 degrees.) The suddenly cold, dry air was very refreshing and energizing. As we entered the cave, we walked through the twilight zone, the entrance part of the cave where the ceilings are low and the cave slowly continues until the cave expands into large cave room. During the tour we saw the area where mining occurred, and National Park guides explained the interesting backstory to the caves.
I wasn’t too impressed by the caves, but still admired the incredible marketing job of the businessmen throughout the 1800s to mid 1900s, who were able to draw attention to a mediocre geologic formation. My lack of excitement may be due to me previously visiting the Stalactite Caves in Israel, which were much more geologically and visually unique. I think the story of the Mammoth Caves should be mandatory curriculum for business-school and marketing students.
About 90 minutes after leaving Mammoth Caves, I arrived in Nashville, TN. Upon exiting the freeway, I noticed a nice park along the road and decided to stop and visit. Bicentennial park is a beautiful, historic park which serves multiple uses including recreational use, farmer’s markets, educational use, historical use, and probably many large-event/concert uses.
One interesting attraction inside the park was a scaled map of Tennessee which was built into the ground. The map was at least 50 feet horizontally and 20 feet vertically, and is definitely an interesting way to spur creativity, geographical interest and entertain children and adults alike. However, for a tourist like me with no knowledge of Tennessee’s geography, the map was too overwhelming and I couldn’t even begin to try and locate Nashville or Memphis.
Another interesting feature of the park was the pathway in which decades were signified by towering stone pillars. There were a total of 20 pillars, each marking a decade between 1796 (the year Tennessee became a state) and 1996 (Tennessee’s bi-centennial year.) Adjacent to the large stone markers, there was a timeline stretching at least a thousand feet, educating pedestrians about important events in Tennessee’s history, United States History, and native-american history in the Tennessee area.
Lastly, Centennial park included an indoor/outdoor flea market similar to Detroit’s Eastern Market, however on a much smaller, less passionate scale.
Across the street from Bi-centennial park is Capitol HILL.(HILL!) The Capitol building is located high above the adjacent Centennial Park, with over a hundred stairs ascending from bi-centennial park to the Capitol building.
At the suggestion of a worker at the flea-market I then headed to Centennial Park and walked around, enjoyed a snow-cone for about half-an-hour.
Nashville is a great city from a real-estate investment point of view. Based on a brief drive around the city, it seems to have been embraced by millennials and college-aged residents. Some probable reasons for the success of Nashville are:
- moderate weather (as compared to the northeast)
- steady increase in population
- abundance of green areas
- vibrant entertainment/hospitality scene (music/food)
- vibrant culture/intellectual capital in the area (museums/several colleges)
