My mom and I only got to spend two days in Nashville, but we managed to do almost everything I wanted to see and do. These are the highlights:
Parthenon There is a full scale replica of Athen's Parthenon in Centennial Park in Nashville. It was built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. Inside the building, there are pictures and information about Tennessee's Centennial Exposition. It sounds like it was a lot of fun! I wish I could've gone to it back then. The Parthenon is the only building left, as most of the other buildings and stands were temporary structures that were later taken down.
Country Music Hall of Fame I really wish I had come when they had a Taylor Swift exhibit, because that would have been
awesome! As it was, I just missed the Miranda Lambert exhibit
Platinum, and I was bummed about that too. They had a lot of stuff about older country artists, and I'm more into modern country music, but it was still a cool museum. And I did get pictures with every Taylor Swift outfit/award that I could find.
Show at the Ryman Auditorium Apparently in the winter, shows move from the Grand Ole Opry to the Ryman Theater. When I was looking up stuff to do in Nashville, I realized that there was a concert at the Ryman with five different country artists. I bought tickets even though I didn't know half the performers! The highlights ended up being the two I knew: Parmalee and Maddie and Tae.
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| Maddie and Tae- blurry pic from the balcony |
Honky Tonk Row One of the quintessential things to do in Nashville is go to one of the bars downtown and listen to live music. We wandered past a few of the bars and ended up going to Tootsie's- probably the most famous of the honky tonks. The band playing in the front room downstairs wasn't very good, so we headed up to the second floor where a second band was setting up in the back. It was kind of weird to have two bands playing at once in different parts of the same bar! We liked the upstairs band much better, but for some reason there was a bigger crowd downstairs.
Grand Ole Opry Like I mentioned before, it closes in the winter, so we just went into the gift shop, explored the grounds a little bit, and took some pictures. I think if I went back to Nashville I would explore Opryland some more. I think there used to be a museum near the Opry with country stars' memorabilia, but it closed down a few years ago.
Radnor Lake This is another spot I would love to come back to visit, in warmer weather! I found this place because Taylor Swift had mentioned it as a favorite spot to go in Nashville. We only walked a short distance to the lake, but I think it would be fun to go on a hike there.
Bluebird Cafe Unfortunately, the day we went to the Bluebird Cafe, it was closed. It's a "listening room" famous for introducing songwriting in the round. Many famous country songwriters have performed here- including Garth Brooks and Taylor Swift! It would be cool to come back for a show.
We also wandered around the shops in the Vanderbilt Area (including going to Fido Cafe- a place
Taylor Swift recommends), drove down Music Row (not much to see, except that recording studios are in cute little houses), and drove around downtown Nashville.
On our last day, we were going to see Fontanel Mansion, but discovered we'd have to wait 2 hours for a tour since the earlier tours had been booked. We didn't stick around since we had a long drive ahead.
Things to do if I go back: Fontanel Mansion, a show at Bluebird Cafe, tour the Grand Ole Opry, possibly Belle Meade Plantation. I would love to walk along the riverfront and hike at Lake Radnor in warmer weather. I also would love to go back to the Country Music Hall of Fame and see new exhibits!
