Southern Style Sunday Stroll by the Tennessee River: Welcome to Chattanooga!

Tennesse River, Delta Queen Steamboat, Coolidge Park...

My husband & I enjoyed our Sunday evening walking downtown yesterday! The Sunday before we had fun riding our bikes in the same areas but we just opted for a much slower pace this time! I had promised myself to share some of the pictures I took on my bike ride last Sunday but I haven't committed much time to downloading the pictures. Today I am making time to share with you some of the pleasant things that were on my path as we were walking around our beautiful Scenic City! I will add a few more pictures by the end of the week, but for today here are some to charm you! A taste of a Southern city with some southern charm that make you feel so happy to be alive!

Enjoy!

The Tennessee Aquarium

The Tennessee Aquarium! I did not take a lot of pictures yesterday because I already have plenty of them representing the TN Aquarium!

What's new since the last time I walked around this street are those guys here! They are parked by many of the restaurants like EASY and passed the theaters! Whoever came up with that idea is a pretty smart dude! But I don't need them to "Take my butt home" as I am here to enjoy myself and get me some exercise at the same time!

In a few minutes I will be crossing that bridge and walk to the North Shore!


Engraved in the ground, you will read those words as you step on the TN Aquarium toward the members entrance!

My view from the Market Street bridge, I just left the TN aquarium...

The Southern Belle on the Tennessee River. Chattanooga Tennessee!

I have been telling myself that I need to take a trip on the river aboard the Southern Belle or the Delta Queen, the day I do I will let you know! For now, just keep in mind that if you want to experience the southern charm at its best, riding on a steamboat my just be the thing to do!!! For now I am just walking and enjoying the breeze, the view, my husband quietly walking along...and... enjoying myself!



The Riverfront

 I will have to commit some times to share with you the special history of this area!

The Trail of tears @ the Riverfront!

A restaurant along Frazier at the North Shore! Isn't it cool that some of the art represent fish! Ha ha ha! I will have to try this restaurant some days and find out if they have any good pescetarian meal worth recommending!

A restaurant on Frazier with cool metal art!

I am now on the Walnut street bridge, it's a pedestrians only bridge. The first time I shared with you pictures from this bridge I was spending time at the Hunter Museum and the art district. Here I am coming from the Coolidge Park entrance on Frazier Street! In the distance you see the bridge leading to Market Street and The TN Aquarium's two buildings!

Coolidge Park Chattanooga Tennessee, Delta queen on the Tennessee River!

Coolidge Park, Chattanooga Tennessee

During the summer the statue of each animal fountain below releases a jet of water that delights children and adults during the hot summer days!

Coolidge Park, Chattanooga Tennessee!

To my surprise,the park is not crowded at all! I guess being Sunday evening it's nothing like what you would see on a Saturday, but things might be different during the summer time!

There are not too many people on the bridge! Couples walking side by side, a few groups of women walking together, people seating on a bench watching the River, a single lady enjoying a book and an ice cream, toddler pacing his walk while licking an ice cream cone next to his young mother...Hm Sunday walks are not just healthy for you, they are good for your mind as well...

On the Walnut Street Bridge a.k.a "walking bridge"! You see the Hunter Museum I mentioned to you when I introduced to you the Lois Mailou Jones Exhibition on my post http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/02/time-at-museum-food-for-intellect.html

I love this street here! This is my favorite street to walk on, I simply love those homes! They are huge! Each home has a garage on the basement level, a rooftop deck, an elevator to accommodate access to all the floors, and of course a fabulous kitchen among their many amazing amenities!

Something funny happened at this point! A father walking along with is little girl saw me taking pictures of those homes and offered to take a picture of my hubby and I! I declined at first, he kindly insisted and after a little hesitation I agreed! He was so charming, how could I decline his kind offer when he said

" It's free"! He was persistent and cordial all at once!

That was true after all, it did not cost me anything to have him take our picture! As my hubby and I posed for the photo, I got on my tiptoes for more leverage, any extra inches help...as long as the inches are upright not wide( at the waist)! 

 Anyway, as he returned the camera to me, a man driving in a red Ford excursion stopped his car. Waiting on pedestrians, and looking at us, the driver and the passenger were smiling! The driver said something I did not quite get and my impromptu photographer kindly chatted with him and said " I could take your picture too!" We all laughed as the amused driver made a small joke about wanting is picture taken as well! It was a simple moment but it felt good!

 It always feels good to be helped and offered a smile and to laugh when you least expect it! But you know what that scene makes me thing of?! You got it: Southern Hospitality! Sweet! You see, having a Southern experience is not all about food! What's for sure my Southern experience yesterday didn't include binging on food. I had my healthy lunch at my ususal Sunday's spot and ate my usual Salmon Panini from F2O but I must say that there I had Southern love from my wonderful helper Joshua. I ended my day being active by enjoying a peaceful Sunday walk & more!

