The Walnut Street Bridge takes a wild turn

I have discovered a whole new way to have fun with my iPhone camera.  Yes, more panoramics!  But in this case, instead of creating a really big view of a vast landscape, I’m making a U-shape!  I know, I am easily amused.

But how much fun is it to stand on the Walnut Street Bridge and take a panoramic shot that starts by looking up the bridge, then pans across the scene of Riverbend and ends looking down the bridge?

I clarifies the concept of putting a 3-dimensional landscape into 2 dimensions in a brand new way.  I am starting to think of other possible uses for the panoramic capability.  I will cover 240 degrees.  That means I can’t quite create a circle.  But horseshoe shapes?  The bridge is pretty close to a horseshoe.

Bending the bridge around the Carousel in Coolidge Park

Before I get carried away on the possibilities, let me just mention that we are rapidly approaching the close of this year’s Riverbend Festival.  Riverbend is a pretty big deal that takes over the river front across the river.  They close the main street that runs along the river, float in a big stage, and book many bands.  Lynrd Skynrd played last night.  That was a bit of a shock–I thought most of the band died in a plane many years ago?  I guess you can still be a band even if you’ve replaced most of the original members.

In any case, Riverbend attracts a large crowd.  Supposedly, over 600,000 people descend upon Chattanooga over the course of the 2 week music festival.  To put that in perspective, there are about 170,000 people in Chattanooga proper.  Believe it or not, that makes Chattanooga the 4th largest city in Tennessee, and only a about 10,000 people behind Knoxville, the largest city in East Tennessee.  Only Nashville and Memphis are larger.

A panoramic that stops short of making a bend

By the time you add 600,000 people to Chattanooga, that’s enough to bump the population up to the largest city in Tennessee.  Of course, they’re not all here at once.  But, the extra crowd may explain the extra people hanging out in the park looking like perhaps they are camping out there.  It’s hard for me to believe there are enough hotel rooms in town to house even 300,000 extra people.  The building we live in has suddenly filled with extra people we don’t recognize and cars in parking spots that are normally empty.

We’ve learned that locals are not fond of Riverbend.  I think people camping in the park do not help the locals lack of enthusiasm.  But it’s likely the fight for parking is the bigger issue.  People park anywhere they can.  It’s pretty rare to find free parking anywhere in the vicinity of downtown.  During Riverbend, unless you have a reserved spot, you’re pretty much out of luck.

However people feel about Riverbend, the fireworks display at the end of the festival is a big deal.  We’ll see if it’s as impressive as last year tomorrow night.

Tisen cuddling with daddy