Today, we’re on a Nashville adventure! Our hosts called Nashville the “Las Vegas of the South”, and from what we’ve seen, I think she was spot on with this observation. Even in the early afternoon on a Tuesday, you can hear the pulse of live music and the call of the “woo girls” emanating from every bar in town. Nashville is known as Music City, and it shows, with nearly every bar hosting live music all day, usually cover free. The city also hosts numerous museums dedicated to musical legends, two halls of fame, and multiple large concert venues. If music is your thing, Nashville is the place to be!
Downtown Nashville Adventure
Per the suggestion of our hosts, we parked for free near Nissan Stadium. From there, we had a beautiful view of the Nashville skyline. It was then a short walk through the park and across the river to downtown. You can check out a video of our Nashville Adventure right here:
Downtown was hopping! Each bar, restaurant, and shop had their windows open and music blaring. The focus was mostly on country music, country attire, and Southern food. A lot of the people walking the sidewalks were wearing cowboy boots and hats. The women looked cute in their Daisy Duke shorts and the men in their bolo ties. Like our trips to Vegas, our Nashville adventure included some great people watching.
Bicentennial Capital Mall Park
Our downtown Nashville adventure was a lot of fun, but also had a very touristy vibe, so we got away from hustle and bustle to check out the Bicentennial Capital Mall Park. This spacious, beautiful park has amazing views of the Tennessee capitol building, and provides a guided walk through the history of the state. Near the capitol is an oversize, concrete map of Tennessee, overlooked by the national and state flags.
The northwest side of Bicentennial Capital Mall Park is dedicated to Tennessee’s counties, with each county represented with its own plaque. (For our non-American friends: Each state is subdivided into counties. Each county has significant local political power within the state.) The county walk leads to the north end of the park, which offers the best overall view.
The east side of the park was definitely my favorite. The entire walkway is a massive timeline of Tennessee’s history, with a wall running its length that outlines a lot of the more important moments. Larger, separate monuments were erected for the really major historical events. I was particularly impressed with the World War Two monument, which housed some very impressive images from the war engraved in stone and told the story of Tennessee’s participation.
Nashville Adventure Wrap-Up
There are so many things to do in Nashville! My camera is full of photos from all of the amazing places we visited and things we tried. There is no way I would be able to fit them all in one blog, nor would I want to. The next leg of our journey takes us farther north and officially into the American Midwest, and I’m super excited to tell you all about it. Until next time!
