sorriso

My husband and I won a trip and will be in Nashville for four nights in November, Sunday through Thursday. The trip includes tickets to the Blue Man Group so that will be one evening's entertainment. We live in Maine and have had minimal time in the south and are very excited. Other than trips to Florida we have only spent two nights in New Orleans so bring on the ideas!

We are not huge foodies in that we'd have to bring special clothes to dine but we do love to eat. Architecture and history are interests and we do know about The Hermitage and Belle Meade.

Obviously music needs to be a part of the experience. I've been checking nowplayingnashville.com and nashvillescene.com for information as well as the Grand Ole Opry.

So tell me, what else? Tell me about where you like to eat. Favorite walks. Things the locals know about and try to hide from tourists

Thank you!

tenthumbs

Congrats on your win!!! My daughter and I spent a long weekend in Nashville with my mother, and we enjoyed it. We did the Hermitage and Belle Meade~both were lovely in May, not sure what the gardens will look like in November, though. The homes themselves were interesting, but I'm a bit of a history buff. We were fortunate enough to be at the Grand Ole Opry the night Carrie Underwood was inducted as a member. The entertainment was great. We also spent an evening at the Wild Horse Saloon and loved it. We had only heard of one of the bands playing, but the other two were very good entertainment.....One of my favorite meals was (believe it or not) at the cafe in the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was a bacon, lettuce, and fried green tomatoe sandwich with fresh mozarella on very dense wheat bread~YUM!!

bachslunch

Nashville is actually pretty well covered on this board, and a search here (as well as on Frommer's and Fodor's general attractions areas) will yield lots of good information on restaurants and attractions. You can in fact easily see most of the area's attractions in 3-4 days. There's a very good suggested downtown area walk over at Frommer's.

It is possible to visit Nashville without a car if you don't have one, though you'll need to stay downtown and use the city buses. The central terminal is located there, close by the state capitol building. Belle Meade and The Hermitage cannot be reached this way, but there is a Gray Line tour that goes to both if you're car-less.

Note well that the Opry area is still coming back from flooding, and that likely still includes the Opryland Hotel and the Opry Mills shopping mall. If memory serves, I've seen reports here that the Grand Ole Opry is now up and running, but may be doing so in a temporary space.

spirobulldog

I would drive out(not far) and see the Hermitage, Andrew Jacksons home.

Eat at The Loveless Cafe

Try La Pasaletas Posicle-They are that good-link below to their website
http://www.wheresthesign.com/

musicfan

Centennial Park is kind of cool (replica of The Parthenon).

Frist Museum

Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum...even if you think you don't like country music, there is a lot of pop culture in it, and I can't believe the average person 40+ wouldn't find something of interest. It's also very well done, quite interactive...and apparently they have good food (see above). Do the Studio B tour if you can...well worth it!

The Grand Ole Opry reopened just a few weeks ago. As far as I know, Opry Mills (which is just a big mall anyway) is still closed.

The Ryman Auditorium...well worth a tour if you have the time...lots of history as it relates to all types of music, not just country

Hatch Show Print...downtown...you will probably recognize their "style"...block printing done the old-fashioned way...show posters, etc.

Congrats on the win--have a great time!

maryanntex

For sure go to the Coutry Music Hall of Fame http://countrymusichalloffame.org/ and don't miss the Thomas Har Benton mural "The Sources of Country Music," in the rotunda. It was one of (maybe THE) last works that he completed.

SiteC_er

The Parthenon Musuem is also very impressive and only a couple miles west of downtown (across the street from Vanderbilt).

bachslunch

I found the Parthenon replica itself kind of fun in a kitch-like way, but was very unimpressed with its art collection. Will definitely second the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Ryman Auditorium, though.

Definitely enjoyed The Hermitage and Belle Meade, and the Belmont Plantation makes three. The Frist Museum can be great depending on what's showing there. The Tennessee State Museum is very good of its type, and the capitol building is well worth a visit. And if you're a fan of old and offbeat cars, the Lane Motor Museum isn't bad.

Downtown, definitely stroll Broadway and peek into the shops and bars.

happytrailstoyou

Perhaps you will find some ideas here: http://www.frommers.com/destinations...9_indattr.html

HTTY

williamscb13

If you are into history I would drive to Franklin one day. It's a quick less than 30 minute drive from Nashville and was the site of one of the bloodiest Civil War battles. I would also get the book The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks which is a fictionalized retelling of the battle and of the woman whose house became a hospital and whose plantation later became the cemetery for all those who died in the battle. If you are into history I highly recommend it.

