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The best! They are also in Fifth & Broad. And they also have a spot inside of Nissan Stadium.
I'm very critical when it comes to pizza but I had this for the first time last week and was very surprised how good it was. I'd recommend. If you have a big appetite, order a 16" pie or 2 10" pies.
GWoodie: That is good to note, but in being honest with you, I'm not particularly hardcore about country music or music general. Meaning: I wouldn't mind seeing country music playing in one of the Honky Tonks, or a free performance like the one you described (I think I remember seeing something like that?), but I wouldn't necessarily pay extra to see a specific artist. If I was going to splurge on tickets to something, it would probably either be a backstage/self guided tour of Ryman Auditorium, or it would be to go to one of the music specific attractions like either the Museum of African American Musicians, or RCA Studio B, or something like that related to development of music genre in general.
The WeGo bus system... is that pretty safe? We do have a route that appears almost to stop directly outside our doorstep of where we our staying and heading towards the stadium... but I am not sure if that would be running at 5:30 or 6 PM on a Saturday evening, or if it would be safe then. Do you think we are at least probably safe to walk over to the central points of the Five Points neighborhood? It seems that would be fine, as we are almost directly there.. but at the same time driving the minute to check that out wouldn't be a big deal, either, particularly if that would improve safety.
Printers Alley looks like a pretty cool spot to check out for nightlife/photography. Is it?
That makes sense. And, with those markets (Detroit, Chicago, especially) being so close, and Nashville having the reputation it does, along with an easy way to "somewhat" escape winter, compared to those places, no wonder it's so popular. I'd also guess that while Nashville's support has been solid lately, getting tickets in Nashville on average would be cheaper.
Sound advice on checking out the ice conditions, esp considering that road is in a more natural state.
Nashville seems to have a fairly cool architectural and historical legacy in general. In some ways, better history surrounding it than many places in the Sun Belt. Anything particularly good to read up on regarding that?
Also... how is the MLS stadium coming along? Will it be finished, or close to it, by that time?
Edit: I do believe there's a "Nashville Pass that includes the Parthenon, Tenneseee Sports Hall of Fame, food and drink discounts, and then 4 more attractions from a list of like 30+, for $99 pp. I'm pondering that considerably, although I haven't yet fully committed.
Asking a lot of questions I know, and I know at least a few can be partially answered using Google, which I have done also. That said, there's nothing like local insight-anywhere on a Saturday, or a Monday, that I could park to explore downtown for anywhere from 2-5 hrs, and get away doing so for $10 or less? Hopefully all of this will help some other posters coming here, and avoid repeat questions.
There is a #4 Shelby street bus that operates Weekday & Weekends & MLK Holiday. Operates well into the evening & goes directly to Woodland Street at entrance to Nissan Stadium. The Gallatin bus is more frequent but you would have to walk back across the river to Woodland Street. The main problem from Five Points is getting past I-24. Maybe you can go online and get a better sense of where & when the bus operates from where you will be staying.
The system is generally safe. In the new schedule there is an effort to provide more evening & weekend schedules & be more reliable in general. There will always be a problem with weather & traffic conditions.
The new MLS stadium is still a year away. For a new team they appear to have a good record. MLS may be doing better in supplying an expansion team with some quality players even if it will take time to learn their names.
There are so many places downtown to check out from Printers Alley to the Ryman to the new Museum of African American Musicians. It has been some time for the Country Music Hall of Fame to feature Ray Charles. Time to do something with Charley Pride.
I appreciate all the insight you guys have provided here, and am jumping in now to remind myself of all this great stuff as we draw within a little over a month away.
Just out of curiosity, I'm increasingly thinking about just bringing my car downtown on that Saturday evening. I don't mind a walk, but I'm thinking that because I may hit Broadway and a bar or two postgame, I may be better served to just leave my car somewhere in the downtown area, perhaps over by Union Station/Frist Center area? I know that's still about 20 minutes from the stadium itself, but it should be a bustling/intriguing walk on the way over, and then part of my way back will be stopping in at a couple places. My question is, do you think that I'd be able to find some parking at the southwestern end of downtown, or perhaps even in The Gulch, that would be less than $30? Think about this with the context that this is, I would assume, likely to sell out, so probably Titans game level crowd, and the fact it's Saturday night in Nashville/Broadway area.
For the convenience, I might even be willing to go as high as $40 to avoid Uber's or a long walk, but I just wanted to have an idea of how crazy it will be.
Unfortunately, the thing that might throw things off from the decent looking parking prices I saw, is the nature of the event. Considering that it really does seem like Tampa is traveling really well (I think having the back-to-back Stanley Cups has particularly invigorated the fanbase, so I apologize in advance if it does end up being more like a neutral site than home game lol-assuming more Preds fans overall but could see it being 30-35% Bolts fans), is that it is probably one of the busier events of the year. Perhaps even busier than a regular Titans game, because unlike with those, I think you'll have a lot of out of towners that may not necessarily be taking public transportation or walking over from downtown or shorter distances. However, I'm not sure. Was anyone downtown last Saturday for Titans-Bengals? What was it like then? That might give me some idea of what to expect.
Sitting at the airport, typing this… your city exceeded my expectations and was a wonderful host! Great energy and vibe overall. It’s compared often to Austin, but fits my vibe quite a bit better. I know this is weird but it feels somewhat Midwestern (with some similar design elements to me and culture, to Cincinnati, St Louis, etc), but also with just a really big tourist draw like the music and nightlife element has come to be, coupled with better parks/scenery, architecture and history than I expected to find.
