After spelunking for a few days, we headed to Nashville. Neither of us had visited before, and I was certainly more excited than the Manfriend going in – I like country music, he hates it. Looking back though, we both got a lot out of our trip – we’ll definitely be back! There’s a whole other area of Nashville called The Gulch that we didn’t spend as much time in as we wanted to.

Day One

We arrived in the morning after heading out from Mammoth Caves really early – we knew we wanted to have as much time in Nashville. One of the first things we noticed – the public art was incredible as we walked from our hotel, a few blocks behind Broadway, to breakfast the morning we arrived.

Breakfast places

Our first breakfast was at Puckett’s – to be totally honest, it was close to our hotel and on our walk to Broadway, plus it had great reviews on Yelp. It didn’t disappoint, even though we had to wait 30 minutes for an open table. The next morning we went to Milk & Honey, which was farther away from downtown, but was a great breakfast. Whereas Puckett’s was a filling home cooked meal, Milk & Honey was more modern and reminded me of our favorite brunch places in Boston. Would highly recommend both!

Broadway

Broadway, as you’d expect, was fabulous people watching (especially at night), replete with bars boasting the best live music, and shops with so many cowgirl/cowboy boots!

Bars & Live Music

At night, our favorite live music spot was Dierks Bentley’s bar Whiskey Row. The bar wasn’t overly crowded (even at night), it had a good beer list (super important), and the live music was on fire. I think the Manfriend even liked it! We also swung by Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge, Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock n’ Roll (great people watching)…

BB King’s Blues Club, The George Jones, and Nudie’s Honky Tonk. The George Jones and Nudie’s Honky Tonk were our favorites for getting off the stripe and into a quieter bar that still had live music and some shade. We’d definitely go back there!

Gallery of Iconic Guitars

The GIG was pretty cool – we heard about it from a waitress at a restaurant we went to. It cost $5 to get in, is closed on most major holidays, and is located in Belmont University’s Bunch Library building. While we normally walk everywhere, we were in Nashville in July in 90°F with a lot of humidity, and the Gallery was farther away than we wanted to walk… so we took a Lyft. It was absolutely worth it.

There’s a ton of famous guitars, including a 1939 Martin D-45, a 1923 Gibson F-5 Mandolin, and a 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard. The guitars were gorgeous, well loved, and really uniquely crafted. I’m not really into guitars, but the Manfriend recently started playing again, so he was pumped about the Gallery.

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Day Two

The Parthenon

A full scale replica of the Parthenon in Athens, the Parthenon is an art museum in the center of Centennial Park.

Carter Vintage Guitars

Apparently this is a famous place. They had the (THE) original electric guitar as well as many many new guitars. Carter’s was pretty impressive, but definitely more fun for the Manfriend.

City Winery

We stumbled across City Winery, and I never say no to wine! We chugged a bunch of water when we first arrived because we had just walked 30+ minutes in the 90°F heat… we had a lot to see and didn’t want to end up sleeping off a hangover in the hotel!

Tennessee Brew Works

And then we stumbled across TBW. Normally we wouldn’t have drank that quickly after just having wine, but well, it’s vacation, it’s Nashville, and why not?

Johnny Cash Museum

I’m not going to lie – we came here for the Manfriend. He grew up listening to Johnny Cash, and this was one of the few things he wanted to do when we were planning our trip to Nashville. They’re open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it costs $22 per person to get in… I’m ashamed to admit that I was calculating how many beers I could get at the bars just around the corner for the $22 entrance fee.

I ended up infatuated with the museum – I had no idea about his life, his struggle, and the stories behind his music.

Third Man Records

Another place the Manfriend wanted to visit – I had never heard of it before, and it wasn’t until we entered that I was wow’d. You can also rent a small recording studio to record a song on a 45!