Nashville!
We were struck by how similar Nashville is to Seattle in some ways— lots of construction and cranes, skyrocketing rents, technology start-ups, vegan/gluten-free bakeries(!) Unlike Seattle, which has 1001 places to buy fleece, Nashville has 1001 places to buy cowboy boots...and although music is a big deal in Seattle, it is positively unavoidable in Nashville.
Here's a run-down of some of what we've seen & done so far.
Art
The Frist Center for the Visual Arts
The Frist Center for the Arts is housed in a former Post Office, built in 1933 as part of a depression era works program (prior to the New Deal). They offer a free architectural tour the first Saturday of the month at 4:30pm — we recommend it before the monthly art crawl! If you want to take in the art it'll cost you $12. The museum has no standing collections. It hosts about 4-5 traveling exhibitions each year.
Frist Center for the Visual Arts is housed in a former Post Office.
From Claire Morgan - Stop me feel exhibit. Taxidermy and bits of plastic, bugs and other naturally found items make for surprisingly beautiful pieces!
When the building was a Post Office.
The designers chose from a standard set of architectural elements available for use in Government buildings at the time.
Sand Mandala from the Buddhist Art Exhibit.
The Parthenon
If you saw, "The Parthenon" and said, "Huh?" You are not alone. It was built for Nashville's Centennial celebration in 1897 and is a replica of the one in Greece. The City's leadership felt it would help to instill respect for the arts and philosophy. It later became the city's art museum. It's worth a visit if only to walk around outside (entrance fee is $6 to see the art.) It sits across the street from Vanderbilt University and next to the Centennial Park, which includes a small body of water and lots of trees and flowers.
Hatch Show Print Shop
The Hatch Show Print letterpress print shop is now housed in and part of the Country Music Hall of Fame. We took the tour ($18) and it was worth it. You learn about the history of this 130-year-old shop and letterpress printing and get to make your own print. The shop started printing bibles and hymnals, became the printer for all shows at the Grand Ole Opry in its heyday, and made it through the lean years of the 1970s by printing wrestling posters! It still prints show posters and has moved into licensing its work.
Hatch Show Print Shop - you can see the blocks used in the printing along the back wall.
Wendy's sister makes a print.
Country Music Hall of Fame Museum
You don't see cars like this everyday.
We originally skipped the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum, due to the $25 entry fee and our limited appreciation of the genre. We changed our minds and decided to go, not knowing it was the day they were celebrating their 50th anniversary. We only had to pay $1.50 to get in — what it cost back in 1967!
Graham Parsons' stage outfit.
Commemorative 50th annivesary Hatch Show Print — Free!
Hank Williams' cowboy boots.
Music
When we asked some Nashville natives "Is there anything we absolutely MUST do while we are here," they gave us along list, all of which involved music except one (the Parthenon).
The Ryman
The Ryman
We went to a show at The Ryman (Regina Spektor!), which was a former church that house the Grand Ole Opry until the 1970s.
The venue fell into disrepair until the 1990s when Emmylou Harris recorded a Grammy-winning album there, which drew in investments that brought it back to life.
The sound is great and there really isn't a bad show in the house. (The Hatch Print Shop prints show posters for all shows — $20 each, but get in line for them early. They only print 200 for each show and they go fast!)
Seating is church pews.
Regina Spektor
Station Inn
The Station Inn - get there early. Doors open at 7pm and seats fill quickly!
We took in the free Sunday night Bluegrass jam at the Station Inn — if you go get there early (there was a line when we got there at 6:45pm, doors at 7pm) and sit in the front or the middle...it's hard to hear otherwise. The Station Inn has been around since 1974 and is now surrounded by the shiny and new Gulch neighborhood — full of high-rise apartments, hotels, and fancy restaurants. But this place is decidedly laid back; in between songs they call out food orders "Ron and Dave to the bar, please!" Curt liked it so much he is planning to go back every Sunday!
War Memorial Auditorium
This has nothing to do with country music, but we can't miss our chance to plug The Flaming Lips! Always a fun show, always an experience — if you ever get a chance to see them, DO!
Honky Tonk Row
Honky Tonk Row - The District
We inadvertently ended up on Honky Tonk Row/ The District at 12pm on a Saturday and were TAKEN ABACK at how busy things were at that hour. If you want to hear country or cover-bands, this is the place for you. It's also home to more afternoon Bachelorette parties and boot shops than we've ever seen in one place!
Honky Tonk Row
Johnny Cash Museum
The Johnny Cash Museum is also in this neighborhood. It's most impressive for the personal memorabilia they have — elementary school report cards, pay stub from a two-week job in Michigan, etc. It's worth a visit if you are a big fan, or if you grab the 2 for 1 deal on Groupon (we did!)
Gettin' Outside!
We'll be doing some camping in April — too cold in March, plus it snowed! — until then, we have taken advantages of hiking trails in Percy-Warner Park, in the tony Belle Meade area of the city. (Free!)
"Small World" one of the more interesting mansions in the Belle Meade area.
Cheekwood Gardens
She's weird, isn't she?
In that same area, we also visited Cheekwood Gardens — sadly, the mansion that houses the art museum was closed for restoration while we were there. It made the $20/person admission fee a bit steep. However, the gardens are lovely and we learned a lot about daffodils at the annual daffodil bloom show (Who knew?!)
There's also no shortage of "urban" hiking to be done while exploring Nashville. Parking downtown is pricey, so we tend to park and wander around quite a bit on foot. They also have a bike rental program in the city, if you prefer to roam on wheels!
Mural in the District.
We've got about three weeks left in Nashville before we head back to Virginia. We have a few more music venues to visit and need to cross the Cumberland River to see what's going on in hipster East Nashville. We also want to pop back to Alabama to see The Rosenbaum House, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. We look forward to sharing more about that when it happens!