Karen and I try to travel on or near our individual birthdays every year. Last year, we were in Cuba for Karen’s birthday. This year we headed to Tennessee…Nashville. Home of the Grand Ole Opry, BBQ, Hot Chicken and country music. I’m sure we’ll find other things to enjoy in the area, but we definitely plan to partake as many as possible! We are flying Southwest again – it’s a short 2-hour flight from DCA. It’s been many years since we were there so it’s going to be a very busy 3 days!
Our Southwest flight was a bit turbulent on the way to Nashville. But the crew was friendly. I love that the pilots wear American flag neckties. The ride from the airport to our hotel was fairly short; our room was ready when we checked in. We noticed that the balcony door (facing the main road) did not lock properly. A maintenance worker could not fix it so it was time to switch to another room, in another tower. Not what we wanted to do! Karen has Elite status with the hotel chain. We were very disappointed in our overall stay from the front desk to housekeeping.
The afternoon that we arrived in Nashville, we had tickets to visit Belle Meade Plantation. This was a renown horse breeding farm with many famous steeds in their stables over the years. Karen actually fed a peppermint candy to Seattle Slew’s grandson! The tour of the mansion was very interesting and our historian, Jeff, was knowledgeable as well as entertaining. Afterwards, we headed to the winery for a tasting of 4 Belle Meade wines. Karen and I enjoyed a delicious cheese plate at an outside table. I wish we had planned to spend more time at Belle Meade. All too soon, various buildings were closing and we were done way before we wanted to be!
Our next day started with a delicious breakfast at Puckett’s Grocery. Hand’s down, the best sausage gravy and fluffy biscuits I’ve ever had! And Karen enjoyed her Southern breakfast that included fried chicken, eggs and potatoes. We wandered the area and checked out a Woolworth’s restaurant, complete with original chairs. There were bands playing in many of the bars along Honky Tonk and Whiskey Way. It was a sight to see a tractor pulling a bar wagon full of patrons down the main drag. Day drinking is definitely alive in Nashville! Lots of bachelor and bachelorette groups partying on similar rolling bars. The rooftops of historical as well as newer buildings are full of bars, bands and patrons as well. We enjoyed bar-hopping and band-listening at John Rich’s Redneck Riviera, Blake Shelton’s Ole Red, Nudie’s Honky Tonk, Tootsies and a couple other places. We also enjoyed some great and unique bar food, such as homemade tater tots at Ole Red’s. YUM! Oh and Goo Goo Clusters! YES! We found a package with mini bite-sized Goo’s to enjoy. My Dad loved this candy and introduced us to it on our first trip to Nashville, many years ago.
We visited the Ryman Theater and Grand Ole Opry Backstage Tour, two very big venues for the Nashville area. If you do plan to purchase tickets for these venues, be aware that there is a distance between them. We took a 20-minute Uber for the trip. We had our picture taken on the Opry stage with the original circle of wood from the Ryman stage. We saw the dressing rooms for the stars performing at the Opry and heard stories about the Opry inductees.
Thankfully, there were no real mobility challenges on this trip. The sidewalks were wide and basically smooth. There are some elevated (hilly) areas to navigate depending on your destination. To get to the rooftop bars or basement rest rooms, simply ask an employee. They are only too happy to assist using the service elevators. Unless of course you prefer the stair-step exercise! All too soon, our visit to Music City was over. Time to start thinking about our next trip!
Don’t forget to check out the photos in the Nashville gallery in the sidebar!
Sign in a Bar:
WARNING
You are entering a Redneck Area.
You may encounter American Flags, Armed Citizens,
The Lord’s Prayer & Country Music.
Enter at your own risk!
Twenty Steps at a Time 