Things to do in Nashville
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Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum
'Honor Thy Music' is the catchphrase of the monumental Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, reflecting the near-biblical importance of country music to Nashville's soul. See case upon case of artifacts including Patsy Cline's cocktail gown, Johnny Cash's guitar, Elvis' gold Cadillac and Conway Twitty's yearbook picture (back when he was Harold Jenkins). There are written exhibits tracing country's roots, computer touch screens to allow access to recordings and photos from the Country Music Foundation's enormous archives and walk-in listening booths. The fact- and music-filled audio tour ($5 extra) is narrated by contemporary country musicians.
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Hermitage
The former home of seventh president Andrew Jackson, the Hermitage lies 15 miles east of downtown. The 1000-acre plantation is a peek into what life was like for a Mid-South gentleman farmer in the 19th century. Tour the Federal-style brick mansion, now a furnished house museum with costumed interpreters, and see Jackson's original 1804 log cabin and the old slave quarters (Jackson was a lifelong supporter of slavery, at times owning up to 150 slaves; a special exhibit tells their stories). The arcadian gardens and grounds are lovely to wander, though somewhat marred by the highway passing nearby.
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Parthenon
Originally built in 1897 for Tennessee's Centennial Exposition and rebuilt in 1930 due to popular demand, the full-scale plaster copy of the 438-BC original now houses an art museum with a collection of American paintings and a 42ft statue of the Greek goddess Athena.
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State Capitol
At the northeast edge of downtown, the 1845 Greek Revival state capitol, between 6th and 7th Sts, was built from local limestone and marble by slaves and prison inmates working alongside European artisans.
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Elliston Place Soda Shop
This eatery has served fountain Cokes and meat-and-threes to Vandy students since the 1930s, and the decor hasn't changed much since.
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Willie Nelson Museum
The Willie Nelson Museum, which might as well be called the Everything-But-Willie-Nelson's-Used-Toothbrush Museum.
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Belle Meade Plantation
Six miles west of Nashville is Belle Meade Plantation, where the Harding-Jackson family began raising thoroughbreds in the early 1800s. Every horse entered in the Kentucky Derby in the past five years is a descendant of Belle Meade's studly sire, Bonnie Scotland, who died in 1880. The 1853 mansion is open to visitors, as are various interesting outbuildings, including a model slave cabin.
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Bluebird Cafe
It's in a strip mall in suburban South Nashville, but don't let that fool you: some of the best original singer-songwriters in country music have graced this tiny stage. Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, and the Cowboy Junkies have all played the Bluebird, which was the setting for the 1993 Sandra Bullock and River Phoenix movie The Thing Called Love. Try your luck at Monday open mike nights.
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Prince's Hot Chicken
Cayenne-rubbed 'hot chicken, ' fried to succulent perfection and served on a piece of white bread with a side of pickles, is Nashville's unique contribution to the culinary universe. Tiny, faded Prince's, in a northside strip mall, is a local legend. In mild, medium, hot and death-defying extra hot, its chicken will burn a hole in your stomach and you'll come back begging for more.
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Tootsie's Orchid Lounge
The most venerated of the downtown honky-tonks, Tootsie's vibrates with boot-stompin' every night of the week. In the 1960s, club owner and den mother 'Tootsie' Bess nurtured the likes of Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings. Now, up-and-coming country musicians play the two tiny stages and it's not unusual for big stars to stop by for an impromptu jam session.
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Merchant's
In a renovated 19th-century hotel in the heart of the District, this clubby bistro has gleaming parquet floors, white tablecloths and a mahogany bar overlooking Broadway. Splurge on ritzy, old-school fare such as steak au poivre (pepper steak) and chicken Louis. The downstairs Grille has cheaper, more casual eats.
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Family Wash
This East Nashville neighborhood gastropub is the kind of place where you can eat a sublime roast-garlic shepherd's pie and nurse a microbrew while watching the bartender shoot the breeze with the regulars and kids play with toy cars on the floor. Live music gets rolling on the small stage around 9pm most nights.
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Discover Nashville
3 hours 30 minutes (Departs Nashville, Tennessee)
by Viator
Come along for an exciting 3.5 hour tour of Nashville, Music City USA! Travel in air-conditioned comfort to the best and most famous sites in town - The Ryman A…
Not LP reviewed
from USD$47.00 -
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Noshville
Misplaced Yankees adore this delightful New York-style deli, a play on the Yiddish word 'nosh,' meaning 'snack.' Customers sink their teeth into gigantic, juicy corned beef and pastrami sandwiches at the red vinyl booths, sip matzo ball soup at the modern chrome counter or get a bagel and lox to go.
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Market Street Public House
This dark wood-paneled pub is a friendly refuge from the noise and lights of the District. There's a great selection of homemade microbrews and regulars' beer steins hang on the wall. The menu has salads, burgers and sandwiches as well as heartier 'pub fayre' like shepherd's pie and fish 'n' chips.
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Cafe Coco
In a ramshackle old cottage just off Elliston Pl, Cafe Coco is like an especially groovy frat house, with a 24-hour whirl of action. People snack on sandwiches and cake in the front parlor, smoke on the large patio, drink at the bar, and tap away on laptops in the old bedrooms (there's free wi-fi).
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Margot Cafe
This newcomer to the low-profile East Side does rustic French and Italian cuisine with great sophistication - think goat cheese ravioli, locally raised braised lamb, Riesling ice cream. The small restaurant, with exposed brick and yellow walls, is cozy and casually romantic. Menus change daily.
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The District
The historic 2nd Ave N business area was the center of the cotton trade in the 1870s and 1880s, when most of the Victorian warehouses were built; note the cast iron and masonry façades. Today it's the heart of The District, with shops, restaurants, underground saloons and nightclubs.
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Monell's
In an old brick house just north of the District, Monell's is beloved for down-home Southern food served communally, meaning you sit with strangers and pass the food around the table yourselves. This being Nashville, you'll all be friends before you're done with your fried catfish.
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Tennessee State Museum
The Tennessee State Museumis a large and genuinely engaging look at the state's history, with Native American handicrafts, a life-size log cabin, 18th-century printing press, and a walk-through 'hellfire and brimstone' revival diorama, complete with sound effects.
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Arnold's
Grab a tray and line up with college students, garbagemen, and country-music stars at Arnold's, king of the meat-and-three. Slabs of drippy roast beef are the house specialty, along with fried green tomatoes, cornbread two ways, and big gooey wedges of chocolate cream pie.
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Marché Artisan Foods
In rapidly gentrifying East Nashville, this airy new bistro has a veggie-friendly menu of light French- and Italian-inflected fare, made with seasonal local ingredients. Drop in for a cinnamon brioche at breakfast, or a plate of homemade gnocchi with sweet corn for dinner.
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Historic Tennessee - Southern Plantations and Presidents
6 hours 30 minutes (Departs Nashville, Tennessee)
by Viator
Southern Plantations, Presidential Estates, Nashville and Civil War History will all be a part of your day!
Known as the Queen of the Tennessee Plantations, Bell…
Not LP reviewed
from USD$59.00 -
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Grand Ole Opry
Though you'll find a variety of country shows throughout the week, the performance to see is the Grand Ole Opry, a lavish tribute to classic Nashville country music, every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday night. Shows return to the Ryman from November to February.
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