On our way home from vacation this past weekend, Anne & I came to the conclusion that we were long overdue to stop and smell the roses. Our trips to the south typically consist of driving from Columbus to Central Alabama as quickly as possible. Neither of us like to drive much, and we usually just want to get that part of the vacation over with.
This time would be different. We decided that with each major city along the route (Birmingham, Nashville, Louisville, and Cincinnati) we’d get off the highway, drive through the middle of downtown, and do a bit of drive-by sight seeing with plans to come back and spend more time if we liked what we saw.
I’m going to break down our experience in each city in seperate posts to follow, but overall I will say that we were very pleased. I’ve mentioned before on Columbus Underground that people don’t need to visit “the big cities” like New York or Chicago to have a great urban vacation experience. Plenty of people my age aren’t interested in seeing the standard landmarks and tourist attractions. They want to hit the pavement in vibrant neighborhoods filled with unique local flavor. Independent boutiques and colorful restaurants are the new cultural landmarks, and every American city has sights worth seeing.
Just from our drive-by approach, I’d say a weekend could be wonderful in any of these four cities. Read on for more details.