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When most people think of laid back fun, they think of sandy beaches with calm waves. Not us, our ideal laid back vacation was 2 short days in the city of music.
On the morning of our flight to Nashville, we woke up to a beautiful snow covered lawn and soft galling snow. For me that was the first good sign of a fun trip ahead. We dropped off our son at our parents and headed to the airport about two hours before our flight – way ahead of schedule. Things were going good.
The gate we were assigned was a little hidden door at the corner of the airport. Apparently, not too many ppl visit Nashville in the dead of the winter. In fact,, our flight had a grand total of 16 ppl. After boarding, we hit a little snafoo. As the weather was so cold all planes had to be decided before take off, which meant waiting nearly an hour in line until we got our turn.
We arrived Sunday afternoon to a chilly but sunny Nashville. We checked into our hotel a block away from Broadway, unpacked our bags and hit the streets of Nashville. At first we were unsure where to start so we headed to the Country Music Hall of Fame figuring that’ll help us get in the mood a bit. We toured the expansive exhibits walking through the history and famous artists of country music. The nude car in particular caught my eye. That ‘this is who I am’ style obvious in the revolver handles and horn attached to the front, is what attracted me to country music in the first place.
Webb Pierce’s Nudie Mobile
After checking that out, we headed to Broadway to check out the vibe there. As soon as we got on to the avenue we realized that this is what we came for. Music streaming out of every bar, people dancing in honky tonks lining the street and cowboy boot shops every few feet – this was the Nashville we imagined. Being a little lost we did a quick Google search for the best place on Broadway which directed us to the Stage. The bouncer at the door was exactly what you’d expect of a country bar with a big beard, big muscles and big beer belly. Once inside, we ordered a local beer and let the music take a hold of us as we swayed to the beat. After a while we headed upstairs for a completely different vibe with a rooftop bar and some drunk guys hanging out.
Eventually we headed back to out hotel room for a quick dinner of pastrami sandwiches that we’ve brought along. As it happened to be super Bowl night we started watching the game and eventually decided to head back out. We hit up a small family restaurant/sports bar spot at the end of the strip called Nashville Underground. While the place was fully booked, we managed to find two empty stools in a corner and made that our station for the night. Drinks here weren’t anything special, but the beer was good and everyone was way into the game. To my husband’s dismay, most diners were Bengals fam and celebrated every time he signed in dismay.
After the game we hit up another honky tonk on Broadway with a great band playing, but no customer service or space to stand, so we headed back to the Stage for a quick drink and some country before heading straight to bed.
Next morning shone bright, surprisingly hungover free. Even though the time difference had us up at 8AM we decided to take it easy and stayed in bed til 1 (yes, we’re really good at lazying in bed)! We then ate breakfast of rolls and dips we brought along and went on our merry way. We walked 10 minutes to the closest hop-on hop-off stop and joined the Old Town Trolley for a tour of the city of Nashville. Our bus driver, a sweet red-headed woman, had an obvious passion for the city and regaled us with stories and interesting facts about every building we passed. Here are some:
The Ryman building used to be a church, hence the great acoustics, but no dressing rooms or framing rooms. That’s where Tootsies came into the picture as the main hangout for all performers. And why is Tootsie’s that odd color of purple? Apparently her contractor wanted to save money and decided to mix the paints of previous jobs to create that odd iconic color.
You get the picture. It was fun, entertaining and informative. When we got to bicentennial Park we decided to get off to check out the historical exhibition they have there as well as the shops at the farmers market. Unfortunately, as it was late in the day Monday, not too many shops were open. The historical timeline was pretty cool though. We did realize however that the world War two exhibit failed to mention any word about the jews that suffered (something we subconsciously search for every time we hear about ww2) – which might make sense in the south…
Bicentennial park
We then caught the next trolley to finish the tour. Unfortunately our second guide wasn’t as good as the first, but it was still fascinating to hear about the first self serve grocery, Nashville hot chicken’s origin and all about music row. By the time we made it back to Broadway, it was already happy hour and in the spirit (pun intended) of our laid back trip, we went into a few honky tonk for some bear and live music.
We like to consider ourselves somewhat of kosher foodies, so we had to check out the local chabad restaurant – a food truck on the Vanderbilt campus. We ordered a Sharma sandwich and some mashed potatoes. I loved the Sharma and we finished everything, so while the menu is pretty limiting, the restaurant is a good option when in town.
After dinner we headed to Broadway again (I know it sounds boring, but it really wasn’t). We tried out a few new places – and I stuck to beer this night. Surprisingly, most of the bars we went to were playing rock and roll. The husband was totally in his groove, but I prefer country every day – although I gotta admit some of these artists were exceptionally talented. We made some small talk,, rocked to the music (were definitely not dancers) and finally we headed back to the Stage (again) to finish our night with some good plain country music performances (and watching people dance) before crashing back at the hotel.
Whiskey, beer and country music is what it’s all about.
Our flight the next day was supposed to leave at 12, but got delayed multiple times. Before finally heading to the airport we got another drink at the hotel bar (which was awesome!). At the end of the trip I had my favorite drink down to a science – 1.5 shots of bourbon in a cup of fresh squeezed bourbon, try it, you’ll thank me.
We are now sitting in the airport waiting for boarding to start. This was a fun and laid back getaway and I’m glad we got to do it. Until next time.
Notes
- Kosher 2/5
Not many restaurants and nothing special about the ones that are there. However, we didn’t try many. - Covid
Once we left the airport, you could not see a trave of covid except for hotel employees and barkers wearing masks. - Travel Time
Three hour flight from New York. On the way there, you gain an hour with the time distance. On the way back you lose it.
Tip:
We took along small bags of pretzels whenever we went out. It was perfect between drinks.
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