Apparently I’m going to be visiting the area in the next few months; don’t know exact dates yet but it will be trips of more than one week. I’ve been in a bus which went through Tennessee (1) but I haven’t been in Tennessee, so it’s another tick in the list of “US States visited”.
Any suggestions of what to visit and what not to visit? Places to eat, things to do? I’d love to try and meet some of you guys if possible, but that will have to wait until at least I know when I’m there
(1) went from Orlando to C-dale, changing buses in Atlanta. What? I’ve got friends with computers in all kinds of places!
I am nowhere close, but if you care about guitars (everyone should!!), Nashville has some of the best vintage and high-end shops around. Gruhn’s and Carter Vintage are ground zero.
I live in the Greater Nashville Area. Some would call it the distant suburbs.
Downtown Nashville is not to be missed. The Ryman Auditorium, The Frist Art Museum, the Country Music Hall of Fame, party busses, carriage rides, a steamboat with shows and dinner cruises. For food, there is the famed Loveless Café for biscuits, several spots for the famous Nashville Hot Chicken, great hole-in-the-wall mom and pop places, food trucks, pulled pork barbecue, ethnic food of just about any variety, and for the less adventurous, probably 95% of the chains know to man. Food trucks are growing in the area.
In the general area is a zoo, an elephant sanctuary, an aquarium (in Chattanooga, another great city to visit,) caves, rivers to kayak or float, lakes, Civil War battlefields, artist’s studios, live music, and state parks aplenty.
Tell me what you like to do and I can probably find it for you!
I’m about 100 miles South in Huntsville, Al, we have a Space Museum, some caves, and…really, not much else. If you come sometime I’m free, I’m up to driving up that way.
Also, missred over at the MMP thread is in the Nashville area, some maybe a meetup can be arranged.
If you’re interested in the hot chicken, Prince’s is the classic place to visit. Do beware that when they say hot chicken, they really mean it. I never tried their mild, but every other heat level is one or so steps higher than at any other place I’ve been to. The medium is at least what would be called “hot” in 99% of the US. So tread carefully if you don’t like it spicy. They wouldn’t even let me get the spiciest level on my first visit, but their regular extra hot was hotter than any chicken I’ve ever eaten, and I’ve done those crazy hot wing challenges where they make you sign a bullshit waiver and all that. I do believe you can order it “naked,” without the hot pepper fat they slather it in, though. The chicken itself is delicious.
Bless you for thinking of Nashville. I moved here (for school) from further south in the late 50’s and decided Nashville was the right blend of South and Culture and History and COOLTH for me. I have never regretted a moment of it. I’m pretty much a hermit these days, except for this place and other Interweb spots, so I continue to be amazed at the changes going on here. Just this month I had to go downtown and almost got lost! Won’t be long before Nashville inherits Atlanta’s role as the Big City of the South. NOLA already has the Top Spot but it’s less South than Heaven.
In the going-on-60 years I’ve been here I’ve only seen a small fraction of the attractions. Never been to the Opry proper, just the one at Opryland. But the Parthenon is worth a detour just to see what you might see if you wanted to go all the way to Greece! I don’t know the current count, but due to the number of colleges and higher-education facilities, Nashville is the “Athens if the South” with Vanderbilt at the center of that array of notable colleges and such.
I wouldn’t have a clue these days about what to see in a weekend stopover, much less a day. Even the skyline has blossomed since I got here and picking out the “big building” is a challenge. But I can endorse (for lack of a better idea) the suggestions others have already offered, especially Cub Mistress!
I know of one thing to do in Nashville in the next month, but if you’re not already planning on that, then you’re not going to be able to make arrangements now.
I like historic stuff and food, but those unexpected elephants sound intriguing…