Visiting Nashville, Tennessee

“JUST BEEN TO”

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Introduction

Nashville is the capital of Tennessee. It is a city filled with music. I visited for one long weekend and wanted to share my findings. There is a lot of information out there on Nashville, but I thought I could help with some of the details I learned along the way.

Chapter 1

Music venues:

The first night there we went to the Blues and Boogie Bar. It is on Printers Alley and is a great place to hear some of the best live music in town. I recommend going on line and making seat reservations. You will have to put in the date and a start time and ending time and then click to see what is available. It does fill up fast and sometimes they require you to take a whole table – but I was lucky and got two seats on the lower level (street level) which is the level where the band is set up. The seats are cheap (like $5) and if you don’t get reserve seats, you will get packed into a tiny bar section and stand (if there is room). There was a cover to get into the place which goes to the band and our band was so worth it. We had a great view, and a few drinks and snacks. You could dance if you wanted to. We really enjoyed this place.

Definitely book the Grand Ole Opry one of the nights you are there. Do not worry about who is playing – just book it as soon as you know when you are going. It will be an amazing event no matter when you go. The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly live country music radio broadcast. It always has wonderful guests. It is on Opry Mills Drive. We did not have a car and took a cab back and forth (a little hard to find our cab when the show was over but everyone there is so nice). We found a couple of new artists that we now follow. It was a very entertaining night. We did go early and bought food and drinks there – but I must warn you the lines are very long and the food is just OK. You can get your hand stamp to go visit the gift shop during the break to see if anything catches your eye. We had a great night and this is not something to be missed.

We also went to the Backstage Nashville Songwriter’s Show. (Book in Advance) We learned so much about what goes into writing a song! We also got to hear amazing artists singing some of the own songs. David Malloy was there and told stories on how he got to where he is now. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame with 41 number one hits. I did not even know he composed “I Love a Rainy Night”. The place looks like it is not even open – just a long boring building at 3rd and Lindsley. We thought we were in the wrong place. We got there early (like 45 minutes early) and went in to find the place already packed. We had tickets, but there was no assigned seating, so we ended up at the bar which turned out to be pretty good seats. And this was a Saturday afternoon event – starting time was 12:30 – so we had lunch there.

Chapter 2

Museums:

Of course, we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. This is another venue you should book in advance. You have to go online pick your day and entrance time. You will have three “experiences” to pick from. We did the Studio B experience which gets you on the Historic RCA Studio Tour. At a set time, you will meet near the inside entrance of the museum, and go on a bus and go to the Studio B where you will learn everything there is about Elvis!

It was really a blast as I am a big Elvis fan. After the tour, the bus returns you to the Music Hall.

And you must visit the Ryman Auditorium. It is at 116 5th Ave N. Entrance fees includes a picture on stage.

Chapter 3

Nature:

Don’t forget to take a look at the Cumberland River! You can walk on the bridge, and get great views of both sides.

Btw - The Hardrock Café is close by as well if you wanted to get a T-shirt.

Chapter 4

Restaurants:

We wanted a really fancy dinner one night so we want to The Standard. The address is 167 Rosa Parks Blvd. It is in the Smith House which is grand townhouse still standing in Nashville. If you can walk around a little to see the Italianate architecture. The food is pricy but really amazing. The service is excellent.

Martin’s Bar-B Que Joint is not to be missed – happened to be across the street from our hotel at 410 4th Ave S

and the aroma made you hungry every time you walked in and out of our hotel. The food was great!

The Diner is a fun place for lunch. There are multiple levels (six) and offers views of Nashville. The food was casual, quick and good.

There are so many bars (especially on Broadway) and the music is great at all of them. One of the bars we went to was Robert’s Western World and we were able to “hang” and take a picture with the lead singer there. Every place is better than the last, so, as you walk down Broadway, just listen to the music as you go by each bar (most have their windows open) to find a band you really like and then head inside to enjoy!

Hope you have a great time!!