Visiting tn for the first time next summer what do y’all recommend (Memphis: appointed)

[hyechica]

Will be visiting tn sometime next summer what do y’all recommend
We will have a week to explore tn.

I am big on country music so we want to spend some
Time in Nashville
where can we get authentic bbq?
What’s the best place to line dance
Where can I get some western boots?
Any farms in tn that make homemade ice cream


We also want to go to the gatlinburg sky walk
How far is that from Nashville

There’s also some village I have seen on tv that I’m almost 100 percent sure is in tn
It’s like some German Christmas like place is that worth visiting?

Dolly world may be on the list depending on how far it is from Nashville


We are not 100% sure we want to stay directly in Nashville we may want to stay somewhere that’s like no more than 45 minutes to an hour
Any resorts or cabins for rent

We are flying from Connecticut

Anything else missing from the list we should see

[shinestx]

Originally Posted by hyechica

....
Time in Nashville
where can we get authentic bbq?
What’s the best place to line dance
Where can I get some western boots?
Any farms in tn that make homemade ice cream


We also want to go to the gatlinburg sky walk
How far is that from Nashville

There’s also some village I have seen on tv that I’m almost 100 percent sure is in tn
It’s like some German Christmas like place is that worth visiting?

Dolly world may be on the list depending on how far it is from Nashville

...
Any resorts or cabins for rent

...

Anything else missing from the list we should see

So much to do in Nashville. You can stay downtown where you won't need to drive everywhere, and traffic is terrible. Hotels start around $300/night in downtown and go up pretty fast. Authentic bbq is everywhere. Edley's and Martin's. The latter brought his cooking technique from Memphis; dry rubbed and slow smoked. Then again, you can find authentic bbq anywhere in Tennessee. Consistently, Helen's BBQ in Brownsville is claimed to be the best in the state. You can catch that off the 40 between Memphis and Nashville.

Line dance: Wild Horse Saloon on Second. There are others, but that's central and very large floor. It's also close to the other Honky Tonks on Broad where you can hear every type of C&W music. There are smaller dance floors at about a dozen places along Broadway. There's a big place out on Music Valley near Opryland, but I've forgotten the name.

Western boots are for sale everywhere. I'd suggest Music Valley again for boots. There are more competitors and every store in Downtown and Midtwon seems to market to the Bachelorette crowds which means larger markups. There's also an outlet mall at Music Valley at Opryland. The Opryland Hotel has an enormous indoor 'town' that's always dressed up in seasonal decorations. Plus, if you love C&W, you can't go to Nashville without visiting the Grand Ol Opry. A must see, and it's part of the Opryland complex. They even have an indoor water park. Shuttles also go back and forth between downtown and various other sites. You should look into staying at the Opryland Hotel. It's about 10 miles from downtown, so too far to walk to all the honky tonks. It's a suburban setting.

There are several local ice creameries. Of course, you can visit the regional dairy Mayfield in Athens if you want. And their products are premium. I wouldn't necessary feel that urge however, because Cruze Farms in Knoxville has an outlet for their farm-produced ice cream. If you have a night or two to spend in Knoxville, be sure to stay downtown and walk around. It's really beginning to take off as a boom town, but you can still catch it in its early quaint form. Market Square and Gay Street and Old City are fun to wander and eat. East Tennessee is actually noted for its dairy farms. There's some very good cheese made there too.

I'm not sure what Christmas town you're referring to, but there's a Christmas Inn in Pigeon Forge/Sevierville, very close to Gatlinburg, which itself does get dressed up for Christmas starting around late November. When you're in that area, you can visit Dollywood, which also puts out something like 2 million lights at Christmas. Next summer, when you're there, they will open their sixth coaster ride, their longest to date.

Sevierville and Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg are about an hour east of Knoxville. Knoxville is about 3 hours east of Nashville. Traffic is usually really heavy through Knoxville all the way to Gatlinburg (and taking the southern route) to Townsend and Cades Cove. I'd recommend visiting those spots in the Great Smoky Mountains during the middle of the week (Tues-Thu), and earlier in the day during that time. If you go to Cades Cove, take the 1 mile hike to Abrams Falls. Beautiful!

