Hoffse and other Nashville travelers

brij2006 · August 2015

We're heading to Nashville at the end of September for a 3 day weekend. Where do you recommend we stay?
Also, any recommendations on what to see or where to eat during a short time there?

hoffse · August 2015

Downtown is pretty pricey - there just aren't enough hotels down there to cover the need, so the ones that are there can charge more than seems reasonable.

Look in the Green Hills area - it's about 15 min from downtown. Franklin should also have some deals, but it's about 20-25 minutes out. The Vanderbilt area is great, but it's also kind of pricey. Though if there isn't a sporting event going on that weekend, you might be able to snag a deal at the holiday inn or something right there. It's much closer to downtown than the other places I mentioned.

For rentals, I recommend East Nashville. It's a somewhat transitional area, but becoming very hip/cute, and there are typically lots of options on AirBnB for small houses.

For cheap eats, I love Samurai sushi (seriously, it's amazing), Smiling Elephant (Thai), San Antonio Taco Company (Tex-Mex), Cafe Coco (open 24 hrs). Since you're in Nashville, you also need to try some hot chicken, as it's a thing that's kind of particular to that city and is starting to gain popularity in other places. I like Bolton's, but you don't really want to go there after dark. Hattie B's has a restaurant in a much nicer part of town, near Vanderbilt.

For nicer restaurants: Tin Angel, the Mad Platter, Yellow Porch (kind of far out), Merchant's Downtown (got engaged there!), Margot/Marche are some of my favorites.

Loveless Cafe is famous for breakfast. It's about 25 min from downtown though and there's nothing else near it. That said, their biscuits are good enough that H had them on speed dial while we lived there. We would call ahead, get a to-go order, and then bring them home to make eggs, etc. to go with them. The lines here are massive and no reservation if you decide to sit and eat there. Go early.

You will see a line wrapping around the block for Pancake Pantry. It moves fast, and if you like pancakes... they have like 30 different kinds. I'm a french toast person, and theirs is my favorite.

If you are there on a Sunday, I would try to go to Monell's for their Sunday brunch if you like southern food. It's a family-style place. Kind of pricey, but you won't eat a full meal for the rest of the day.

My favorite bar, hands down, is Patterson House. Full disclosure: it's expensive, and it can take a long time to get inside. But it's awesome, and everything is made in-house, even their ice. Get the donuts if you go there. You're welcome

For things to do, have a wander around Centennial Park or Vanderbilt - they're across the street from each other and should be beautiful that time of year if the weather cooperates. Bread & Co is a kind of pricey but delicious lunch place that's kind of at the intersection of them. Might be overrun with undergrads, though.

Downtown can be lots of fun, but be prepared to swim through a sea of bachelorette parties. Seriously, it's totally a thing. I like Wildhouse Saloon (free line dance lessons!) and Big Bang (dueling pianos), but they both have covers. You should also visit the country music hall of fame while you are there. It's actually really cool.

If you want tickets to BlueBird Cafe, research how to do it and be online the second they go on sale.

On the outskirts of the city is the Hermitage, which was Pres. Andrew Jackson's house. It's really cool and there are never any visitors there. The Grand Ole Opry is also still in use, and there's a great outlet mall and beautiful hotel next to it. They are both in the (approximately) same direction.

The public golf courses in Nashville are awesome and really cheap. Totally spoiled H, because he could afford to golf once a week on a student's budget. Then he moved to Alabama and the prices were like 5x as expensive. If you guys are interested, let me know and I'll get specific recs from him.

High end shopping is in green hills. There are also some really cute boutique stores near Vanderbilt, where that pancake place is I was describing earlier. Some of them actually have some great deals. The outlet mall is Opry Mills. One place I haven't visited yet but is on my list is that antique store owned by the guys on the show "American Pickers."

Finally, the one place H and I visit every single time we go there is McKay used book store. It's HUGE (like Costco-sized huge), and incredibly cheap. They sell all kinds of media, music, video games, sheet music, gaming consoles, other electronics, and even musical instruments. I think they were starting to sell guns the last time I was there. Lots of paperbacks for $0.25 or whatever. I went through a phase in law school where I had a rule that I would never pay more than a dime for fiction. H and I miss a lot of things about Nashville, but McKay is probably the thing we both miss the most.

hoffse · August 2015

One last insider tip - the parking lots on Vandy's campus are zoned and require permits. That said.... for the 7 years I went there, the 2 extra years H was there after me, and in the year since he graduated, we've never had issues parking there on the weekends without the right permit. My parents visited for years with no permit and never had issues either. Sometimes they would even park overnight. There's an unspoken rule that if it's the weekend... it's kind of fair game. They don't want to accidentally tow away the car of some mom who is spending $50K/year to send her kid there you know?

