I’ve been to Nashville many times throughout my life since my aunt has lived there since she was a student at Vanderbilt. My last visit there was for her wedding nearly three years ago, so I knew it was time to return. I wanted to see her and my cousins, as well as my friend Shauna who lives there.
We stayed with my family in Green Hills and made a special trip to Loveless Cafe for Tommy to try his first Southern biscuit. Not to be confused with Australian and British biscuits, which are cookies. And by the way, they’re the best in the world.
Even though neither Tommy nor I are huge country music fans, we had to see all the sights that Nashville is known for. While we didn’t tour Ryman Auditorium, we did walk past it and down Broadway past all the honky tonks and tourist shops. I love that any time of day, there is someone playing guitar on the street.
I had visited the Parthenon before, but I never paid to see the museum inside. Tommy stayed outside to soak up the sun while I read about the original 1897 Centennial Exposition and the Athena replica statue. It was amazing to see the replica, especially since in art history I learned that the original statue has never been found and no one has any drawings of it. The artist had to do his own interpretation of what it would look like. For $6 you can see pictures of how it was built and what the exposition looked like.
I’m sure Tommy had his doubts when we drove to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, because what’s so great about a hotel? As someone who used to visit every year for Christmas, I knew the inside was amazingly landscaped. It’s like a giant greenhouse, with a river through the middle and shops and restaurants throughout. The Nashville floods damaged the building, but it seems to be back in perfect condition.
You knew I couldn’t visit a city without trying their signature beer, right? My friend Shauna recommended visiting the Yazoo brewery, which has its own bar where you can fill up growlers to go and have some food and drinks. We bought a sampler of all their beers (see below) while we waited for the tour to begin.
They have six signature beers, as well as seasonals, but their most popular is called Beer Named Sue, an homage to legend Johnny Cash. My personal favorites were the Dos Perros and Hefeweizen. Tours take place every Saturday starting at 2:30, but you can buy tickets online. For $7, you get a pint glass and four samples.
Related Reading
Like what you read? You should subscribe to Caroline in the City for your RSS reader of choice or join my monthly newsletter, which goes out at the beginning of each month.
Your post is making me feel thirsty! :-)
Haha yeah thanks for reading Kat!