Friday: Got in without much delay, was tired, so just went to Mas Tacos Por Favor and then to check in. The Mexico City soup is AMAZING.
Saturday: Explored my residential area. Very nice feel, and a lot of walkable stuff despite a sort of quiet neighborhood vibe. Walked over to Frothy Monkey for coffee, then took the number 4 bus into town. As it turned out, it would let me down later, but, ah well.
Got downtown and took a tour of Ryman Auditorium. Definitely the Taj Mahal of Nashville when it comes to music. The tour was interesting, even for someone like me who is only casually into music. Wouldn’t do it again, because it was pricy, but recommend visitors do it once.
Stepped out of there, went over to the Goo Goo Shop (the salted caramel chocolate bar is one of the best candy bars I’ve had in my life), then went down to the Omni, and through there past the Country Music HOF Gift Shop and Hatch Show Print, which appeared closed.
Went back out to the Winter Park fan fest area, which had a lot of really cool freebies. I know it’s not the most authentic, but had really fresh, good to me, chicken and waffles from Hattie B’s at the event prepared in front of me. Made for a comfortable lunch. Also stopped in at the free TN Sports HOF nearby.
Walked down to bottom end of Broadway to go see Union Station (as an architecture buff), then into the library to take a break and do some work. From there, went into Hermitage Hotel lobby and bathroom as well. PS: were 1st and 2nd Aves badly damaged by a Tornado recently? It looked like it/that area was dead, only thing I saw open was the 21c Museum hotel.
Walked over on Riverfront Park from Fort Nashboro over a little ways through a kinda quiet stretch, then up and over past the Sounds park, and through Germantown. From there, I cut over across Bicentennial Mall, stopping in briefly at the State Library and Archives, the State Museum, the Farmer’s Market/Garden, the Map Plaza, and the James K Polk Burial site up at the top.
I then descended through that civic plaza and over past TPAC, and down 5th Ave to Broadway, just taking in the incredible energy of normal Broadway Traffic plus everyone heading into the game. I didn’t end up making it into Robert’s Western World, but I did make it to Luke Bryan’s further down for a drink, and got the fun but touristy idea.
From there, it was time to head into the stadium. I loved how pedestrian oriented the whole experience was, with people walking en masse across the river. It gave me serious European soccer vibes without having been to one of those. The stadium itself, perhaps some complain about the land use near such valuable real estate, but it is a tourist draw, and I imagine for concerts and etc, you guys probably get more use out of it than most NFL Stadiums see. The atmosphere, the concerts throughout, and the Lightning win to cap it off… everything was incredible. One of my favorite sports experiences. Got Slim & Husky pizza in Stadium, good stuff.
Anyways, I actually ended up walking back all the way to my spot east of Five Points because the traffic was such a cluster. I was probably safer and more in a crowd walking back than I would’ve been walking there, as basically the entire time there were at least a few people still straggling back from stadium, and Five Points itself was pretty active by that time of night. Quite a day. 15.4 miles, apparently!!
Sunday: Previous day was gonna be impossible to top. Since I really thoroughly explored downtown, I wanted to see more of the outskirts and suburbs. I went to Barista Parlor by car even though nearby, although honestly if you know where you’re going and walk with purpose and esp during the day, East Nashville seems really Walker friendly.
I took my car out towards Natchez Trace, stopping for biscuits/ham/gravy at Loveless Cafe, and then as recommended, taking it down as far as Leiper’s Fork to get a taste; and stopping for photo op at the bridge. Leiper’s Fork has a very bucolic look to it. Perhaps next time I will get on there and take it as far as Jackson Falls or the Meriwether Lewis site.
Went for a brief walk around Downtown Franklin and the nearby battlefield monument park. Then went to Percy Warner Park. That is really a gem for you guys. I would be there all the time. For the time I was there, I parked at the Allee and hiked up to Luke Lea Heights overlook. From there, went up to see view at Love Circle, went to Parthenon and walked around the lake, and caught a few innings of Vandy baseball. Went past the Peabody Quad real quick, nice part of campus, then to Fort Negley and back to place of stay to get some work done and relax for a little bit. Ended the day by walking out to Five Points Pizza, and playing some games at Up/Down (good pick!)
Monday: Final day. Went out to East Park Donuts to start the day (amazing Brioche Chocolate). From there, went up to Gaylord Opryland Conservatory (brief walk) and then to the Hermitage (more impressive than I thought, and nicely done nuanced commentary). Great walking and viewlines, and the house part is worth it for the added context and views of the Homer The Odyssey wallpaper. Then to the airport. I did manage to get BBQ at Puckett’s before taking off.
Thanks again for all your recommendations and insights! Hoping to be back soon, perhaps for one at Bridgestone next time!
The last tornado to hit downtown Nashville was March 2-3 2020. There may still be some evidence in East Nashville that have yet to be rebuilt.
The area of 1st 2nd north of Broadway most likely the result from the Nashville Bombing on Dec 25 2020. It has taken some time to evaluate & decide when buildings will be rebuilt. There was a ATT communications center that was severely damaged in the blast.
You can lookup Nashville 2020 tornado & Nashville 2020 bombing to have more details if you wish.
Overall thankful for your visit & your evaluations. Next time you should go into the Parthenon to see Athena.
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