Just make sure to park in an area where there is plenty of open space, and you shouldn't have a problem. The only place I wouldn't park is on Greek row in the spaces designated for the houses or any space that looks reserved for a specific person.

hoffse · August 2015

If Vandy has a home game that weekend, that can also be fun. We are - technically - an SEC school, but tickets to our games are really cheap because we're pretty bad.

http://www.vucommodores.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/101414aad.html

There's always tailgating though, and it's a fun atmosphere around the stadium.

You should also check their website to see if anything interesting is happening on campus that's open to the public while you are there. Quite often they have pretty famous people come and talk or whatever. I've heard John Kerry, Al Gore, a couple Supreme Court justices, the Ben & Jerry brothers, etc. all speak there.

https://events.vanderbilt.edu/?d=2015-08-01

blondie42107 · August 2015

We've always stayed with friends so I'm no help with the hotels. We enjoyed Travelers Rest Plantation (they have AC!). We like history. We also went to the Parthenon. H loves his beer so we did a tour at Yazoo Brewing Co and enjoyed drinks after - lots of great, friendly strangers to chat with. I can't remember all the places we ate - really no bad food that I can recall; most were downtown.

brij2006 · August 2015

Thank you! That is very helpful!

How much is parking usually in the downtown area?

Here's what we're looking at, and let me know your thoughts. We will also have my MIL and our 7 month old DD with us for this trip....

We drive in very very late Thursday night, and won't get in till probably about 3am Friday morning. Staying in East Nashville area through airbnb.

Friday: Get up around 8ish and go somewhere in the area to have brunch (any place you can recommend around there)? Around 12:30 head out to Dave Ramseys' studio in Brentwood. We will be there till around 5ish, then head somewhere for dinner. Any place you would recommend that's nicer for dinner? It's MIL's birthday that day, so we would like to take her to a nice restaurant.

Saturday: Spend the day in downtown/music row area. Hit up Country Music Hall of Fame.

My H is all for sitting around and listening to live country music. Any must go places that do well with that, or are known to have famous artists drop in?

Also, we were talking about trying to fit in Grand Ole Opry. Any reason to go out there and just tour around without having tickets for a show? Otherwise we were tossing around the idea of getting a sitter and the 3 adults going there for a show. Thoughts?

hoffse · August 2015

For East Nashville spots, Pharmacy Burger is excellent, and H and I really like Rosepepper Cantina. For brunch, I would look at Marche.

For a nice dinner on your way back from Brentwood, Yellow Porch is kind of one your way back and so is Monells. Monells is more casual.

Margot and Silly Goose are higher end restaurants in the East Nashville area. Margot in particular is excellent - French food. That's where H's dad (Belgian) always likes to go. Also try Jenni's Splendid Ice Cream for dessert. It's delicious.

Bluebird Cafe is where many big names started. It's really the height of up-and-coming artists, and I'd try to go regardless of what they have playing. Otherwise, there are lots of bars on Broadway that have live music - some country, some not - on the weekends. Some bars have covers, some don't. You can just walk Broadway and pop in where you hear something you like. Parking downtown is about $10-$15. But personally, I would probably just take Uber unless you know where you are going. There are lots of one-way streets, and the crowds can be a mess. This also depends on what time you want to go though. Broadway is much easier to navigate during the day.

Downtown is not a huge area, so it won't take more than a few hours to see with the Country Music Hall of Fame. Other Nashville areas that are close to downtown are the Gulch, Music Row/Demonbreun Street (pronounce da-MUN-brun if you need directions), and Vanderbilt/Centennial Park. Vandy and Centennial Park both have lots of great open spaces with benches, picnic tables, etc. They are also primarily pedestrian so very nice to walk around, and you often see families with children enjoying the green space. Music Row is kind of fun to drive down, but you will be surprised by it. The first time I went there I expected large industrial buildings. Nope. I won't spoil it for you

I've toured some of the studios there with friends who work in the music business, but you may be able to get a tour independently. If you can, I would take advantage. It's really cool to see where the recording actually happens for these big record labels.

See what's playing at the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman, or TPAC and try to go to a show - this is what Nashville does best! I think you can tour most of them without a show, but really.... the show is the best part!

strickland8052 · August 2015

I love Nashville! I went there for a bachelorette party and had a blast! My favorite food was Edley's... I had some sandwich with brisket, fried egg, and spicy pimento cheese and it was possibly the best food I've ever eaten...like I would choose it as my last meal type of good. They also had mojitos made with moonshine, which allowed me to enjoy the above sandwich with no guilt about calories.

The music scene is amazing, even if you don't like country music. However, my least favorite thing was the Country Music Hall of Fame... I don't know any of those older country music singers, so I just didn't appreciate it.

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