I don't think I realized just how far Vertigo Music was from my hotel when I decided to walk there last Wednesday. I had just rolled into town for a conference and after getting settled into my hotel, I decided to take a stroll through Downtown Grand Rapids, MI and find Vertigo Music.
I'll be the first to admit that I had to check Google Maps more than once on my way to the store. The downtown area of Grand Rapids is quite small compared to most other big cities and while it is extremely walkable, there are a lot of twists and turns to mess with your sense of direction.
Typically, as long as you know where the river is, you can figure pretty much anything out. As you can see, the rest of the week the weather wasn't so great while I was in Grand Rapids, so getting the chance to walk the city on Wednesday was quite nice. As I mentioned, this walk took place last Wednesday, but I am sharing it today as a #wednesdaywalk post for @tattoodjay's initiative.
As I said, compared to most cities, Grand Rapids isn't that big, but it still has that big city feel to it when you are walking around. The food scene is pretty impressive and there are lots of arts and culture stops in between all that too. On top of that, it's also a college town, so there is an energy about the place that just makes you feel a bit more alive.
For the most part it is also quite safe. Sure, you have some isolated incidents, but for the most part I have never felt uneasy walking around Grand Rapids at night.
Like many cities, Grand Rapids has some stark contrasts between the old and the new. While just a few blocks from this location are the shiny skyscrapers, you can also see the old church in the distance and the brick streets. It's kind of a warm and welcoming feeling walking around GR. Oddly enough, that guy crossing on the other side seemed to be in his own world and was talking very loudly to himself.
At first I thought he was on his phone, but it soon became quite clear he was either high or mentally unstable. Lucky for me, my stop was just up the sidewalk a bit. One of the few times I have felt uneasy. I was a bit worried about how he might react with me taking a photo in his direction.
While the space for Vertigo Music isn't huge, it's bigger than some record stores I have been in. However, like most record stores, they make use of every bit of space they can. There wasn't a square inch of empty space in this place. If it wasn't stacks of records it was bins for you to browse through.
I was also impressed with the number of Jazz records they had in stock. I think the owner was a bit of a jazz fan because they were playing jazz in the background which you don't typically find in record stores. Usually they are playing that obscure indie band that no one has heard of before, but they carry all their albums.
When I notice the large amount of Jazz and more specifically Japanese Jazz they had in stock, I quickly reached out to @dbooster to get some recommendations, but unfortunately due to the time difference between Michigan and Japan, he wasn't available.
While certain parts of Grand Rapids feel new and shinny, there are also areas like the one around Vertigo Music that remind you of typically small town main street America. They have the old signs like you see above and unfortunately, empty storefronts. I have a feeling that is becoming more and more common these days.
The next shots are just buildings that I thought were cool. This one reminded me of the Flat Iron building in New York though I know there are several buildings in Chicago with the same profile. What I failed to realize at the time was just how interesting the clouds looked. If you look to the right, you can also see the sky walk that I talked about in my post on Monday. It seems pretty much everywhere in Grand Rapids is connected by the sky walk.
This is one of the taller buildings in the city. If I had to guess the tallest one probably isn't over 30 to 35 stories though. The main reason I snapped a shot of this one was because it had a cool kind of pinnacle on the top of it. You cant really see it from here, but trust me it is there. It was chilly out when I took this walk, but the sun was out and by the time I was finished, I was sweating pretty badly. In fact, I had to cut my record searching short because I was sweating so bad.
This is an older building just across the street from the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. What I liked about it was the fact that it had a stone nameplate at the top of it. You can't read it in this photo, but it says "Goodspeed". I don't know what that refers to, I am sure I could Google it, but I always thought it was kind of cool when buildings had names like that. Especially old ones.
Finally, I found myself back near the conference area. If you look really closely in the distance, you can see a gray building that says Michigan State University Research Center on it. While Grand Valley State University is the big school in town, several of the larger universities in the state also have satellite campuses here.
If you ever get the chance to visit Grand Rapids, I highly recommend it. It's probably my favorite large city in the state and it is also known as the beer capital of Michigan. I'll share more about that in a later post though!
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
Cool record shop!
That reminds me, I gotta get on making that playlist.
Looking forward to it!
The mix of old and new architecture, along with the vibrant energy of the city, seems like an impressive experience. Thanks for sharing
It was my pleasure. This town is really awesome, it's like the perfect mix of big city in a state that is mostly known for its natural wonders.
Oh wow, I've never been in a record store but that must be oddly satisfying! I bet I'd end up spending hours inside, lol!
That's always the fear! They can kind of suck you in! I could have been there until close if I had let myself. Thankfully, I didn't have that much money with me.
I love GR for short periods of time. It's a bit too big for my liking. There are some really cool spots to visit though. There is a sour brewery there that it one of the best in the world.
Is it bigger than the capitol? I have never really looked into it. Lots of good breweries though. I haven't read all my comments yet, but did you see my post on New Holland?
I did I have not been there in a bit but it's been fun every time I have gone.
Cool pictures. I wish my phone can capture like these. 😃
The camera is one of the main things I use my phone for these days, so I tend to splurge a bit.
Let’s assume that the guy talking on his own is kinda frustrated. Some people who are frustrated maybe talking out loud and won’t notice but how did you hear from where you were?
He was being quite obvious and harassing anyone that walked past him. Thankfully I was on the other side of the street.
Maybe I'll get to Michigan some day. I've been to a few US cities and I do prefer the older areas. All those skyscrapers are so impersonal. Some parts of the UK are going that way with lots of new tall buildings in central London now. I do enjoy a good record shop. I've bought a few CDs on my travels in the US, Ukraine and elsewhere.
This place had a ton of CD's as well. I didn't browse through those though. I would guess half the store was dedicated to CD's. Historic downtown areas here are probably quite a bit different than over there simply due to the age.
I've tended to buy more CDs that vinyl, but being more choosy now as the shelves are full.
Historic here means 500 years old :)
I figured :) Our history is a drop in the bucket if you don't count the indigenous civilizations.
I just love leafing through vinyl in a proper record store. Cant beat it !
I totally agree!
I've only visited GR once but want to get back again.
It's got a little bit of that big city feel in a smaller package. I really dig it!
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