Turning West

After a few days with my family in North Carolina, I pointed the car west again and stopped in Nashville.

This time I explored downtown. Lower Broadway’s brick storefronts sat in the shadow of the city’s famous Batman building, and the Ryman Auditorium reminded me how much music history lives on these few blocks. Up the hill, the Tennessee State Capitol looked out over the city, with Legislative Plaza and its fountains spread below. The old stone tower of Union Station gave downtown a grand, storybook feel, and a classic black Lincoln convertible sitting at the curb looked like it had driven straight out of another era.

Nashville felt familiar but different on my own, with a whole country still ahead of me. It was a good place to catch my breath before the road turned truly west.