You may also want to go to the Bluebird Cafe and hear up and coming singers songwriters. You have to make reservations.

If you want to hike you may want to check out Percy Warner park. Don't know much about it but I do know that there have got to be some great hiking trails around Nashville

starrs

abram is tearing Nashville up as we speak. I bet she'll have some great ideas when she gets home. She did a LOT of research and is doing things in TN that I've never heard of!

SuzChicago

Belle Meade has a great little restaurant on site. I would second a trip to Franklin -- absolutely fascinating Civil War history! We went to Nashville a couple of years ago on a lark and just loved it! Enjoy.

starrs

Depending on when in November...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D568qZvi_X0

PamT

I'd go downtown to Broadway either Sunday or Thursday night - good bands to be heard at any of the honkytonks - Legends, Tooties, Roberts (they also have great burgers)and The Stage. Good suggestions for the Country Music Hall of Fame downtown and definitely take in a show at the Opry. We enjoy breakfast at the Loveless Cafe (you can stop at Bell Meade afterwards) and The Pancake Factory.

Wild Horse and BB Kings are on second avenue and are worthy of a look/see as well.

Haven't done yet but heard that the Nash Trash tours are a hoot!
http://www.nashtrash.com/ or catch a tour of the stars homes or one of the many plantations. We enjoyed the Hermitage as well.

The Parthenon is impressive - we've only enjoyed it from the outside though. I believe there is an art gallery on the bottom level?

We've yet to make it to the Blue Bird but hear that it is well worth it.

You will love Nashville - the people are friendly and it's an easy city to get around in.

Congrats and have fun! PamT

abram

Thanks, starrs!

Last night we strolled Braodway and 2nd Ave, peeking into the bars and listening to music. The Wild Horse Saloon was fun.

Today we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame, which we thought was excellent--get the audio tour, too. We didn't think the RCA Studio B tour was worth the time or money. We took a walking tour of DT that we downloaded onto our mp3 players--we really like that sort of thing. The self-guided tour of the Ryman was very good; we'd have taken the guided backstage tour, but it wasn't offered today because there's a concert tonight. In Nov, Dec, & Jan, the Grand Ole Opry will be back at the Ryman. The Impressionist and Chihuly exhibits at the Frist are very good.

Tomorrow, we're starting with a tour of the State Capitol and the Tennessee State Museum, then the Parthenon, Belmont, Belle Meade, and Cheekwood at night to see the Chihuly installations lit up.

Sat, we're going to Bicentennial Park, the Farmers' Market, Hermitage, and have tickets to the Grand Ole Opry in the evening.

We ate at BB Kings so we could listen to some music--the food was actually quite good. Tonight, we went to Sitar for Indian, and I recommend it highly.

starrs

Hey abram! Your trip sounds great!
My friend (who is local) took me to BB King's and we loved the music acts we heard and we thought the food was good too.
Good times

Jackie

I loved the tour of the State Capitol--especially the costumes owed by starts. I'd also recommend that since you are in the area, you do the pink bus trash tour. It was really fun.

bachslunch

I took the RCA Studio B tour. I can see where some folks may be less than taken with seeing what is pretty much just an old recording studio, but knowing the history of the place (Elvis recorded a number of tunes here, for starters) can add a lot to the allure. There's also some vintage recording equipment on-site which is kind of fun if you know anything about this sort of thing.

Sun Studio in Memphis makes two on this score, actually.

Myself, I liked both places very much, but then again I find things like this interesting.

musicfan

I think we enjoyed our Studio B tour so much because we had a very entertaining tour guide; he had worked as an entertainer in Las Vegas and then in Nashville and his "retirement" job was doing the Studio B tours. I don't recall his name now (it's been about 5 years), but he was great and added a lot to our experience.

abram

Maybe we didn't love the Studio B tour because we had just come from Memphis, where we saw Graceland, Stax, Rock & Soul and Sun Studio.

We enjoyed the State Capitol tour, but did the self guided version to avoid being with very large groups of school children. There weren't any "costumes owned by starts". The history museum was excellent as well. We ate lunch at the Pancake Pantry, and they were the best pancakes I've ever had.

Didn't make it to Belmont, but loved Belle Meade and Cheekwood. I'd recommend getting to Cheekwood in the late afternoon to see the gardens, and then staying past dark for the illumination of the Chihuly pieces.

We had an excellent dinner at Anatolia, a Turkish place near Belle Meade.