September 7, 2005

Titans Trip

Last Thursday my wife and I got to go to the Tennessee Titans' final pre-season game, against the Green Bay Packers (thanks to Mike Sechrist at WKRN!). We parked across the river from the stadium, near First Baptist Church which is about five blocks from the river, and then walked through downtown - past the Country Music Hall of Fame and the under-construction Schermerhorn Symphony Hall, and then over the Shelby Street pedestrian bridge to the stadium. I recommend the wlk - you get a great view of the downtown skyline and the stadium, and a sense of the energy and vitality of downtown Nashville.

Here are a progression of photos from the evening...

That's the Country Music Hall of Fame on the right. The building to the left is the back end of the arena

The pointy-eared skyscraper is the BellSouth tower or, as we call it around here, the Batman Building. To the left, the Schermerhorn symphony hall is nearing completion. It is reported to be a world-class venue. I would love to get some tickets for the opening night.

They closed the Shelby Bridge to vehicle traffic several years ago, then spent million rehabbing it and making it a pedestrian connector from downtown across the river to the stadium. At night the bridge is beautifully lit, making it a focal point on the skyline.

That's the new Gateway Bridge, which replaced the Shelby as the vehicle connection from east Nashville into downtown.

From the Shelby, you can see into the stadium. Here, it is filling with fans for the Titan's final pre-season game before the 2005 NFL season.

Another look at the Gateway Bridge over the Cumberland River.

Game time! That's Steve McNair behind center.

Can you find the ball? It was an incompletion - but not when this picture was taken.

That's either Chris Brown or Damien Nash nearing the endzone. The Titans scored a few plays later.

Looking back into the stadium from the Shelby Bridge. We left after the third quarter, with the Titans trailing. They lost and finished the pre-season 1-3. The last time they went 1-3 in the pre-season they went to the Super Bowl.

Nashville skyline at night from the Shelby Bridge. The crowds gathered along the river at Riverfront Park were there for Dancin' in the District, the weekly Thursday night concert series downtown each summer.