5.09.2007

Boy Howdy

It's official: This weekend Kari and I are taking an impromptu trip to Nashville, TN, country music capitol of the world (and other crazy things I'm sure). I think if you lined up every Southern U.S. city, I'd say I've been most interested in Tennessee's twin music powers, Nashville (especially after seeing Robert Altman's Nashville late last year) and Memphis (also after seeing a movie, this time Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train several years ago).

I'll save Memphis for another day (it's reeeally far away), but a quick trip out to Nashville should be a good time. We're even heading out to the Grand Ole Opry (pictured above) for a night of good ol' fashioned entertainment. It's not my thing typically, but if you're going to see some old-timey country music, that's the place to do it!

Full report to follow...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Omigod! I l-o-v-e Nashville. I bet you'll have the best time. Great restaurants are aplenty.

Some suggestions:
*Pancake Pantry, 1796 21st Avenue South ( well-known pancake joint which, local publications will tell you, has people often waiting in line to get in.
*Margot Cafe and Bar, 1017 Woodland St., East Nashville
Has French and Italian cuisine in a comfortable yet trendy corner restaurant setting.
http://www.margotcafe.com
*Mirror, 2317 12th Ave S, a hipster tapas place
http://www.eatdrinkreflect.com/

If you are going through Bardstown, Ky., which everybody should, you should try Kurtz's. It's been serving homestyle food since 1937, web sites say. You may be the only people who don't have gray hair in the whole place but you'll leave full and happy. (Not too sure about the veggie offerings, though. In fact, I'm not sure they have vegetarians in Kentucky.)

:)

Ronson said...

Whoa, awesome! Thanks for the tips, Jen! I'm sure we'll hit at least one of those places (Mirror sounds good) - as right now we have absolutely no plans for dining. Very cool!

AE said...

Hi Ronson,
I hope y'all have a great trip. Be warned that the Opry House is not really near anything at all. (I think this time of year the shows are out at the Opry House rather than at the Ryman downtown, which is a shame.) The only thing it's near is the Opryland Hotel, which is worth stopping in and walking around if you're out there. Also, it is near an outlet mall. But the shows are great.

Jen is on the money about Pancake Pantry and Margot. I highly recommend visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, which is downtown and very spiffy. You can burn your own CD mix of country favorites! Even Mike liked it. And from there you can walk over to Broadway and down to 2nd Avenue and the riverfront. Don't miss Ernest Tubb's Record Shop, Tootsie's Orchid Lounge or Hatch Show Print, which are all right there. You'll be close enough to the Ryman that you can swing through the lobby and check out the life-size statues of Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff.

Gosh, have a great time. I'm jealous.

Kari said...

Wow, this is awesome. Who needs travel books or sites when you've got blog friends to show you the way? Thanks for the tips, ladies!

Jen said...

How was it???

Ronson said...

It was a lot of fun! Just waiting for some photos before I recap. Thanks again (to Jen and Anne Elizabeth) for your tips -- we did almost everything you mentioned!

Full report coming tonight or tomorrow...