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Nashville is the capital and largest city in Tennessee. It’s known as the Music City thanks to its diverse music scene and recording studios.
Introduction to Nashville
The first European to live in what is now Nashville was French-Canadian trader Martin Chartier (1655-1718), who established a trading post on the Cumberland River in 1689. In 1714, Charles Charleville and a group of French traders established a settlement where downtown Nashville now stands. It was known as French Lick and was abandoned by the 1740s.
Later in 1779, explorers James Robertson (1742-1814) and John Donelson (1718-1785) built Fort Nashborough on the site of French Lick when the territory was still part of North Carolina. It was named for Francis Nash (c. 1742-1777), a general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The settlement quickly grew and was incorporated as Nashville in 1806.
By the time the Civil War came around, Nashville was a prosperous city. Thanks to its status as an important shipping and rail center, in February 1862 it became the first Confederate state capital to fall to Union troops. After the war, Nashville regained its status in shipping and developed a manufacturing industry, but continued to suffer from racial injustice.
In 1925, the Grand Ole Opry was established, paving the way for the city to become the Country Music Capital the World and its future as the Music City. Nashville continued to grow, and Civil Rights legislation helped end desegregation of public facilities. The schools weren’t fully desegregated until 1966.
Today, the Music City continues to grow and improve, and has become a major tourist destination. There’s lots to see and do, great nightlife and entertainment, and good food.
My Experiences in Nashville
My visits to Nashville have been limited because of work, hockey games, or visiting friends, so I need to dedicate more time to seeing what it’s all about. This post will grow as soon as I have a chance to see more of the city. That being said, I’ve enjoyed all my visit and have found it to be a friendly place.
Getting to Nashville
Nashville International Airport (BNA) provides non-stop flights to and from several destinations, including major cities in the US and Canada. The airport is located in the southeast corner of the city. Otherwise, it’s not a bad drive from most of the Southeast, Midwest, and East Coast.
Getting Around Nashville
The downtown area is easily walkable. Plenty of attractions, museums, restaurants, and bars are found within a few blocks of Broadway, and the Tennessee State Capitol is four blocks north of Broadway down 7th Avenue. To get to attractions further outside downtown, such as the Hermitage or the Gaylord Convention Center, it’s better to have a car.
Where to Stay in Nashville
I’ve stayed at only two hotels and an Airbnb on my trips to Nashville. The Country Inn & Suites near the Gaylord was my home for five nights in 2006 while the other hotel no longer exists. Sorry I can’t be more helpful here.
Where to Eat in Nashville
Nashville has some great places to eat. I was able to try out a few of them on my various trips to the city. Here are the places I tried on my most recent trips:
Five Points Pizza
I can highly recommend Five Points Pizza. My friends Isaac and Sara took us there when we visited them. We had to wait a good 30 minutes for a table, but it was well worth it. The pizza is excellent.
Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint
On another trip, my favorite restaurant was Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint. It’s a huge place with a great atmosphere and live music upstairs.
We went to a window to place our order and the food was brought to our table a few minutes later. I had an awesome brisket with a side of mac and cheese and cornbread. The beer selection is great, too.
Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse
For dinner with friends, we went to Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse. It’s a beautiful place with excellent service, but the food fell short of expectations.
The best part of the meal for me was the selection of oysters on the half shell. I couldn’t remember the last time I had oysters so fresh. After that, I had a delicious crab bisque.
I ordered the cowboy steak, which is a 22 ounce dry aged bone-in ribeye. I asked for it rare and it came to me medium. The price was decent for a swanky steakhouse, but I’ve had much better at cheaper joints.
Our group ordered the mac and cheese, which is supposedly rated one of the top 10 best in the country, as a side, along with asparagus and mashed potatoes. None of us were impressed enough with the mac and cheese to believe the rating.
Nightlife in Nashville
There’s an amazing nightlife scene in Nashville. Every time I’ve visited the city, I’ve loved the vibe in almost all the bars I’ve popped into. Several great bars and honky-tonks can be found on Lower Broadway, most featuring live music and some owned by music stars. The bars run for about three blocks on both sides of the road.
On one trip for a bachelor party, we worked our way into nearly every drinking establishment on that stretch. Some of them we popped in for a few minutes and left, others we had a drink and moved on, and a few of them had a good enough atmosphere that we decided stick around. Below I’ll talk about the bars we spent the most time in.
Legends Corner
On the north side of Broadway, we first popped into Legends Corner. It was pretty full and had a good crowd. We stayed for about 30 minutes, enjoyed the band, and moved on.
Second Fiddle
The Second Fiddle was next. The band was playing some classic rock tunes and did a great job, and the atmosphere was good. It was a full house and we could barely move, but our neighbors were friendly and fun.
The Stage on Broadway
A couple doors down was The Stage on Broadway. We visited on our second night and had a great time.
The band was playing country music, which nobody in our group was into, but they were lively and really got the crowd going. There were also some interesting characters in there that we had a few laughs with.
Nudie’s Honky Tonk
Probably our favorite place was Nudie’s Honky Tonk, which is on the south side of the street. There was good live music, a great crowd, and fun bartenders. We ended up going there on both nights and spent the most time there out of any place on Broadway.
WannaB’s
WannaB’s is a karaoke bar I visited on my first ever trip to Nashville in July 2006. We went again on my most recent trip in December 2018 and enjoyed it more the second time around. All of my friends picked up a mic and entertained the crowd. Next door we popped into Jason Aldean’s but it was pretty much dead.
