We have three children. They range in ages from 6 years old, 4 years old, and 1 year. Do you know what that means? I’ll tell you what that means….. We never get any time alone anymore. Like, ever. As dear to me as my children are, I can’t help but crave some down time on occasion. Just a little peace and quiet and a chance to just be me as an adult for a bit. Parents, you know what I’m talking about!
So, I am pleased to announce that a couple weeks ago, we were lucky enough to indulge in a long weekend road trip and drove down to Nashville, Tennessee with our friends, Josh and Amanda. The last time we were in Nashville was Summer of 2015. I had a bum knee that I was wearing a brace on (runner’s knee had gotten me down) and while we enjoyed our trip, something felt different about Nashville. We lived there a number of years ago (2009ish I believe) and loved the city for a great many reasons, but during our last trip, it felt like something was amiss. I may be wrong but it could have been the Eminem they were playing on Broadway one night.
During this most recent trip, however, I had no misgivings about the Music City like I did back in ’15 and Nashville felt like home again. We truly had the best time and I already can’t wait to go back.
When we arrived late morning on Friday, we immediately headed to downtown Broadway to get a front row seat for some live music. One of the beautiful things about Nashville is that there is live music everywhere you turn. Even during the day. So, we started at Whiskey Bent Saloon because I thought they had food and I was starving (our hotel’s continental breakfast that morning at our stop in Illinois was definitely NOT satisfying; hello maple oatmeal packet!). Turns out, there was no food at the saloon but the margarita was tasty enough for me to order a second and the one man band was a rockin’ combo of rockabilly and country to get us in the spirit of the trip.
After the ‘rita appetizers, we walked to the next corner and came upon Dierks Bentley’s new bar. We tried to get a table but unbelievably enough, every seat in the house was taken so we jumped across the street and grabbed a table at Honky Tonk Central. Lucky for me, they did have a menu so I ordered a burger and onion rings to go with my Blue Moon. The burger was not good (straight from the frozen package and quite obviously, quickly thrown on the grill) and the onion rings were overdone in old grease but the band was entertaining and the house was full.
Before heading to the hotel, we thought it appropriate to do a little boot shopping. The store downtown offers a Buy 1, Get 2 free deal all the time but they also offer a Buy 1, Get 3 deal also if you’ve got a group of 4.
Which leads me to the best part of the trip. Opryland Hotel. You absolutely cannot go to Nashville and not stay at the Opryland Hotel. I say hotel but it’s truly a resort and beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! The resort is about a 15 minute drive from downtown but we were easily able to take a taxi and the views provided by the resorts’ 4 multiple atriums were so worth the taxi fare.
We booked our room specifically with a balcony and atrium view. We were [un]lucky enough to be staying at the resort at the same time as the Turkey Hunters Convention. So, although I was pretty annoyed with all the ridiculous, random turkey calling from one side of the atrium to the other, it just couldn’t spoil the enjoyment of it’s beauty. Waterfalls everywhere, soft lights, tons of people watching!
After we got spiffy-ed up, we hailed a taxi to take us back downtown. We spent a few minutes perusing through a couple different bars and then set out for The Listening Room Cafe. It’s on 4th street, about 4 blocks from Broadway so it’s a walkable distance. Look online for the show times before you go. They have a full bar and a menu (I got the pasta and while it wasn’t awful, it wasn’t necessarily great either). The Listening Room is a hot spot for us because it’s a great setting to literally just sit back and listen to local songwriters singing their songs. Some songs you’ll recognize from the radio and some are just great in their own right.
Once we had gotten our money’s worth at The Listening Room, we tore up Broadway. Truly. We got back to the hotel about 2:00am, I think. And ya’ll listen here, I’m a Mom. I can remember the last time I woke up at 2:00am but definitely not the last time I went to bed at 2:00am! But the point is, we got all the Broadway partying out of our system that first night. We were worn out the next day but man, did we create some lifetime memories from bouncing through those bars for an evening.
Saturday morning we were a little slow at getting up and at it. I had a random thought that I should message an old work buddy for lunch. Turns out, he was available! He recommended Bar Taco, as we were planning to head over to 12 South anyways, and we commenced to have the BEST lunch I may have ever had in my life! I’ve never been to a Bar Taco but I enjoyed absolutely every morsel of food I put in my mouth. We had it all! We had the apps and the tacos and the quesadillas and the dessert! It was scrumptious.
After our lunch, we strolled around 12 South for just a bit of shopping. I love White’s Mercantile so we, of course, had to make a trip in there. I knew Reese Witherspoon had a new store downtown so we checked that out too. It items were Southern-cutesy but waaaaaaaaayyyyy out of our price range! And while we were purely window shopping for items we couldn’t afford at Draper James, the boys did a little guitar shopping, as one should while in the Music City.
I was vying for a trip to the Johnny Cash Museum but everyone was super duper tired (see paragraph above) so we decided to head back to the resort for a little rest before heading over to the Grand Ole Opry. Robby and I had been to the Opry before and felt it wasn’t right to drag our friends to Nashville and not take them to see an Opry show. Of course, you never know which artists are going to be at the Opry so it’s a little like musical roulette when you purchase that ticket. We had some older musicians and some younger, none of them well known musicians. It was good to take in a show in such a historical venue but I enjoyed the entertainment at The Listening Room a lot better.
We had a late dinner at the Opryland Resort and hit the sheets early (see paragraph above). Sunday morning, we woke up refreshed and a little downtrodden that it was already time to start the drive back home. Before we headed out of town, we HAD to stop by the Johnny Cash Museum for Amanda, as she’s a big fan.
The museum has a great collection of Johnny Cash memorabilia, stories, equipment, and trinkets. It’s displays give a great portrayal of the kind of person he was, what June meant to him, and how he came to be The Man in Black. The museum is self-guided so you can spend hours reading about Johnny or you can make it as quick of a venture as you want. The gift shop also has lots of great Johnny Cash and Nashville souvenirs.
One last thing we just had to do before leaving town was get our picture with the famous wings. Murals in Nashville have become so popular and have really been paramount at getting some of the older Nashville neighborhoods back on the map.
If I had a bit more time in the Music City I would have:
- Gone to Pinewood Social. It’s a hip, social joint with a bar, bowling, a swimming pool, etc. Sounds like good fun.
- Drove down to Franklin. I love that beautiful little town!
- Spent a night out at Nashville Palace. They have a great dancefloor!
- Done a little shopping at Opry Mills Mall.
- Went for a riverboat ride on the General Jackson. I’ve never done this but love river boats!
What’s your favorite thing to do in Nashville? Happy Travels! Pan, The Gravel-Roadin’ Guru
