Weekend Getaway - Nashville
Now that I’ve been living in Indy for a couple of years, it seems like it’s so much easier to visit larger cities and have more weekend getaways! When my best friend Laura spontaneously asked me to go to Vegas the week after the new year started, I was more than down for some fun. However, hotels for $300 a night didn’t sound like our idea of fun so we settled on Nashville, a city she had been to a few times but I’d never had the pleasure of visiting. The recommendations we got were incredible and we had so many options to choose from, so thank you to every friend and blogger that ended up giving us some amazing memories!
I’ve broke down this Weekend Getaway into categories since that is what we separated things into when planning our spontaneous road trip so hopefully you can add this to your own list when you head down to Music City! We also loved our Airbnb located in East Nashville which was a less than 10 minute uber ride to Broadway where all the fun happens, and they even had a cute little garden with chickens that we made sure to check on and say hi to every morning.
I’ve noticed other Nashville guides had lots of great recommendations but it seemed like they were missing key directions on how to get to certain murals or restaurants. I’ve labeled each bullet point with a number that will correspond with a number on the map at the bottom of this post so it can be easy to reference! Hopefully my list is a little more explanatory and clear so let me know if you find any of these places yourself! There are obviously hundreds of murals in and around Nashville so this is in no way comprehensive, just some of the favorites that we found!
Poses to Do:
1 - I Believe in Nashville - For this classic mural, I would just type in the 12 South Draper James location since it is in the alley across from the store. Also, we popped into the store because Reese Witherspoon is my girl crush and we were welcomed with little complimentary sweet teas! Ah, southern hospitality…
2 - Nashville Looks Good on You - Once you are done grabbing some pictures at “I Believe in Nashville”, grab some coffee from Frothy Monkey and make your way to the parking lot behind the building. It may look sketch but here you’ll find this mural which is another classic.
3 - Drippy Lips - I would catch this mural after having some brunch at the Pancake Pantry since they are right down the street from each other, in between the Gulch and 12 South, near Vanderbilt University. We ended up going the day before we went to brunch and had to park in a random alley and run so we wouldn’t need to pay for parking but there are lots behind Pancake Pantry so you can take your time!
4 - What Lifts You - This mural is another famous one, and we actually have one by the artist Kelsey Montague in Indy by CityWay! Located in the Gulch, you can use the parking garages for one hour of free parking to take your time getting all the poses in that you want and still have some time for shopping.
Things to Do:
5 - Grand Ole Opry - If you want to get a taste of Nashville culture and history but don’t have the money to tour the Country Music Hall of Fame or the Frist Art Museum, I definitely suggest going to the Gaylord Opryland Resort Gardens. You could wander around it for days, it seriously feels like if the Rainforest Cafe and the Cheesecake Factory had a baby. I have so many questions about how and why there is an entire jungle and waterfalls inside this building but it was amazing to see and actually very romantic if you are looking for a date night in Nashville. This is located past East Nashville so it is away from the hustle and bustle of downtown. We parked at a mall next to the huge complex since we didn’t want to pay $32 for parking (not exaggerating).
6 - SMACK Clothing - When I visit a new city, I love looking at local thrift shops or secondhand stores since the variety is much wider and there are tons of different styles in different cities. Thanks to @indiefoxx, we decided to visit SMACK and do some thrifting! I found so many cool and quirky things and ended up buying a great graphic tee with the infamous Andy Warhol Campbell’s Soup print.
7 - Shopping in the Gulch - Before I visited the Gulch, I expected it to remind me of one of those rickety wooden rollercoasters at a rundown amusement park (I’m sure I’ve ridden one that had “gulch” in the name), but I was shocked to find a highly urban area that is currently developing rapidly. We found so many cute stores, and I ended up buying a ball cap from Kittenish even though I only know like one Jessie James Decker song, but hey, I like cats. You could spend a lot of time wandering in and out of shops in this area!
8 - Easy Eye Sound Studio - If you know me, you know I live and breathe the Black Keys, so I knew that I had to make a pilgrimage to their studio while in Nashville. All I really got out of this stop was a picture with a weird door but for me that is absolutely all I needed (although I was hoping they’d “accidentally” pop out and say hi)! So much musical history has happened for the Black Keys in Nashville and it was amazing to see the city they love so much.
