In the Spirit

A few of the merchants get into the spirit of the holidays during Franklin's Dickens Christmas by displaying vignettes in their front windows. The Mercantile added live women to their vignettes. Dressed in period costume, the two ladies were busy crafting. One did charcoal portraits while the other, shown above, knitted beaded purses. One of her creations is on the table behind her. The Patchwork Pantry had a harpist (left) entertain the crowds from the sidewalk in front of their store.

PS. Dog lovers, click here.

Watered-down Jingle Bells

Street performers are a part of Dickens Christmas in Franklin, and this guy attracted a lot of attention. He was playing Jingle Bells at the time I snapped this photo. . .and he was quite good!

Some of you may not be aware of how he's creating music. He has crystal wine goblets of different sizes and shapes, and he's filled them with different amounts of water. He wets the tips of his fingers and then rubs them over the rims which creates a beautiful, musical sound.

It was beginning to sound a lot like Christmas yesterday!

A Dickens Christmas

This weekend, Franklin, which I featured a few weeks ago, held its annual Dickens Christmas on Main Street through downtown. Some vendors dress in period costumes, and one can take an

old-fashioned carriage ride (above) around the square. The dog, Cage, is a big hit as are the two horses that pull the carriage (right).

In addition to the carriage ride, the festival features artisan booths as well as a variety of foods, and there are a number of street performers. The shop owners on Main Street also decorate and participate in the festivities. While it was rainy and quite warm (70 degrees today!), the crowd did seem to be in the holiday spirit.

Welcome to the Fish Camp

This white, picket bridge goes over a small creek and leads one into the "Fish Camp." Middle Tennessee is ripe with rivers, lakes and streams, and fishing is very popular. I grew up in NE Ohio, and my late father used to fish as often as he could, sometimes two-three times per week. While I did go with him occasionally, I was never too wild about it.

Do you fish?

Bridge over Tennessee River

A little more than an hour north of Nashville you'll find one of the largest, man-made bodies of water, Land Between the Lakes. The impounding of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers formed Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake. They, in turn, created the largest inland peninsula (believe it or not) in the USA. In 1963, President Kennedy named the area a National Recreation Site to show that land with limited resources could actually be an asset. LBL continues to be a natural asset to the US.

LBL has over 170,000 acres of land, over 200,000 surface acres (water), 200 miles of hiking/biking trails, 100 miles of horseback riding trails, over 950 campsites, 1300 plant species, over 240 bird and 50 mammal species, and three sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, LBL has over 90 bridges, including the one shown above.

I took this photo from the Turkey Bay vehicle area. The water on the south side of the bridge (where I'm standing) is part of the Tennessee River. The water on the north side is part of Kentucky Lake. There are a number of campgrounds and fishing docks in the area. In addition, there's also the elk and bison prairie (created to restore their natural habitat) and Golden Pond Visitor Center.

View from Natchez Trace Bridge

A few people asked me if one is able to walk across the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge which I featured the other day. Yes! The 150-ft. high bridge doesn't have a sidewalk, but the shoulder is wide enough for one to walk safely along the bridge. While we were on the bridge, there were several families up there, also. (One was taking a family photo to use in the holiday card.) And, as one would imagine, wildlife abounds in the area.

The road running under the bridge is Hwy. 96. The bridge and most of the road visible in my photo are in Williamson County (Franklin). However, not too far from where you see the white barn roof on the left is the Davidson County line (Nashville).

Farm Bridge

Today I thought I would show you this pretty interesting bridge. It's built over a creek that flows through farmland not too far from my house. It's actually on private property and is part of the driveway that approaches the house. Very nice, no?

I apologize that it didn't get posted yesterday. I'm out of town until tomorrow and have had limited internet access.

Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge

The Natchez Trace originally linked Nashville with Natchez, Mississippi. The current Natchez Trace Parkway also links the two, but does not follow the exact route.

In the early 1990s. construction of the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge (above) began. Stretching over 1600 feet, the arched bridge spans Hwy 96 between Nashville and Franklin and is over 150 feet high. It's interesting to note that it was the first bridge in North America to be constructed of precast concrete segments.

Opened to traffic in 1994, the bridge has won over 15 design awards.

Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge

The Shelby Street Pedestrian bridge opened to traffic in 1909. The first bridge in North American to have trusses, it connected east Nashville with the downtown area. Over the years, the bridge underwent repairs to alleviate erosion of surface concrete. In 1998, the city closed the bridge to vehicular traffic due to the poor condition it was in. The Korean War Memorial Bridge replaced this bridge it.

Shelby Street Bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 because of the truss design, and officials saved it from demolition by deciding to make it a pedestrian bridge. The bridge, which is part of the Metro Nashville Greenway system, opened as a pedestrian bridge in 2003. The new additions include elevators, ramps, a bike lane down the center, and pedestrian overlooks. (I took yesterday's photo of the Korean War Memorial Bridge from one of them.) The eastern end of the bridge is close to LP Field, home to the Tennessee Titans. The western end is close to the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

If you are a fan of the country duo Big & Rich, you might recognize the bridge from their Save a Horse, Ride A Cowboy music video which was shot on the bridge.

Theme Day: Korean War Memorial Bridge at Night

On the first day of every month, a number of City Daily Photo bloggers participate in a theme day. This month's theme is "BRIDGES."

In 2006, Metro-Davidson (Nashville) government passed an ordinance renaming the Gateway Bridge as The Korean War Memorial Bridge to honor the more than 130,000 Tennesseans who served during the Korean Conflict. The bridge, which spans the Cumberland River and connects east Nashville with downtown, opened in 2004, replacing the Shelby Street Bridge.

Tomorrow I'll show you the Shelby Street Bridge and tell you what happened to it.

To see my first entry about - and another view of - the Korean War Memorial Bridge, click here.

The following is a list of all the City Daily Photo blogs participating in today's theme day. Be sure to check out bridges all over the world by visiting their sites!

Boston (MA), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Inverness (IL), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Stockholm, Sweden - Setúbal, Portugal - Brussels, Belgium - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Hyde, UK - Manila, Philippines - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - London, England - Austin (TX), USA - Toulouse, France - Weston (FL), USA - Sesimbra, Portugal - Selma (AL), USA - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Cleveland (OH), USA - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - North Bay (ON), Canada - Arradon, France - Paderborn, Germany - Durban, South Africa - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Portland (OR), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Wichita (Ks), USA - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Grenoble, France - New York City (NY), USA - Nottingham, UK - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Arlington (VA), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Cheltenham, UK - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Saratoga Spgs. (NY), USA - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Nashville (TN), USA - Toruń, Poland - New Orleans (LA), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Melbourne, Australia - Moscow, Russia - Trujillo, Peru - Château-Gontier, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Joplin (MO), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Brookville (OH), USA - Chateaubriant, France - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Baziège, France - Auckland, New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Detroit (MI), USA - Riga, Latvia - Nelson, New Zealand - Budapest, Hungary - Cape Town, South Africa - Sydney, Australia - Dunedin (FL), USA - Sofia, Bulgaria - Radonvilliers, France - Turin, Italy - Montpellier, France - Kansas City (MO), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Wailea (HI), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Terrell (TX), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Budapest, Hungary - Montréal (QC), Canada - Sharon (CT), USA - Le Guilvinec, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - London, UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Orlando (FL), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Paris, France - Mainz, Germany - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Darmstadt, Germany - Naples (FL), USA - Torino, Italy - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - The Hague, Netherlands - Minneapolis (MN), USA