If you have a Million dollar you could enjoy living here!

We walked away from the houses, toward the many restaurants on Market Street, and we saw one of many carriages passing! There are always some carriages carrying people around downtown. It seems old school but....

 I love that! It adds a certain flair to the town!

I think the carriage ride is one of the most charming "Southern touches" of our gorgeous Scenic City!

A carriage on Market Street!

Well it was fun wasn't it?! My hubby and I stopped at the Hilton Garden to enquire about their rates because we are thinking about spending a night downtown one day and take more time enjoying our gorgeous city!

We spent some times at the gym located behind the Children Discovery Museum and then had dinner before visiting one more hotel and heading back to suburbia to our kids! 

(A little note about the gym! It was my first time at that location and when I saw that their indoor pool faces the street I wished that location was closer to the house! I was not prepared for a swim but I promised myself that one Sunday very soon I would treat myself to such an experience! An empty pool on a Sunday afternoon with a view of downtown! I met a young lady there who told me that most times she has the pool to herself as people rarely use it! She was enjoying a book while in the Jacuzzi! Hm! I like that! So check back in a couple of week, I might share some pictures of my Sunday Swim!)

The Children Discovery Museum by the Hilton Garden Hotel behind it is the Double Tree Hotel

Walking is good for you!

I have a few more pictures to share with you and truly this post is still under construction (ha ha ha), but I am kind of an impatient person so I might as well share with you some of the things I have available!
If you come back you will see more...

Is it your first time around here? Please take some times to become a Follower and leave some comments, I love to know what you think! As I am finishing this the weather is turning ugly and we have a thunderstorm warning! I am glad I enjoyed my Sunday and the gorgeous day nature granted us yesterday! It's raining now, the wind's blowing strong and it's getting dark and gray outside, thinking of it, it's a blessing to have those pictures and some pleasant memories to start my week on a bright note! Since it means a lot to me to brighten your week as well I hope you found inspiration here! I hope all is well with you and I wish you a blessed week!


I hope you enjoyed your stroll here and felt the love from your Southern hostess! Did you enjoy your little stroll here? From the pictures I just shared with you which one is your favorite?



N'na

Time at the Museum and food for the intellect...what a beautiful world!!!

Do you like hanging out at the museum?!
I love hanging out at the museum, nothing like learning something new, seeing something again that I have seen before only with a different eye, running into enthusiastic people and entering into the world of the artists.
I remember the first time one of my big brothers took me to an exhibition. It was at the Centre culturel Francais in Abidjan. I watched a live presentation of a traveler talking in a huge auditorium about his travels to Tibet. I was fascinated by the huge projections on the screen, the tone of his voice and his knowledge of a far and distant region.  I remember walking around once the presentation was over, looking at photographs and artifacts taken and collected from his " voyages".  The very last exhibition I visited in Africa  was in 1995 and it was a collection of paintings from various artists of West African. I love art.  And even more paintings with vibrant colors. So yesterday I had a visual feast and delicacies for my intellect.

I love museums and exhibitions and think they are great for our mental health and our intellect...
Anyway,  yesterday was a fabulous sunny day and I am grateful I took full advantage of it. I just wanted to share some pictures of my time at the museum, take you on a little visual and cultural tour...Hope you enjoy it!


                            

                               View of  the Hunter Museum of American Art from afar.



Approaching the Hunter museum crossing the glass bridge.

  There was a beautiful exhibition of the works of painter Lois Mailou Jones,  an African American painter born in Boston in 1905. She  went to Paris in 1937 to
study at the Academie Julian. She was the only African- American female painter of the 1930's- 1940's  to receive fame abroad. She later spent time in Haiti and in West Africa. The art at the exhibition revealed more about her time in  West Africa and in Haiti.

 I was very disappointed that pictures are not allowed in the Exhibition area because the art was full of vibrant colors and such beauty that I would I loved to capture for a future enjoyment. Being bilingual,  it was interesting to me that many of her painting held French titles like, "Marche" ( painting of a Market in Haiti), "Nature Morte aux melons", a still life painting of watermelons just to name a few.
My favorite works were her Cretonne textiles. In addition to being a painter, teacher she is also a textile designer. Her cretonnes textiles displayed at the Hunter Museum were very gorgeous with bright tropical colors and flowers.Since I could not take pictures at the museum I did some research online to find some arts that I remember seeing yesterday...

