I’m going to Nashville in a couple of weeks to see my sister and her family - I’d love some suggestions on great places to visit while I’m there. Last time I went I saw the Hermitage and zoo, and I have been informed that this time we’ll be going downtown to see the Bicentennial fountains and the Parthenon. So…what else should I not miss? Bonus points for places that won’t bore my 5 year old niece…
Also - what fabulous bbq place should I go to? I’ve been to Corky’s BBQ, and that was really good. Where else?
I can’t help with not boring the 5-year-old, but three places I consider “must-see” are Andrew Jackson’s home, The Hermitage; the Ryman Auditorium; and Broadway, the home of all honky-tonks the country singers sing about.
You and your niece might enjoy the science museum and planetarium. It’s not spectacular, but it’s fun for all ages and it’s downtown. The Frist Center is a good art museum that occassionally has fantastic exhibits. If you’re into doing sort of tourist-y things, my mother likes to take folks on the Nash Trash Tour, which is two “white trash” women who do a funny gig on a converted schoolbus. The new Symphony Center might (or might not, depending on how interested you are in buildings, acoustics and architecture) be interesting, even if you don’t attend a concert. In the summer Centennial Park (where the Parthenon is) has all kinds of activities, including free movies in the park once a week.
It might be helpful if you could give us a hint of the type of thing you’d want to see in New York, Los Angeles, San Francicso, Chicago, New Orleans, Miami, Atlanta, or some other big town.
Music City has much more than just music-oriented venues. It’s also called “The Athens of the South” due to the goodly number of universities in the area.
Sports? Historical attractions? Shopping areas? Cultural events or settings? State Government places? Crime scenes? Oddities?
Surely you have a sense of what would be fun and what would be boring, and not just to the 5-year-old.
As for barbecue, tastes will dictate the best places. One of the most ubiquitous is Whitt’s, but I wouldn’t recommend it. There’s a place called Swett’s that might be worth the gamble.
Thanks to everyone so far - I didn’t even think to see if the question had been asked before; I shouldn’t post before my first cup of coffee…
Zeldar and StGermain : I love love love historical places*, and oddities are always fun - the Nash Trash tour sounds promising. Unique places to eat are a bonus, too - if I’m going out of town, I want places we don’t have in the Denver metro area.
*I know these places will likely be incredibly boring to my niece, but I can probably borrow a car for some solo trips.
Vevila - You’d probably enjoy the Belle Meade Mansion and Cheekwood , which is a botanical garden/art museum set in a beautiful old mansion. Are you interested in the Civil War? There are plenty of battlefields nearby.
The Frist Museum (just up Broadway from the honky-tonks) not only has some good traveling exhibits, but there’s an interactive room where children (and children-at-heart) can make their own art. It looks very cool. Not sure if 5 is quite old enough, but maybe.
Vevila - What kind of 'cue do you like? If you like southern meat & threes, the White Trash Cafe is suposed to be fun. Their mottos? “Eat Here Or We’ll Slash The Tires On Your House!” “Great Place For A Date…Even If It Is With Your Cousin!” “Eat Here…We Won’t Tell Anybody!" “No Shirt…No Shoes…No Teeth…No Problem!” They only do lunch, though.
I will go ahead and mention it since somebody undoubtedly will if you listen closely once you’re in the area. One of the most famous (worldwide even) places to eat is Loveless Cafe which is on the western extreme of Davidson County (Metro Nashville) and is within a short distance (couple miles maybe) from the head of the Natchez Trace Parkway that goes to guess where. The nearest other attractions in that part of town/county are Cheekwood, Belle Meade, Warner Parks, Bellevue and the ritzier residential areas.
If you want to be able to brag that you’ve eaten in the same place as almost every famous Nashville entertainer and almost every other entertainer that ever recorded in Nashville, you must go there. Read up on it by way of the link.
If you mean the one on 21st I’ll agree. I don’t know about the one on West End.
Wonder if there’s another such place. Loveless and The Pantry are surely in that group. Tootsie’s maybe? Used to be that Ireland’s was like that, but it went away. Bluebird Cafe?
Zeldar - You’re probably right about the Pantry being on 21st - I know that whole area better by what’s closest to Vanderbilt hospital, unfortunately. I’d put the Bluebird in there, simply because of the songwriter vibe. I’m not much interested in the Country/Christian music scene, but those are names you always seem to hear. Tootsie’s has always seemed more of a tourist thing, particularly since the Opry moved from the Ryman.
If it’s barbecue your after, Swett’s may be a good option but it’s more of a Meat n’ 3 from my experience. It’s awesome food but not necessarily BBQ. The Loveless Cafe is another good eatery.
Some non-tourist food I’d recommend: Boscos is a great little brewpub that has excellent stone oven pizza. Blackstone brewery has a little more variety on the menu in terms of ‘pub fare.’ The steak and biscuits are absolutely, bar none, the best in Nashville now.
The Parthenon and Centennial Park are good to take the kids and let 'em run around. It’s in the middle of West End so there’s plenty of places to shop around and eat.
