Nashville

Here’s an overview of things we did in Nashville, Tennessee in Nashville August 2022

For the first 2 nights, we stayed at the JW Marriott, which is between the Gulch and Downtown neighborhoods.  I wanted to stay in the downtown area so that we could see lots without needing to rent a car. Then we stayed with in the Green Hills area with friends for 3 days.  

Day 1 – Stroll down Broadway aka the Honky Tonk Highway

We walked down Broadway in downtown Nashville. There are lots of bars with live music. We didn’t go into the bars, but you can hear the music from the street. It was very cool to see so many people performing. Many of the places allow kids before 6pm.  People kept recommending Acme Feed & Seed as a family friendly restaurant and performance place.   We went into their gift shop but didn’t eat there.

• On Broadway, there’s lots of souvenir shops, and stores that sell boots and hats.
• Look out for the Batman building (AT&T building looks like batman’s head!)
• My son’s favorite place on Broadway was Savannah Candy Kitchen. They make pralines there and give out samples.
• There’s a neat red sculpture that you can see when you walk down Broadway towards the Cumberland river that looks like a rollercoaster, but is called “Ghost Ballet For The East Bank Machineworks.”
• There’s a pedestrian bridge to cross the Cumberland river that’s fun and has nice views.  I didn’t know about it the first day, but we found it on our 5th day in Nashville.
• We walked from Broadway through the Riverfront Park/Amphitheater park (which was partially closed) and then over to Pinewood Social which is a restaurant with a bowling alley.  Bowling at Pinewood is super expensive, so we asked for a booth near the alley so we could watch.  Walking to Pinewood Social from Broadway was confusing and google maps suggested two routes that were closed.  
• On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Country Music Walk of Fame Park, which is a small park outside of the Country Music Hall of Fame with plaques in the ground celebrating famous musicians.

Day 2 – Trolly Tour

We went on a hop on/hop off trolley Tour run by Old Town Trolley.  We did the entire tour, which is a loop with 13 stops.  Here are the places where we hopped off:

• The Nashville Farmers market – A small farmers market with an indoor building that has some food options.
• Marathon Motors – An old car factory that is now mostly shops.  There’s a tiny free one-room museum that has some cool, really old cars.
• The Parthenon – In Centennial Park, it is a replica of the Parthenon in Athens.  This is part of why you’ll hear people say that “Nashville is the Athens of the South.”
• Music Row – we actually didn’t get off the trolly here, just mentioning it because it was interesting to hear about all the famous albums produced in the neighborhood

After the Trolly Tour, we stayed close to the hotel in downtown/gulch area and saw the following.  They aren’t major destinations, but still fun to see and we got there by foot/scooter

• The Frist Art Museum – this is an old Art Deco Post Office that was converted into a Museum.  The museum is small, but had an interesting exhibit about light.  F is still talking about a piece that he saw there that used light to create a cloudy dreamy space. 
• Union Station – an old railroad station that was converted into a hotel.  Cool lobby with a bar that had live music and tabletop shuffleboard.
• Gulch McDonalds/Nashville Wholefoods – because F wanted a milkshake and I love seeing Wholefoods in other cities.
• Hotel Pool! – F met a bunch of kids there and this was one of his most favorite things during the trip.

Day 3

12 South Neighborhood – Took a lyft there.  This is a more low key neighborhood with some restaurants and a hipster vibe 

• The Buttermilk Ranch for Breakfast. F wasn’t a fan because things were maybe too gourmet? Good looking baked goods, biscuits, beignets.  
• Wanna Spoon Cereal Bar  – This is a very cute cereal restaurant that I found when I was looking for matcha.  They have a cute backyard with cornhole for kids to play. And a mural with a big spoon to sit in.
• Imogene and Willie Nashville  – We walked in here because the building looked neat, maybe an old garage/gas station? They sell denim and t-shirts
• Seveier Park – Park in the middle of a residential area with an ok-ish playground.  There are some historical buildings in the middle of the park.  Lots of grass for the kids to run around.

I knew nothing about this neighborhood before we went there, but my friend Drea had recommended The Buttermilk ranch.  I’m sure there’s lots more to see there.

Country Music Hall of Fame (back in Downtown)

This was fun, although F complained a lot (except in the beginning and end). We were there for about 1.5 hours.  In the beginning, they had an art area for kids where one could decorate paper cowboys hats and my kid really liked that.  There was also some interactive stuff at the end of the museum that he liked.  I liked seeing Elvis’ car.  They have some of Taylor Swift’s dresses and guitars.

Assembly Food Hall

Elixir coffee – Strawberry oatmilk matcha, i think they made it with strawberry nestle’s quick

Went to Green Hills that afternoon

School Carnival with the Rowbottoms

Truefood Kitchen – ordered food from here – they have vegan options

Day 4 

Nashville Zoo – nice medium sized zoo.  My favorite parts were the guinea pigs and the fruit bats.  There is a Tamarin exhibit in the women’s restroom in the Andean section. There is a great playground there as well

Chipotle in Green Hills! – Graham R says they don’t know how to wrap burritos in Nashville Chipotles

Day 5 

East Nashville/Five Points Neighborhood – took a lyft here. There are some restaurants and small shops here.  It’s an “up and coming” area, but maybe not a must-see if traveling with kids

• Five Points Alley Shops – small stores, cute, but not much to see.
• Five Points Pizza – best pizza in Nashville (close to a NY slice)
• Bongo Java East – coffee shop with people playing board games
• Wild Cow Vegan – I stopped in but didn’t eat here.

Back to Downtown, Duckpin Bowling and Avo (near Centennial Park)

We walked all the way from 5 Pts East Nashville to the Cumberland river and crossed over the Cumberland River Pedestrian Bridge to Broadway/Honkey Tonk Highway.  I don’t recommend the entire walk from East Nashville to Downtown, but the Cumberland pedestrian bridge is nice. 

Googoo cluster candy shop – Nashville’s Official Candy. You can customize bonbons, or buy the original candy.

Then we walked to Mechanical Pins – DuckPin Bowling, close to where we had been previously staying at the hotel.  Duckpin bowling was really fun.

Avo Restaurant (near Centennial Park) – (took a lyft) Vegan Restaurant next door to a beach volleyball court (although not close to an actual beach). The food was good!

Things we didn’t get to do on this trip, but would love to do in the future:

• Listening room – Song writers talk about their songs before they sing them.  It’s a more intimate setting than the honky tonk bars.
• BlueBird Cafe – I went outside to peak in, but you need to get tickets in advance
• Grand ole’ Opry
• Opryland
• Ryman Auditorium – walked around it since it’s in downtown, but didn’t go inside.
• Frothy Monkey – a popular place for brunch, they have a few locations in Nashville
• Hatty B’s – popular BBQ chicken place (if you’re traveling with chicken eaters)
• Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash museums