Weekend in Nashville

This post is not a definitive “what to do in Nashville” sort of article, not by a long shot. But I had a weekend in Nashville, Tennessee, recently with my two best friends and thought I’d talk about it.

Union Station

Our stay was just an overnight, which we did in style at the Union Station Hotel, right on Broadway. Union Station was originally a grand train station, serving Nashville from 1900-1979. It reopened as a hotel in 1986. Consequently, this 125-room hotel has a massive, soaring lobby with a curved stained-glass ceiling and giant chandeliers. If you go up to the fifth-floor balcony, you can get a good look at relief marble carvings of a chariot on one end and a steam locomotive on the other.

The rooms themselves are nice enough, though not any larger than your average hotel room, and ours had an intrusive (and cheap-looking) armoire instead of a closet, which takes up extra space. However, the bathroom was pretty fabulous, with a waterfall shower head and a well-lighted mirror. But I didn’t like the towels, especially the black makeup towel. You’d expect softer towels from a premium hotel.

Union Station Hotel is within reasonable walking distance of the touristy part of downtown, which is good because you have to pay $45 per day for valet parking. I personally would hate to have to repark – and repay – in town. There is no self-park option at the hotel unless you find a nearby unaffiliated parking garage. As far as I can tell, there’s really not even a place to park just to unload your stuff and check in, though you might try to risk it from the Frist Museum or Post Office parking lots that are close at hand. I will say, the valets were universally super helpful and charming.

Ryman Auditorium Tour

Our big attraction for the weekend was a tour of the Ryman Auditorium. Opened in 1892, the Ryman is considered the “mother church of country music” and even hosted the Grand Ole Opry from 1943-1974. I love that it kept running for so long due to the sheer determination of one lady, Lula Naff, who effectively took it from a house of worship in 1904 to a cathedral of country and the birthplace of bluegrass.

The self-guided tour starts in a fancy theater with projection effects, outlining the history of the Ryman. Plenty of country stars make an appearance. Then you walk a path through the auditorium itself, past video screens and museum cases that describe different aspects of the history of the auditorium. There are a lot of clothes, posters, and instruments that are fun to look at. And you can get your picture (almost) on the Ryman stage! Photos are included in your tour price.

I like that you get to walk around the auditorium and it’s not just some side museum. The wooden walls and pew benches almost ooze with history and music. I’d love to see a concert here! And it’s not just country music! The Beach Boys were playing the night we toured. Currently scheduled is Slash, Bob Dylan, Lourde, and a Disney princess concert, among many others.

To take the self-guided tour costs $27 for folks age 12 and up and $17 for kids 4-11. Visit anytime between 9 am-4 pm, though occasionally it does close earlier for the evening’s performance. There are concerts at the Ryman almost every evening, to check the schedule, click here.

Parthenon

I’ve lived in Tennessee my entire life and never manage to see Nashville’s replica of the Parthenon until now! Back when the United States loved to put on large exhibitions to showcase local history and innovation, Nashville got in on the act with the 1897 Centennial Exposition, to celebrate the state’s 100th anniversary. After the six-month exposition was over, all the other buildings were dismantled except for the Parthenon, which cemented Nashville’s nickname as the “Athens of the South.”

Now, the Nashville Parthenon sits in Centennial Park, a nice open space with a small lake, walkways, swings, monuments, and general outdoor recreation. By far the biggest attraction in it is the Parthenon. It’s a full-size replica of the ancient one in Athens, Greece, including a 42-foot statue of Athena inside. But what I didn’t realize is that there’s an art museum inside the base of the Parthenon, with corridors that display history from the exhibition.

To park and walk around Centennial Park is free, but to go inside and see the art museum and the Athena costs $10 for adults and $8 for kids 4-17 and seniors 62 and over. They charge a credit card fee, so pay in cash to avoid the extra charge. The Parthenon is open Wednesday-Saturday from 9 am-4:30 pm and Sunday 12:30-4:30 pm. It’s closed Mondays, and more recently, also Tuesdays. I’m not sure if that’s winter hours or pretty normal for them – the website only lists the hours for the current week.

Bookstores

We spent a fair amount of our weekend in bookstores around Nashville. We ended up in Half Price Books after dinner on our first night. Then toured Parnassus, Rhino Booksellers, and tried to find Mostly Happy Books inside an antique mall. Parnassus is a gloriously happy shop, co-owned by author Ann Patchett and frequently hosts author talks and signings. Rhino Booksellers is a warren of impossibly high bookshelves and rooms that make it feel like a shop from Narnia or Harry Potter – in a gritty, Diagon Alley sort of way. Mostly Happy Books is broken up into different stalls in the antique mall and a little hard to find. Half Price Books is like a smaller McKay’s, with books, records, and collectibles.

Food

We aren’t big spenders when we eat, so our restaurant options were modest. There’s no breakfast at the Union Station Hotel, so we walked to Rise Biscuits and really enjoyed their menu of “righteous” chicken biscuits and donuts. They also make “biscuit beignets” fresh to order.

We had dinner the night before at Dalt’s Grill, an oversized diner with a huge menu. And lunch on our departure day was at Martin’s BBQ Joint for authentic ribs, pulled pork, and orange Nehi.

We did splurge on drinks in the bar at Union Station Hotel – and a splurge it was, each drink is around $20! I did enjoy my “sage travels” cocktail, however. They have a whiskey brewed just for the hotel, which you can get straight or mixed into an Old Fashioned.

Conclusion

Again, this is not a definitive “how to spend a weekend in Nashville” post, but our weekend was a lot of fun! All the downtown attractions seem to cost ~$20 a pop, so that can rack up pretty quickly. You can have fun in Nashville without spending all the money. (Or riding around in a party bus.)