Warner Park and the Adventure Science Center will have some activities you can enjoy with young 'uns.
Here’s a link to the local paper, The Tennessean. In order to access anything specific it’ll ask you for gender, birth year, country and zip code. It’s NOT necessary to sign up for the newsletter as far as I can tell. The Entertainment section should have lots of useful info, even the site isn’t the most user-friendly.
Hung Mung made me think of Nashville Scene which is a free publication that’s available at supermarkets, restaurants, etc., and may be worth the trouble of picking up once you’re in town to get a sense of that week’s offerings. Being free it doesn’t pull punches on the good and the bad, and it even has “Best of” listings of things selected by readers in all sorts of categories. The website is pretty good, too.
We recently went to the Belmont Mansion and enjoyed it. The original owner was a woman with a very interesting history. Our guests also enjoyed wandering around the massive gardens inside the Opryland Hotel. The boat ride isn’t worth what they charge, IMHO, so I would skip that. You can get a yummy dessert there, too.
If you like spicy food, Prince’s Hot Chicken is the place for you! The Lane Motor Museum is pretty neat and your niece might find some of the microcars to be pretty nifty.
The science center has gone through a lot of very positive changes over the past several years. A five year old’s gonna have a blast IMHO. (Take it from a completely unbiased employee :D) However, the planetarium (my haunt), got demolished in January to build a brand new one. So if you stop by, you’ll see an interesting looking construction site.
While you’re there, there’s the site of Ft. Negley on the hill just above and behind the science center. It’s a Union civil war fort that had gotten into a bad state of disrepair, no doubt because the locals weren’t particularly fond of it. Probably had something to do with how the fort was used to shell the city. Anyhow, after being off limits to the public for years, the site has been stabilized (there’s not enough left to restore - it’s officially a ‘ruin’), but there’s new walkways and signs to help interpret what you’re seeing. It’s free and open during daylight hours.
There is a terrific new library smack dab in the middle of downtown. They have lots of things going on for the kiddies. You might check their schedule to see what’s up.
(A tour guide told me that just the fiction section is the size of a football field. So it is a really fine library and I took special notice of the children’s section.)
The reason you are having trouble getting BBQ suggestions is that it’s West Tennessee that is known for it. You have to cross the Tennessee River headed toward Memphis.
The Pancake Pantry is in Hillsboro Village which is on 21st Avenue at one end of Vanderbilt Campus. Behind Hillsboro Village to the West on Blakemore, I think, is a park for children that everyone calls “Dragon Park.” You can walk there from the Village. Just ask for directions in the Village.
All of the locals eat at Pancake Pantry. It’s a tradition. It was there in the 1960’s when I first came to school. Inexpensive but good food.
Here’s the BBQ rundown for the Nashville, Davidson County area.
The biggest ‘chain’ we have is Whitt’s, they serve pulled pork, beef and turkey plates and sandwiches (the sandwiches are served Memphis style dressed with coleslaw but have a vinegary eastern carolina sauce). They also serve a pulled pork stuffed baked potato along with BBQ beans, potato salad and on one day a week white beans. It’s decent, reliable… nothing spectacular but if you want a drive thru pork sandwich for lunch it works well.
Located right next to Centennial Park, where the Parthenon is, you’ll find Hog Heaven. This is a shabby looking walk up place with outdoor seating only. They serve pulled pork, ribs and chicken. The notable thing about Hog Heaven is that they serve the chicken with a ‘white sauce’ that’s hard to describe. It’s a bit spicy, kinda mayonaise-y… a bit smokey… it’s a good compliment to the chicken. The sauce is a tomato based style with the hot having a distinct black pepper/pepper sauce flavor. They have a variety of southern style sides, beans, potato salad, black-eyed peas, and turnip greens included. If you’re at the park anyway you could do far worse than picking some lunch up there.
If Texas style is your thing look up Judge Bean’s on 12th Avenue N. They serve beef brisket (one of the few around here that do), chicken and sausage. No pork. It’s ok… I’ve been there a couple of times, I felt it was pricey and the portions a tad small. I also feel I do a better brisket myself on my BGE (heh) and the best thing they had was their bacon wrapped BBQ shrimp, weirdly.
One of the best places is not going to be an option for you, though… sadly. I’ll mention it anyway. Mothership BBQ in Berry Hill at 2806 Columbine Place is very hard to find. They don’t serve beer. This is why they’re closing tomorrow and moving to another location (hopefully… I’ve seen that not pan out for too many other restaurants to have much hope). Really good ribs… good pulled pork shoulder and some of the best beans I’ve ever eaten in a restaurant. The owner is a trip… if he does move and re-establish the place and you’re ever back in Nashville do look it up in the phone book.
I’m leaving out some chains that are here, Corky’s (because you’ve eaten there already), Bar-B-Cutie (because it’s not really good IMO), Jim N Nick’s, Famous Dave’s etc. as well as many really good places that are out of the county. Have fun. :>
