Two Days in Music City

I'll preface this entry by saying that two days isn't nearly enough time to fully enjoy Nashville, Tennessee. To top off the small window of time we had, this trip seemed to be snakebit from the beginning. Our flight from Baltimore was delayed due to weather several times, causing us to arrive in Nashville much later than we were originally scheduled.

One of the items on our itinerary was attending a show at the Grand Ole Opry. Miss B and I have been to the Opry before and had a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, the lineups for the Opry aren't generally announced fully until the week of the show. When the lineup for the Friday we were there was finalized, it was less than stellar in our opinion. Only two of the eight acts interested us, and some weren't country at all. It would be like going to a death metal festival and finding out Barry Manilow is the headliner. Even though we had had bought tickets several weeks prior, we opted against venturing to that side of town for a lackluster lineup since we only had two nights in town. We hope to make it back to the Opry again soon.

The centerpiece of our trip was attending the basketball game between our beloved Tennessee Volunteers and Illinois at the Bridgestone Arena. The less said about that the better.

Now onto the positives. There is music everywhere. After all, Nashville is called "Music City". We heard two different bands before we even left the airport terminal. Almost every bar has a band playing as soon as they open, usually at ten in the morning. I heard no less than fifteen bands/singers in our two days there and almost every single one was good. Several were great. It makes me wonder how some of the nonsense that passes for country music makes it to mainstream radio. My next trip to Nashville will be at least four days, specifically so we can listen to bands in the bars. Maybe, we'll schedule the next trip during CMA Fest.

On that note, Lower Broadway is dominated by numerous bars, nightclubs & restaurants, many of which are owned and/or named after famous musical acts. They are gimmicky neon-adorned establishments meant to draw tourists into them like moths to a flame- and I love them! Well, most of them. My favorites are John Rich's Redneck Riveria, Luke Combs' Category 10, and Tootsie's World Famous Orchid Lounge. If you are a fan of day drinking, live music, and bar food, as I am, Nashville is a bit like paradise.

Speaking of Tootsie's, it is a must on any visit to Nashville. At first blush, it appears to be just another dive bar. In reality, it is a combination honky-tonk and country music museum, a living, breathing piece of history. The walls are lined with photos of artists who have graced the stages of Tootsie's. More often than not, it gets packed wall-to-wall very early, so I recommend going in as soon as they open. Having a beer in Tootsie's is akin to having a pastrami sandwich at Katz's Deli in NYC or a Papa Doble at Sloppy Joe's in Key West.

Anyone who has been to Nashville knows that Nashville Hot Chicken is a staple on the menus at many restaurants and has inspired numerous imitations at the national chains. Two of the most popular spots in Music City are Prince's and Hattie B's. Personally, I prefer Hattie B's, but you can't go wrong with either. On this visit, I opted for Hattie B's Sweet N Smokey dry-rubbed dark quarter with potato salad and baked beans. I would put it in the top three fried chickens I've ever had.

Miss B collects records. Since it was her birthday trip, we ventured to Grimey's Pre-Loved Music & Books. If you've ever seen Vinyl Obsession hosted by TNA Wrestling's Eric Young on AXS, you are familiar with Grimey's. It's a two-level used record and book store with thousands of records and dozens of books. A record lover could spend hours in Grimey's and we did just that, not to mention spending too much money. Directly behind Grimey's is a "vintage store" called Anaconda's. When I was a kid, a "vintage store" was called a thrift shop or second-hand store and the prices were a lot lower. Back then, they weren't cool, as they appear to be now. Although I can't say what we bought until after Christmas, Miss B seemed happy, so I let her do her thing.

Nashville is a city that you can visit over and over and always have different, enjoyable experience. There's always a new restaurant, a new bar, new artists.

Thanks for reading. Until next time, Happy Travels.