Lots of resorts, but naming the better known, you can look into the Graceland Resort in Memphis, which has a lot to offer. Memphis is a bit scruffy, but it has so much history. It's the sort of place that you like more and more the longer you're there. As far as cities go, it probably encompasses everything about the South as a region.... King cotton, Civil War battlefields (Shiloh, which is the only place I ever actually saw a ghost), early Southern urban center, riverboat town, "where the delta begins", civil rights/struggle and hope, Elvis/MLK, poverty, ultra-wealth and old aristocracy, scruffy and some of the prettiest suburbs anywhere. You won't be disappointed by the bbq. Memphis is known for its dry-rub ribs. Rendezvous is the best known of several top-notch "joints".

Resorts around Nashville - Nashville is fairly new to the massive resort game, but I mentioned the Opryland Hotel which is not a resort but a massive complex. Of course, a lot of the hotels in Downtown/Midtown and Green Hills are chains across the spectrum, and several have golf privileges. At least three of them cater to the convention sector. In Franklin there's Southall, which is very new. So I don't know much about it. There's the Hermitage Hotel downtown and several BNB's but I don't know if they have golfing privileges. You'll have to check. I know the Four Seasons which will be open by the time you visit does not have short-term rentals. There is a place north of Nashville which used to be known for its cuisine, but I haven't heard anything about it since before the pandemic. I can't think of any super duper classic resort around Nashville, but there are lots of "resort" hotels, such as the Franklin Curio Hilton, "The Harpeth" which is smack in the middle of the quaint town center. I don't know but would be very surprised if there's no golf option/package. I don't play golf. Nashville has no shortage of hotels with many spa options (see Opryland Hotel again). See also the Omni downtown Nashville. Then moving toward the east part of the state, the "granddaddy" of all Southern resorts is Blackberry Farm, about a half hour south of Knoxville. It's a very expensive and exclusive resort; recently the site of the wedding for Wayne Gretzky's daughter and Dustin Johnson. I've never stayed there, but several friends have. I've never heard a bad thing about it. Then of course, if yo visit Dollywood, there is the Dream More Resort adjacent to the park there. You can find lots of cool smaller resort type places in Tennessee, even in Chattanooga. With a little digging you can even find one that's on a lakefront with boating excursions. I wish I could help you on that one, but I've never checked for one.

EDIT: For resorts, you may be interested in several of the TN state parks. One of them, Fall Creek Falls, has a brand new hotel and golf. Also may be interested in Henry Horton State Park and Mongomery Bell near Nashville. My favorite is a somewhat small park Cumberland Mountain, but it has no hotel (just cabins).

[hyechica]

Thank you for the response!! It’s just me and my husband 40 something year olds
We are not looking to spend a lot on hotel/resort but if could
Find something that was nice for a good price will
Start looking up all the suggestions you mentioned

We will probably spend 2 days in Nashville then drive up somewhere towards the other things we wish to see.
I’m still trying to remember the Christmas like village it was a cross between Christmas and German stuff I’m pretty sure it was in tn because the show I watched was about a family from Knoxville area and they went to this place with lots of shops and things to do.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by hyechica

I’m still trying to remember the Christmas like village it was a cross between Christmas and German stuff I’m pretty sure it was in tn because the show I watched was about a family from Knoxville area and they went to this place with lots of shops and things to do.

That might've been Gatlinburg at Christmas. Or Helen, Georgia, which calls itself "the charm of Bavaria, in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains."

https://www.southernliving.com/trave...mas-traditions

[JJAF]

I highly recommend the Jack Daniels Distillery Tour in Lynchburg Tennessee. I've done it 3 times. Couple of different tours, one you get to taste the various whiskeys. Can even pick out your own barrel and they will bottle it for you... But make sure your credit card has 13,000$ left for limit lol... Can buy the barrels empty and engraved ect.... It will be warm around here during summertime and a lot of the tour is outside.

[GWoodle]

https://www.tnvacation.com/guide?gcl...&gclsrc=3p.ds&

Later the 2023 TNVacation Guide will be ready. You can view the 2022 on line version now.

Expecting all of TN to be fully open with no restrictions.

Plenty of BBQ to choose from.
Need to try Nashville hot chicken.
Line dance at one of the honky tonks on Broadway
Boot Barn, other places have Western boots

For 2 days depending on timing check out Grand Ole Opry, Country Hall of Fame
Check out Centennial Park & the Parthenon

Allow 3.5 hours Nashville to Knoxville & Dollywood, Gatlinburg
time for Smoky Mountain National Park

See if they have ice cream at Apple Barn

Somewhat depends how you get here. Many flights into BNA. If you do road tour depends on your route to TN. So many major interstates take you there.