Monday, July 12, 2010

can you believe this is within the city limits?

for quite some time now, we have been talking about getting out and seeing more of tennessee. we have lived here for 15 years and it is surprising just how little we have explored around us. we have been all around warner park on the trails by ourselves and as part of guided walks but there is so much more to see. today we took a trip over to shelby bottoms nature center so that we could walk the trails on the greenway.

first thing you need to know, we didn't go very far-just under 10 miles from the house, right across the river from down town nashville.
the view of the downtown area from the shelby avenue bridge


we parked by the nature center so that we could pick up the trail and start our adventure. if you look closely at the roof, it looks like it is covered with weeds. actually, this building has a green roof and those plants were put there intentionally to prevent runoff.
button bush with a butterfly


natural wetlands


blackberries


virginia creeper


very interesting


the walkway, many parts were shaded by trees


what we crossed over on that walkway


passion flowers


when walking with darry, you are bound to find mushrooms. these are wood ears. don't they look lovely with all of that poison ivy?


a big conch mushroom on the biggest tree i have seen in a while


we were on a little look out taking in the view of the river when darry spotted a nest with eggs below us.


the view across the river


and up the river


the walk back to the nature center


we took a detour on the cotton wood trail, it is a primitive trail-no asphalt, just dirt. we saw some native phlox.


and lots more mushrooms


the threat of rain had us heading back to the car


interesting


and the view of down town as we headed back home after our short adventure.

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