Nashville help

[PaperDoll]

Is anyone here from Nashville? I'm trying to plan a road trip and I'm already overwhelmed with all the options.

I need help trying to figure out what I absolutely need to see, and the best places to stay, either by specific hotel or just neighborhood. (The Grand Old Opry? The zoo? A tour of stars' homes?)

I'm going to drive down from Lexington for a couple of days max in early August. I'm trying to book the flight ASAP, so quick help would be much appreciated.

 

[pallister]

The Ryman is better than the Opry. Any show there is worthwhile.

 

[imjustagirl2]

Stay in Lexington and spend four days in Joseph Beth Bookstore instead. I know you like it.

 

[slappy4428]

Opry is a tourist trap with a mall, Ryman is much better; 2nd avenue is fun -- anything in that Broadway basin is kinda cool...always want to catch a Sounds game
Market Street Brew Pub for Cajun Chicken Fettucine is a must...
If you can swing it.. go to Lynchburg for the Jack Daniels Distillery tour... It's like an hour south-southwest, but even my 70-plus year old parents liked it -- and Mom's never had the stuff.

 

[slappy4428]

Is the little jazz club still in the basement along printer's alley? That place was cool.
My brother used to manage Music City Mix Factory a few years ago and that used to be good.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

If you like picnicking, there are few better places than the Parthenon. Tres cool. A second for the JD distillery . The downtown district on the river is pretty cool, too. Lots of shops and bars and restaurants, if I remeber correctly.

 

[Pencil Dick]

Definitely go to the Ryman.

Even better, attend a concert there, even if you're not a fan of the artist.

Gotta hit Tootsie's Orchid Lounge on Broadway Ave. And there's a bar on Broadway that during the day is a boot store ... last time I was in there they were selling $1 cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

The new Country Music Hall of Fame is interesting and I'm certainly not a fan of that kind of music.

Go south on I-65 and visit historic downtown Franklin, Tenn. While you're there, buy a car at Darrell Waltrip's dealership.

 

[slappy4428]

Tootsie's Rocks! OK< not rocks, but you know...
Steak/spaghetti place downtown is pretty good too, but can't remember the name... is on a corner...

 

[dixiehack]

Contrarian point of view ... why not go to Cincinnati instead? It's a much closer drive, lots to do, and even major league baseball (ashuming the Reds haven't been relegated by then.) I love Nashville, but August is kind of a dead time of year.

And Slappy is trying to remember Demo's, which is all kinds of awesome.

 

[PaperDoll]

Stay in Lexington and spend four days in Joseph Beth Bookstore instead. I know you like it.

Got that right! I spent quite a bit of time there on my last trip.

I'm mainly going back to Lexington to see if John Henry deigns to glare in my general direction, and to meet my friend's boyfriend's crazy dogs. I think we did almost everything else on the Convention and Visitors' Center's to-do list last time. We also went to Louisville, a bourbon distillery -- there was some kind of accident at Wild Turkey that day! -- and this not-quite Waffle House over the Indiana border called "Waffle & Steak."

I'll put the Ryman above the Opry on the list, though I wouldn't mind tours of both, along with the Country Music Hall of Fame. (I <i>do</i> like country! And I'm not ashamed to admit it!)

Keeping in mind that I'm poor and have no Marriott points, any suggestions for Nashville hotels or neighborhoods I should stay in/avoid? Any other obvious tourist traps to skip?

 

[imjustagirl2]

I'm mainly going back to Lexington to see if John Henry deigns to glare in my general direction, and to meet my friend's boyfriend's crazy dogs. I think we did almost everything else on the Convention and Visitors' Center's to-do list last time. We also went to Louisville, a bourbon distillery -- there was some kind of accident at Wild Turkey that day! -- and this not-quite Waffle House over the Indiana border called "Waffle & Steak."

Dude, if you were at the Waffle & Steak, you were like 8 miles from Caesar's Indiana! Oh how I love that place, smoke-filled cancerpot that it is.

 

[dixiehack]

Keeping in mind that I'm poor and have no Marriott points, any suggestions for Nashville hotels or neighborhoods I should stay in/avoid? Any other obvious tourist traps to skip?

Go ahead and say pash to any hotel with an address of Murfreesboro Road, deckinson Pike or Brick Church Pike. Downtown is the nicest area, but probably above the price range your seeking. Try the Vanderbilt/West End area, Brentwood/Franklin, or the Elm Hill Pike/Opryland areas ("Proudly celebrating our 20th anniversary of being under road construction.")

And do spend some time people-watching at Opryland Hotel, particularly if you have someone to make catty comments with.