Music City - Our Visit to Nashville

As part of our visit to Wheeling, West Virginia Teresa and I decided to take a side trip to Nashville. Surprisingly, despite all the travel I did during my career, customers visited, conventions attended, I had never been to Nashville. Everyone we spoke to said Nashville was lots of fun so after spending 10 days with our youngest son and our daughter-in-law we headed out to Music City.

We had driven to Wheeling so we decided that we would also drive on to Nashville. From Wheeling to Nashville is about 7 and 1/2 hours of driving. About 9 hours when you add in stops. From Toronto, Nashville is 13 hours of driving so probably better to fly, or like we did combine it with another trip.

I thought I would try and give you a sense of what Nashville is like along with a few specifics on our favourite spots.

Nashville is a party city. It felt a lot like Vegas with more music and no gambling. It was college spring break while we were there so there were lots of people and lots of partying. I would say though there is a wide range of age groups. Lots of college kids, people in their 20s and 30s but also people in their 40s, 50s and older. Like Vegas, Nashville is a 2 and a half-day / three-night kind of place. Unless you are going to combine your stay with some other activities (golf is supposed to be good around Nashville) I don't think you need more than 3 days. Although Nashville is certainly the country music capital of the universe it has really evolved into music of all kinds centre. Our son Kevin who is a drummer, says that all kinds of musicians are moving to Nashville because of the music community. There are museums, restaurants, a hockey team, a football team and bars, lots and lots of bars.

Here is where we hung out during our stay:

• SoBro Guest House by Black Swan - https://www.stayblackswan.com/ Sobro stands for south of broadway which is an area in downtown Nashville. We found it to be a perfect area to stay. An easy walk to all the restaurants, bars and museums, busy and safe. The Black Swan chain of hotels was described as a modern, cultivated hotel experience for millennials. While Teresa and I certainly don't fit that demographic the hotel looked great so we thought we would give it a try. The interesting thing about Black Swan hotels is that no one seems to be working at the hotel. There is no front desk, no check-in, no pool, gym, restaurant or room service. You make your reservation and 2 days before your stay you receive an instruction email that includes a code for the hotel front door and a code for your room. You are on your own to figure everything out. If this doesn't sound like your thing, definitely not a place to stay. All the rooms have a full kitchen, living room, bathroom, bedroom, washer/dryer, two 48" televisions. It is very much like a small one-bedroom apartment. Free Wi-Fi is included but one of the big bonuses is free parking. All the downtown Nashville hotels charged $40-$50 US for parking. The hotel was great, close to everything. A great start to our stay.

• Yee-Haw Brewing / Ole Smoky Moonshine - https://yeehawbrewing.com/ https://6thandpeabody.com/ Once we arrived in Nashville and got settled in our hotel we had a little time before we had to get to the bar we had planned for music and dinner. We looked up craft breweries nearby and found Yee-Haw Brewing. Sounded perfect. It turns out that Yee-Haw Brewing and Ole Smoky Moonshine are combined in one building at 6th and Peabody. As we walked in we were hoping to find a place to sit/stand at the bar (my favourite way to have a beer in a city we are visiting). The bar was packed, but as we looked around it appeared that most people were settling up their bills and leaving. Quickly we got a spot at the bar and it was completely full again. It turns out that what they offered was a purchase of one beer and moonshine tasting. This isn't quite what we had planned on but, what the heck. We picked from 5 or 6 different beers (their IPA was delicious) and we started the moonshine tasting. We started with straight moonshine, 130 proof, yikes!. Fortunately, we were doing the moonshine shots in what I would call a half (or maybe even smaller) shot glass. Having said that, at 130 proof you don't need to drink that much before you begin to feel the effects of the alcohol. We tried 6 different moonshines in total (all less than 130 proof) with flavours such as peach, cherry, chocolate peanut butter. It was fun, we were surrounded by young women on their spring break, as Teresa and I chatted with them it was clear there were here to have fun. The bartender was entertaining, we had a great time. Again, not what we were expecting but lots of fun.

