By Sean McHugh

Nashville is a city full of surprises. It’s not the Wild, Wild West as its been depicted in certain instances; it’s the perfect marriage of urban cityscape and spacious small town. A fantastic city for exploring, Nashville’s wide array of areas makes it easy to come across a location or spot that you never anticipated finding. One of the coolest places to stumble upon without any knowing is Nashville’s best public area, Centennial Park.

What had once been 132-acres of farmland in the heart of Nashville, Centennial Park was the original site of the state of Tennessee’s state fairgrounds following the Civil War. Originally named West Side Park, the park was renamed to Centennial Park in 1897, during the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition. That same year, the park saw the construction of the park’s most popular feature, a replica of The Parthenon.

Centennial Park is a great place to go for a run, walk, throw Frisbee, check out Shakespeare in the park, lounge around, or just hang out. There’s usually a festival of some sort happening most weekends, so if you are ever in Nashville, you’d be hard pressed to come across a better place to check out.