Kid Rock’s
On our second night, we visited Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk. It was jam-packed on the ground floor so we headed up to the upper level to have a few drinks and watch the band. It had only been open for a month or so but it seemed to have a great atmosphere. Everyone was enjoying themselves.
Wildhorse Saloon
For a work event in July 2006, we were taken to the Wildhorse Saloon which is located off Broadway on 2nd Avenue. It was a good time back then, but we popped in on a trip in December 2018 and it was completely dead.
3 Crow Bar
In the Five Points area, next door to Five Points Pizza, is 3 Crow Bar. This big dive bar with a good selection of beer is a great place to pop into, especially if you have to wait for a table at Five Points Pizza.
Sports in Nashville
Nashville has a good sports scene. There’s the Tennessee Titans, an NFL team playing at Nissan Stadium, and the NHL’s Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville SC plays MLS soccer at Geodis Park, and you’ll find minor league baseball with the Nashville Sounds at First Horizon Park. Vanderbilt University has men’s and women’s basketall, football, and several other college sports.
Lower Broadway
A walk down Lower Broadway is a great way to start exploring Nashville. This is the heart of the city’s entertainment district. It’s lined with bars and honky-tonks for country and rock lovers as well as music-related companies. It’s not very lively during the day, but at night it’s a great place to be.
333 Commerce
From Lower Broadway, you can get a good look at 333 Commerce, formerly the AT&T Building. This 33 story building, completed in September 1994, is the tallest building in Tennessee (as of September 2024). It was designed by Earl Swenson Associates.
Ryman Auditorium
You can also see the famed Ryman Auditorium, known as the “Mother Church of Country Music”. Check out a live show or take a tour. Self-guided tours cost US$35.80, guided backstage tours are US$47.40, and guided VIP tours are US$62.50. There are also combo tickets for self-guided tours of the Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Ole Opry US$46.24. All prices are current as of September 2024.
Customs House
Further down Broadway at 7th Street is the Customs House. It’s not a tourist destination but it is a beautiful historic limestone building. It was built between 1876 and 1882 as the US District Courthouse for the Middle District of Tennessee, US Customs Service, and US Post Office. The building is now privately owned but leased by the US bankruptcy court.
Nashville First Baptist Church
Across the street from the Customs House is the Nashville First Baptist Church, founded on July 22, 1820. The current church, which opened on March 29, 1970, is its third location downtown. It was designed by Edwin Keeble (1905-1979) to replace an older structure built in 1886. Keeble’s design incorporated the original tower from the 1886 church.
Nashville Parthenon
West of downtown is the Nashville Parthenon. It’s the world’s only full-scale exact replica of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. The structure was built in 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial Exhibition. It was rebuilt with stronger materials starting in 1920, with the exterior completed in 1925 and the interior in 1931. Today, the Nashville Parthenon serves as the city’s art museum. It’s typically open daily and adult admission is US$10 (as of February 2024).
The frieze is designed from direct plaster casts of the original Parthenon Marbles. The interior features a 42-foot recreation of the Athena Parthenos statue, which was sculpted by Phidias in 447 BC and housed in the Parthenon. The replica was created by Alan LeQuire (b. 1955). It took 8 years to complete and was unveiled on May 20, 1990.
Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery
Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery has quite an interesting history. You can learn about it on a great hour-long tour of their facility, or you can just pop into the restaurant and bar to enjoy some food and drink. Tours cost US$25 for adults over 21 and US$20 for non-drinkers and guests aged 10-20 (as of September 2024). A valid ID is required for a tasting at the end of the tour. Reservations are highly recommended.
Distillery Tour and Tasting
The tour starts with the guide telling the story of the Nelson family, which starts with a 15 year old Charles Nelson immigrating to the United States from Germany in 1850. The entire story is fascinating and well worth a read.
Later on, Charles bought a distillery and started producing Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey, a high-quality product that was once the best selling Tennessee whiskey in the world. As an innovator, he was one of the first people ever to sell whiskey by the bottle instead of the barrel, which gained him a trustworthy reputation and boosted sales.
After Tennessee adopted prohibition in 1909, the distillery closed and the property in Greenbrier was sold. The family history was all but forgotten until 2006, when two brothers, descendants of Charles, passed through Greenbrier and came across two original bottles of their great-grandfather’s whiskey. They decided together to resurrect the business and once again produce high-quality whiskey using original recipes.
After learning about the family history, we walked through the distillery and listened to a quick lecture on how the equipment works. We then went to see the barrels of whiskey aging in the next room.
Finally, we visited the tasting room. The guide poured samples of a few different products including Belle Meade Bourbon and Louisa’s Liqueur. After the tasting we had an opportunity to purchase some bottles in the store.
Overall, it’s your typical distillery tour, where you’re drawn into the unique family history, learn how the whiskey is made, and then given a chance to sample the best products. The guide was entertaining and did a great job, the whiskey was good, and we left happy. That’s all we could have asked for.
Gaylord Opryland
East of the city is the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. It was originally built in 1977 next to the Grand Ole Opry, a Nashville institution, and has been expanded greatly over the years. I had to attend a conference there in 2006 and really enjoyed walking around the complex.
The complex features almost 3,000 guest rooms; more than 20 restaurants; a water park; meeting and convention rooms; a 289,000 square foot exhibition hall; and a 57,000 square foot ballroom. In addition, there are 3 atriums, a ¼ mile-long river offering flatboat rides, a 3 ½ story waterfall, and over 18,000 plants.