• Robert's Western World - https://robertswesternworld.com/ I had searched on google bars and places that I thought we would enjoy. Robert's Western World is one of the oldest establishments in Nashville. At one time a western clothing store it is now a full-time bar and restaurant. They don't take reservations and don't charge a cover. The band starts playing at 6:30 goes to 10 and then a second band comes on and goes to 2:00 am. We walked in and grabbed a table for two right in front of the band. Very lucky and great. Teresa had the recession special. A fried bologna sandwich, moon pie and a PBR all for $6. Even in US dollars that is cheap. I had the turkey melt sandwich. We split fries and onion rings. Busch, Busch Light, Miller High Life and PBR are all $2.50 a bottle. The band playing had been playing Robert's on Monday nights for the last 20+ years. It was lots of fun and a great first night in Nashville.

• Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum - https://countrymusichalloffame.org/ Neither Teresa nor I am country music fans but I don't know how you can come to Nashville and not see this place. It has everything about country music you would ever want to know or see. I would probably rate the exhibits and format 7 out of 10. If you are a country music fan I am sure it is 12 out of 10.

• Hatch Show Print Shop - https://hatchshowprint.com/ The print shop is located in the same building as the Country Music Hall of Fame and in fact is supported by the same trust so that they will always have a location. The Printshop has a long history in Nashville, has been in 3 different locations and although their business has evolved from printing "bills" that we plastered everywhere to advertise shows to now producing dated posters. They still produce the posters by the same methods used decades ago. They use old-school printing presses and have a maximum of three colours on their posters. It was a fascinating tour and a great place to pick up souvenirs or gifts. You can buy a combined Country Music Hall of Fame and Hatch Show Print Shop admission ticket which is what we did. Definitely, a place you want to stop by and see.

• Hattie B's Hot Chicken - https://hattieb.com/ Well I don't think you can go to Nashville and not have hot Chicken so off we went for lunch. Huge lineup, although moving fairly quickly we probably still waited close to an hour. The format is once you get to the counter you order lunch and drinks, they give you a number, you find a table and they bring the food to your table. Once inside everything worked pretty efficiently. I had the Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich, it came with one side and I had a draft beer. They have mild, medium and hot heat and then two more levels that are off the chart. I had medium and it was perfect (I like spicy food). Teresa had the chicken tenders with two sides. She also had medium heat. Great lunch and as I said, how can you not go here while in Nashville.

• Printers Alley - https://nashvilledowntown.com/go/printers-alley This is an area for bars and nightclubs but unlike Broadway is only going at night. We took a quick walk around but there was really not much to see.

• John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge - https://nashvilledowntown.com/go/shelby-street-pedestrian-bridge Although not super exciting you get a good view of the city and river as you walk over the bridge.

• Martin's Bar-b-Que Joint - https://www.martinsbbqjoint.com/downtown-nashville?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=Yext Kind of like hot chicken, you can't go to Nashville and not have BBQ. We were going to the hockey game so we got to Martin's early, 5:30. The hockey game started at 7:00. A huge lineup at 5:30 but there seemed to be lots of hockey fans in the line so we took that as a sign that we would be able to eat and make the game. The format was the same as lunch where once inside you ordered your food from the counter, took a number and they deliver the food to your table. This format is definitely geared to high turnover which for us was perfect. We had no problem having dinner and getting to the hockey game on time. I had the beef brisket sandwich (mmmm) and Teresa had the Red Neck tacos. The food was delicious and the busy atmosphere was fun. Our partial plant-based diet took a beating while in Nashville but the food was fantastic.

• Nashville Predators - https://www.nhl.com/predators Teresa and I love to see hockey games or baseball games while visiting a city. We were fortunate that the Predators were playing the second night we were in Nashville. The arena is right downtown so was only a short walk from Martin's. In Pittsburgh, our seats for the Penguins game were $100 US + to sit in the upper deck. In Nashville for $100 US we sat 15 rows from ice level in the corner with a great view of the rink. We cheered Nashville on (we couldn't understand most of the chants the fans were doing) to a victory over Dallas (games are always more fun when the home team wins).