 This image here is actually the image of the Exhibition banner using one of her painting depicting a Mother from Senegal doing a child's hair.  There was a similar banner yesterday at the entrance of the museum and at the entrance of the Exhibition room.




Banners at the entrance of the Hunter Museum.

 
 Nature morte aux melons,1989, by Lois Mailou Jones.
 Nature morte means Still Life in art lingo but the true translation if we were not to consider the art vocabulary would be dead nature...

 The French title she had for this painting was I believe " les porteurs d'eau" I remember explaining my oldest son yesterday that translating the title in English would mean " The water carriers".

Peasant girl. Haiti 1954.  " Jones's numerous oils and watercolors inspired by Haiti are probably her most widely known works. In them her affinity for bright colors, her underpersonal standing of Cubism's basic principles, and her search for a distinctly style reached an apogee" (" Free Within Ourselves" by Regenia A. PerrySamella S. Lewis and Ruth G. Waddy, Black Artists on Art (Los Angeles: Contemporary Crafts Publishers, 1969).

When I first saw the painting of the " Peasant girl"  the first artist I thought about was Cezanne!  If I did not know that she was the author of this one I would have easily credited the French artist for painting this beautiful oil on canvas. I think that clearly see Paul Cezanne's influence in "Peasant Girl"! What do you think?!

  I love this one! When I saw it yesterday at the museum, I felt like it was very feminine and very elegant.  It's probably the most 'elegant' art displayed at her exhibition. The colors are not as vibrant was the rest of the art that was displayed yesterday.
The art I liked the least were the collection of paintings that were somewhat abstract and representing the West African culture in a more 'spiritual' sense. Like    Ubi Girl from Tai Region 1972 (acrylic on canvas, 43 3/4 x 60 in., Boston Museum of fine Arts).
Ode to Kinshasa, 1972 (mixed media on canvas, 48 x 36 in. Gift of the Artist. National Museum of Women and the Arts). President and Mrs. Obama are patrons of the National Museum of Women and the Arts

"Les Fetiches" below is one was one of them. I personally do not like the darkness of those masks. I am far too familiar with the term fetiches but I can not think of an accurate English translation. In simple terms it refers to witchcraft activities. I love African art but I strongly dislike anything representing creatures or practices pertaining to witchcraft and occult because I find this to be dark and scary and it's not the kind of art I would ever put into my home as I love things to lift me up, not remind me of an horror movie. But to the artist's credits she was the first female African-American painter to depict African imagery in her work.
"Les Fetiches" 1938 This one is available at the Smithsonian American art museum.
"Skillfully juxtaposed are five African masks, a white pendant charm, and a standing, red anthropomorphic figure. Rendered in monochromatic tones and boldly silhouetted against a dark background, the faithful representation of the artifacts is a result of Jones's firsthand study of African masks and ritualistic objects as well as those from other non-Western civilizations since the 1920s. A keynote work of her career, Les Fetiches is a poetic synthesis of the spirit and meaning of Jones's ancestry." ( Free Within Ourselves" by Regenia A. Perry Samella S. Lewis and Ruth G. Waddy, Black Artists on Art (Los Angeles: Contemporary Crafts Publishers, 1969).

Even though I do not like artifacts I found her others painting of masks such as "Symboles" which means " symbols"  to be less scary and much more delightful. 

The picture here       is a self portrait of the artist and I saw that very same painting at the entrance of the exhibition room yesterday afternoon.
I wish I could find the exact pictures of the cretonne textiles I saw yesterday but I just found those online, so it will illustrate what some the painter's Cretonne textiles look like.

Cretonne drapery prints by Lois Mailou Jones.

I like the one with the Asiatic lily. I think this print would fit perfectly in my tropical Asiatic lily theme kitchen and  living space.

                                  View from inside the museum : Tennessee river and Walnut street bridge connecting to the North Shore area.

Below are a few pictures offering you a glimpse of the museum's surroundings. I will add pictures of the inside later on.



Walnut Street bridge spans the Tennessee River in Chattanooga Tennessee.



Facing Walnut Street bridge.




Facing the walnut street bridge, the longest pedestrian bridge in the world.  This bridge is a fantastic hang out during the warmer months of the year.    People of any age love to walk and run on the bridge.



Heading toward the Bluff View Art district

Well, as you can see, the weather was nice enough to get out and about, walk around and feed our intellect.  (smiles).   I hope you have enjoyed your little tour here and that this tour will inspire your next visit to a  museum or to learn more about this talented artist if you were not yet familiar with her. I never heard of her till Sunday but intend on digging more about her.  Have you been  to an Exhibition lately?! What did you learn and see?! Wouldn't you agree that we feel better after spending some time around some form art?!  I think art is a form of therapy.Wouldn't you agree?!


N'na