today's ANGLE: RICH ROOTS WITH A TOUCH OF MOD IN NASHVILLE

an attitude, a point of view, a design perspective 

from Interior Designer Kim Salter of Design Thoughts blog 

Today's city slant :  Nashville, TN

I am very excited to announce that my dear friend Kim of Design Thoughts blog will be coming back every 15th of the month to give her slant or 'ANGLE' on what TO DO, design HOT-SPOTS and her perspective on Nashville!!

small town in the BIG CITY!!

Hello Mod-sters!! I was so excited when Michele asked me to be part of her new feature called "The Angle"!  I am literally BRAND new to the city of Nashville, and I am inviting YOU along on my journey to discovering the ENERGY, the ARCHITECTURE and the HISTORY behind this City, that feels very much like a small town!!

I was going to take today, to share with you a post all about the beautiful, history rich, Nashville Library, but I'm saving it for another time! I totally feel like the very best discoveries are unplanned, and that's exactly what happened on Wednesday! My son is in a NO NAP phase, and I decided that instead of being frustrated with that, I was going to offer him an adventure!! Go into the city with no plan!! So we drove 6 miles down to the rivers edge in the city of Nashville. What a beautiful day we had, discovering the contrast between the hard lines of tall buildings, and soft lines of rolling river side parks.

We have been here now for just over 2 months ( We moved from New York, where we lived for 8 yrs) and we have seen a lot of the city, but now, I am ready to see the details!! I was so excited, while on our riverside walk, we came across one of the many  "Nashville Green Bike" stations. We have seen them from a far, but didn't really get what it was all about or how they worked!!

All over the city, there are "Green Bike" stations, where you can use a bike FOR FREE!! ( WHAT?! nothing is FREE!!) as long as you are a member of Nashville Green Bikes ( Also FREE) you simply take the bikes out and enjoy the many river trails and bike lanes all through out the city, and return them to the station you end at, OR ride back to the one you borrowed from. The entire city, as well as the suburbs have been constructed with bike lanes.!! Another small town detail that makes Nashville feel so homey! I cant WAIT to get on the bikes and ride!!

We continued to walk down the river path, to the area know as "The District" stopping along the way to look at the river, throw rocks in, and snap a few pictures!!  Imagine my surprise, when as we were walking right down 1st avenue, we ran into Fort Nashborough.  I found out is literally the first settlement houses, for what would become...Nashville!!! As I stood inside the gate, I marveled at the contrast between Old and New,  Historic and Modern, which you can see in the picture below. I am beginning to feel that that IS the energy of this town. A city with ROOTS so rich and deep, that has found a way to ebb and flow with modern additions! Historic Buildings, centuries old, mixed right in with Modern architecture!

Here are all three layers..the "fort" of the earliest settlers, behind that, the century old Brick buildings, most still have original doors and windows, and behind that, the At&T building known to locals as "The Batman" Building! Take a look at a few of my favorite pictures from our adventure.

Picture my almost four year old, when we rounded the corner and saw THIS!! 

Rocket Fizz Soad pop and candy shop!

We had an AWESOME day discovering a new part of Nashville that allowed me to have a perfect view of the rich contrasts, that make this city so special!! Stay tuned in the next months, as we discover the rich history of the Nashville Library, the Frist museum, Music Row (yehaw), my first pair of cowboy boots, and the best butcher this town has to offer ( that's right, I said Butcher!) Thanks for starting this journey with me! And thank you Michele for inviting me to write about it here!! 

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THANK YOU KIM FOR THE AMAZING POST! 

LOOKING FOWARD TO YOUR NEXT ANGLE COMING UP APRIL 15TH!!