• Tennessee State Museum - https://tnmuseum.org/ I had read a blog post about the author's favourite museums in Nashville. Her favourite was the Tennessee State Museum. As an added bonus, this museum is free! It is an awesome museum. It tells the history of Tenessee and one of the things I appreciated was the exhibits did not shy away from the darker parts of Tennessee's history. This included slavery, the genocide of Native Americans, reneging on treaties with Native Americans, the KKK. The museum also shows off the many things in the history of Tennessee that they are proud of. On the whole, I thought the museum was excellent.

• Nashville's Farmers Market - https://www.nashvillefarmersmarket.org/ We weren't ready for a meal (we had just finished a huge breakfast) and didn't need groceries so we made a quick tour of the Farmers Market which is located next to the State Museum. Very nice and if you were hungry or needed groceries it would be a great place to land.

• Puckett's Grocery & Restaurant - https://puckettsgro.com/nashville/ The place has it all. Breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as live music in the evening. It apparently is also a grocery store but Teresa and I could not find that during our visit. We decided to go here for breakfast. All I can say is wow! I had Bubba's Eggs Benedict, a split biscuit topped with sausage, two fried eggs and white pepper gravy on a bed of home fries. Definitely not a light, healthy breakfast, but delicious! Teresa had the smoked brisket hash, also delicious. The good news was that it is about a 45-minute walk to the State Museum from Puckett's so we got to wear some (not all) of the breakfast off.

• National Museum of African American Music - https://nmaam.org/ My favourite music, 10 out of 10. First, the music is amazing. The exhibits are awesome. And their use of technology was fantastic. They traced African American Music from Africa through blacks arriving in the US to the present. In each decade the exhibit had huge touch screens where all the artists were depicted and you could listen to their music. you could also click on who inspired those artists, their peers and contemporaries. While listening to the music you can scan your wrist band and when you leave the museum sends you an email with any music you scanned. Much more than the costumes Michael Jackson wore, this museum should be on the top of your list.

• Jack's BBQ - https://jacksbarbque.com/ Really the only place we visited in Nashville that we were disappointed in. The food wasn't very good, the service was unfriendly and not much atmosphere. Given everything, we did in Nashville only having one miss is pretty good.

• Tootsie's Orchid Lounge - https://nashvilledowntown.com/go/tootsies-orchid-lounge Although probably not the place to go it was 30 years ago this place has a lot of history. We went on a Wednesday afternoon around 3:00 pm. There are three floors in the Lounge all have a live band and all were packed with partiers (did I mention it was 3 in the afternoon!). Great to see the venue, we went to the rooftop, had a beer and looked out on the city.

• The Listening Room Cafe - https://listeningroomcafe.com/nashville/ My sister who had visited Nashville twice and been to the Listening Room twice recommended this place. They focus on up-and-coming artists and screen the artists who get to perform on their stage. Tickets for the 8:30 show were $10 (I bought the tickets in advance which was good as the venue was sold out) and you have to spend $15 per person at the table during the show. The night we were there the show was, The Nashville Tour stop. It was five artists, they all came on stage and took turns playing. They each played 3 or 4 songs. Some of them knew each other and backed each other up. Clearly playing the Listening Room in Nashville is a big deal as it was the first time for each of the artists and they all mentioned it was one of their personal goals to play on the stage. For Teresa and I not being country music fans, the five artist format was perfect and we totally enjoy the show.

• What we missed - Ryman Auditorium. The original Grand Ole Opry building is now a classic venue for live music. The shows playing didn't fit our schedule but I would like to see a live show there if we went to Nashville again. The Grand Ole Opry is now a huge hotel resort outside of Nashville. We decided we would stay downtown for this stay but if went again we would likely drive out to see the resort. Tennessee Titans. I am not a big football fan but seeing a live NFL game is quite an event. If we were in Nashville during the NFL season this would be something to try and get tickets to.

Well as you can see, like Teresa and I always do we packed a lot into two days and three nights. Nashville was fun. Although we don't feel a need to rush back right away, in the right circumstances it would be fun to go again.

If you have any questions you can email me at thethirdperiod.ca@gmail.com