Things to Eat:
9 - Five Daughters Bakery - This place is a Nashville staple, and even though I don’t really like most sweet foods, I am always down for a donut. These 100 layer donuts are super filling and they have all kinds of flavors, even ones with bacon on them. I settled for a New Year Citrus, which had lemon curd filling and was sooo sweet but had that tartness I needed. The inside is definitely instagrammable so make sure you take all your pictures before scarfing down your donuts!
10 - Bartaco - Bartaco has many locations around the country, but the Nashville one needs to be closer to Indy for sure, it could give Bakersfield a run for their money. Each taco has unique ingredients and you can even build your own, kind of like the system they have at Condado. The drinks were great too, like the Reviver cocktail with gin, cucumber, pineapple, and mint.
11 - Frothy Monkey - Down the street from Five Daughters and Bartaco is Frothy Monkey, making 12 South the place to be for food, drink, and murals. We enjoyed the cozy, hippie vibes of the interior and had a great time just sitting and relaxing with some rosemary lattes before doing more sightseeing in the 12 South area.
12 - Milk and Honey - If you’re looking for the perfect brunch, Milk and Honey has it all. All I wanted after a night out was some sourdough toast, but Laura got this amazing biscuit breakfast sandwich that was southern through and through. They even have cold raw pressed juices to keep you hydrated and ready for more shopping in the Gulch where the restaurant is located.
13 - Paradise Park Trailer Resort - The name and location are a little deceiving but if you are looking for some food before hitting up Broadway, look no further than Broadway itself. Paradise Park is on the main drag and has amazing sliders, fries, and $6 pitchers so gear up and get ready for more once you’re done eating as many sliders as you can!
14 - Pancake Pantry - Pancake Pantry is a Nashville keystone, and we can definitely see why. They obviously serve pancakes with all kinds of syrups and toppings, as well as traditional breakfast foods like bacon, eggs, sausage, and hash browns. I got a great breakfast wrap that had potato, runny eggs, and bacon inside of a wrap, so you could say it was the perfect breakfast all wrapped up in one.
Things to Drink:
15 - Tootsies - Tootsies has hosted all of the Nashville greats and the live music never stops here. It seems like about every bar on Broadway has multiple floors and each one has a different local band. Here we were able to sit at a little bar right behind the band and the bass player even offered us a phone charger, so if you’re looking to make it in country music, maybe fraternize with the local bands here a little. Make sure to tip the band you’re seeing, they may even take a request from you and play it live!
16 - Acme Feed and Seed - I love a bar that has an ample amount of seating, and with many floors, Acme has just that. This place used to be exactly what it’s called, a feed and seed barn so the ceilings are very high and you can still feel the history inside it. We also got some amazing shots on the rooftop and I would love to visit Nashville again in the summer when it’s a lot warmer, although it wasn’t bad for January!
17 - Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row - Dierks Bentley is one of my favorite country music artists so it was only right that we visit his namesake on Broadway. While there wasn’t much dance floor room, the band was so great and it was amazing to see the variety of voices and talents in each bar we went to. We actually didn’t hit up too many since we stayed over an hour at each place just wanting to take it all in.
18 - The Stage - The Stage was one of the last bars we visited on our trip, and it was definitely a classic Broadway bar. The band played music from all genres and all decades but always came back to country. It was so cool to be in a city where the country music genre is so important and incredibly alive. No bars had cover charges and the bands were free to see, so it was very cool to see local live music being supported in such a way.
19 - Honky Tonk Central - Laura had said that this was her favorite bar since she’s been to Nashville a few times so I wanted to check it out with her and see what it was like. We will say, the first night we went out around 7 PM which was waaay too early, bars weren’t really busy until 9 PMish, so depending on what kind of evening you’re looking for hopefully that helps you decide what time to leave. Since it was early, the bar wasn’t too full but the band played a request for us and it was a great time.
20 - Dirty Little Secret - While we were eating at Paradise Park, one of the bartenders told us about a bar in Printer’s Alley where a DJ was having his last set in town before moving. This was the closest thing we got to a speakeasy in Nashville and it was very cool to see what the ‘not so country’ club scene was like and have an inside scoop into local music events.
So that is it for my Weekend Getaway, Nashville style! Hopefully this list was long enough for you to find new things to do in Nashville if you’ve been before, or excite you for your first trip! Let me know what places you’re adding to your list and what you think of Nashville in the comments!
Maps
Poses to Do Map
Things to Do Map
Things to Eat Map
Things to Drink Map