Travel - Nashville

Music City. This may be the first thing that comes to mind when you read or hear the word “Nashville”. You would be correct to call it by its well-known name but it’s so much more. To those of us who’ve grown up going to our state capital, it’s changed quite a bit. Construction and cranes are visible everywhere downtown and Broadway is teeming with people day and night. But, even in the midst of widespread expansion and growth, Nashville is still a fun, approachable, hospitable, historic city to enjoy. And the best reason for our family to visit nowadays is because our youngest daughter calls it home. Along with venturing to Savannah in June, we drove the three-hour journey to Nashville in July, adding it to our summer travels. Our oldest daughter flew in from New York to BNA to spend a few days enjoying sister-time and an early birthday celebration with us over the weekend. We loved spending treasured time together! Here is what we saw and did in 24 hours in Nashville.

our favorite reason to visit Nashville and her dad

LUNCH: Kisser - small, light-filled, peaceful East Nashville restaurant, serving delicious Japanese fare! highly recommend the blueberry yuzu parfait for dessert

kisserrestaurant.com

SITE SEEING: Tennessee State Museum - very unexpected, free, incredible facility located adjacent to Bicentennial Mall Park and the Nashville Farmers Market…we just scratched the surface due to closing time approaching but one could spend a whole day here, learning about Tennessee history…beautifully presented in a fair, factual way…very well-done

tnmuseum.org

after exploring the museum, we took a wander around the grounds in Bicentennial Park, stopping for photo ops with the state capital building in the background

DRINKS & DINNER: Embers & Edley’s BBQ in 12 South…Embers is a cozy, ski-lodge inspired, casual bar with lots of indoor and outdoor seating…Edley’s is a chain but yummy and just a few blocks down from Embers…the 12 South area is full of local shops, restaurants, bars, cafes and shops..very walkable area with free and paid parking along certain streets in a quaint neighborhood of renovated old houses

embersskilodge.com

edleysbbq.com

BRUNCH: Snooze - a colorful, fun, chain in East Nashville serving up delicious brunch dishes and beverages with indoor and outdoor seating…a second location is in the Gulch area of downtown…it was very crowded on a Sunday morning but we were seated quickly…the service was slow but we weren’t in a hurry so it was fine…great mural on the side of the building for photo ops!

Snooze

We spent relaxing down-town in our daughter’s apartment in the Hillsboro neighborhood. She’s a great tour guide and is proud of her adopted city. We took our oldest daughter to the airport on Sunday and afterward made a pit-stop in the Hill Center shopping area of Green Hills. Here you’ll find local shops plus Anthropologie, Williams Sonoma, Whole Foods, West Elm, Pottery Barn and Shake Shack, to name a few. There’s free parking in the adjacent garage or on the street. It’s located next door to the Mall at Green Hills. We stayed one night at the Hampton Inn at Green Hills, which was the nicest HI we’ve stayed in, anywhere. It was very convenient to our daughter’s apartment and in a very nice area of town.

the birthday girl and me

A few other suggestions from previous Nashville visits:

Centennial Park - a beautiful, large park with plenty of green space, the Parthenon, lake, historic statues and picnic spots…located just two miles from downtown Nashville and close to Vanderbilt University

Nashville.gov

Butcher & Bee: amazing local East Nashville eatery for delicious brunches! highly recommend the whipped feta

butcherandbee.com

Husk: beautiful restaurant housed in an old, charming building for dinner

husknashville.com

Butchertown Hall: fun, lively restaurant with indoor & outdoor seating in the Germantown area…get the tacos!

butchertownhall.com

Rolf & Daughters: another lovely, red-bricked Germantown restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating..we ate there for brunch and it was scrumptious! featured on “Somebody Feed Phil”… first time I ever had marigold petals sprinkled on my eggs and I loved it!

rolfanddaughters.com

The Treehouse: an East Nashville, cute, casual old house restaurant…we ate dinner there and it was deilicious!

treehousenashville.com

Shelby Park: this is a beautiful, sprawling park in East Nashville with fields, a river, picnic spots and trails..we walked through a small part of it in the autumn..it’s peaceful and a good dose of nature close to the city

Accommodations: I’ve stayed in two airbnbs in East Nashville, The Hutton in downtown Nashville and the aforementioned Hampton Inn at Green Hills…the East Nashville airbnbs were quiet and convenient to East Nashville destinations and right across the river from downtown…The Hutton was very nice, best shower ever and convenient to walk into downtown (we were there for a Micheal Buble concert and took a Lyft to Bridgestone and back to avoid walking or driving in the crowds that night and totally worth it…Lyfts and Ubers are inexpensive there and the drivers were very professional and friendly)…as mentioned above, the Hampton Inn was very clean, pretty and convenient to the Green Hills/Hillsboro area.

huttonhotel.com

Cheekwood: One of my favorite places to visit in Nashville! My youngest and I visited the gardens and house in the fall of 2020…it was the perfect thing to do, safely, outside and masked inside the mansion, during the pandemic…at the time the Chihuly exhibit was on the grounds and it was stunning at night! There are many special exhibits and events here throughout the year and I highly recommend!

cheekwood.org

Nashville Farmers Market: My favorite time to visit is in the autumn when the temps are cooler and fall colors of the orange, yellow, green and white pumpkins are overflowing at every turn, the hot apple cider is flowing and the fall produce is abundant!

nashvillefarmersmarket.org

Broadway: Just once in your life, you need to experience it…iconic strip in downtown Nashville with plenty of bars, restaurants, boot stores, neon lights, music drifting out of almost every door, rooftop views, and don't forget Bridgestone Area for concerts (I’ve seen James Taylor, Michael Buble and Mumford & Sons here) and sporting events..I’ve never been to a Predators hockey game but I hear they're amazing! Of course, there are Titan football games across the river, but I have yet to attend one.

Bicentennial Park

the fam strolling through the park on a beautiful, hot summer day with the state capital in the background