{"id":203,"date":"2008-03-11T09:21:59","date_gmt":"2008-03-11T15:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/timetable\/2008\/03\/11\/in-love-with-skyline-sightings\/"},"modified":"2008-03-11T09:21:59","modified_gmt":"2008-03-11T15:21:59","slug":"in-love-with-skyline-sightings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/timetable\/2008\/03\/11\/in-love-with-skyline-sightings\/","title":{"rendered":"In Love With: Skyline Sightings"},"content":{"rendered":"

I enjoy looking at a good skyline. I can\u2019t help but feel the excitement and energy emanating from those mountains of steel, glass, and stone, beckoning me to come explore. In my estimation, Chicago and Atlanta have great skylines\u2014and so does Birmingham. It may not have the tallest buildings, but it has distinctive ones, such as the Regions Harbert Plaza<\/a> (with a peak and spheres inspired by the surrounding older architecture) and a rich collection of classic skyscrapers including the City Federal building<\/a> (once the South\u2019s tallest building) and the Alabama Power Building<\/a> (crowed with Electra<\/a>\u2019s golden statue).<\/p>\n

So where are some of the best spots to gaze upon what we\u2019ve built in a former cornfield?<\/p>\n

The prime place is, of course, Vulcan Park<\/a>\u2014and for good reason. Whether you\u2019re on the ground or next to Vulcan\u2019s toes, you\u2019ve got a great mountaintop panorama of Jones Valley\u2014and if you think you\u2019ve seen that view a million times, try it at night. Vulcan Park and the observation tower are open until 10 p.m. each night to let you see the Magic City sparkle.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re driving, Birmingham\u2019s skyline can often reveal itself dramatically. I like to introduce visitors to it by going north on Red Mountain Expressway<\/a>. First there\u2019s The Cut<\/em>, then the tunnel, and then, suddenly, the skyline spread out before us, showing off its layers of old and new buildings. Another dramatic entrance is via I-65 heading north from Homewood. Between downtown\u2019s skyscrapers and UAB\u2019s growing group of towers, the city looks quite impressive when you come around the curve.<\/p>\n

My other favorite skyline spot is a little closer in, on the Rainbow Viaduct<\/a>\u2014where Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. crosses the railroad tracks into downtown. Here you can start to see details on some of the historic buildings, plus the trains and traffic help bring the skyline to life.<\/p>\n

If you want a skyline view you probably haven\u2019t seen before, be sure not to miss The Terminal\u2019s 1st<\/sup> anniversary party<\/a> this Friday. It takes place at the top of the old Protective Life\/Chamber of Commerce building, which is the green-roofed tower at the end of the Rainbow Viaduct at 2027 1st Ave. N. Click the link above or the button in the upper right for full details on the party.<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>

I enjoy looking at a good skyline. I can\u2019t help but feel the excitement and energy emanating from those mountains of steel, glass, and stone, beckoning me to come explore. In my estimation, Chicago and Atlanta have great skylines\u2014and so … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[32],"tags":[83,1021,1026,215,320,1038,642,700,787,906],"class_list":["post-203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-love-with","tag-al","tag-alabama","tag-birmingham","tag-buildings","tag-downtown","tag-in-love-with","tag-opinions","tag-rainbow-viaduct","tag-skyline","tag-timetable"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4PdO-3h","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/timetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/timetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/timetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/timetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/timetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/timetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/timetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/timetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bhamterminal.com\/timetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}