A winter-break visit to Nashville

Cathy writes:
The kids and I took a much-needed vacation during the week before Christmas, the start of their winter break from school. Our destination was Nashville, also known as Music City. I’ve been there before, but it was the first visit for Chris and Steph - and hopefully not their last.

On our way there we stopped at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky.


There are literally hundreds of miles of caves underground, some of which were discovered in the 1800s. We took a ranger-led tour that lasted nearly two hours and covered approximately two miles through the oldest, most historic sections of the famous caverns. Some sections had ceilings less than 4 feet high and passageways no wider than your hips, so it was a challenging trek. Despite the difficulties, it is quite breathtaking to witness - and to imagine visitors from past centuries being there. Chris and Steph really enjoyed Mammoth Caves.

That evening, we had dinner at the famous Loveless Café, just outside Nashville. It started out as a motel back in the 1950’s. Now it's a restaurant known for its homemade biscuits. Our dinner there was delicious.

The next day began with rain showers, but we didn’t let that deter us. We ventured downtown, which was just a few blocks from our hotel, We purchased visitor passes at the city’s visitor center, next door to the Bridgestone Arena, home of the Nashville Predators NHL team.

From there it was only a block's walk to the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. Besides the permanent exhibits about the history of Country Music, there was a special display featuring Patsy Cline. The photo at right shows Chris in the Hall where the plaques of all the Hall of Fame members are displayed.

Just outside the Museum is the Walk of Fame, which honors artists from all musical genres that have contributed to the music industry within Nashville. We passed through there on our way to Broadway to have lunch at Roberts Western World, one of the many honky-tonks at the heart of the city. Afterwards we grabbed dessert at the Hard Rock Café, located near the Riverfront Park area where concerts are often held in the summer.


Here is where we next boarded the Music City Trolley to tour many sights around town. You can hop on and off the trolley at a variety of locations around town. Our tour guide was a young aspiring musician filled with lots of facts about the locations we saw along the way. Highlights of the tour included Bicentennial Park, Antique Archeology (featured on the TV show “American Pickers”) and Music Row.

Click the image above (or click here) to see all Cathy's photos, and click below to read the rest of her account.)

We spent the evening at Opry Mills Mall, just outside of town near the Grand Ole Opry and Gaylord Opryland Resort & Hotel. The Rockettes were performing their holiday show at the Opry, so that made for additional traffic in the area and also meant that the Opry Backstage Tour was not available. Since it was close to Christmas, there were lots of shoppers at the mall that night as well. We had dinner, did some shopping and saw a movie before heading back to the hotel.

The next day was clear and windy so we drove out to the Parthenon. This building is an exact replica of the Parthenon in Greece. It was built in Nashville in 1897 for the city's Centennial celebration. Inside is an impressive 42-foot-tall statue of Athena as well as an art museum featuring 19th and 20th Century American artists.

For lunch we went to Puckett’s Grocery, known for down-home southern cooking. The barbequed pork was fantastic. Afterwards we walked a couple of blocks to the Ryman Auditorium, known as the Mother Church of Country Music. This was the Grand Old Opry’s first home until 1974, when the show moved to its newer location near Opryland. We took the backstage tour at Ryman and were shown some of the dressing rooms. We learned about the history of the building, the Opry show, and many famous artists that have graced the stage - Minnie Pearl and Johnny Cash among others. Chris even had his picture taken on the stage.

That evening we returned downtown to have dinner at Demo’s, known for their steaks and spaghetti. Then we walked back to the Ryman to see the "Opry at the Ryman" show. I had purchased our tickets months beforehand, long before it was announced who would be performing. We lucked out because among the performers that night were ‘Little’ Jimmy Dickens, "Whispering" Bill Anderson, Ricky Skaggs, and one of Steph’s favorites, The Band Perry. It was fascinating seeing the live show, when in the past we’ve only listened to it online.


On Saturday morning we opted to skip breakfast at the hotel and eat at a Nashville landmark, The Pancake Pantry. The line to get in wasn’t as long as expected. Sometimes it goes around the block! Naturally the pancakes were yummy there and very filling, so that ended up being our only meal until dinner.

From there we drove out to visit The Hermitage. This is the home of former President Andrew Jackson. The visitor center provided a great overview of his life and history. Then we toured the restored mansion. Much of the wallpaper and furnishings there are original, dating back to the early 1800s. We walked around some of the grounds and saw additional buildings, as well as where both Jackson and his wife Rachel are buried.

That evening we paid a second visit to the mall, drove past the Christmas lights on display at Opryland and had dinner at Dave & Buster’s. This allowed the kids to play some games and relax before our journey back to Ohio the next day.

Chris and Steph liked Mammoth Cave and The Hermitage the best, while my favorite part of the trip was the Opry show at the Ryman. Hopefully we can plan another trip to Nashville someday to see more of this beautiful city.