Next on the list of completing my 50 states goal is the Music City! I’ve heard such amazing things about Nashville that I wanted to see for myself.

Why Nashville?

My friends that have visited Nashville in the past have said nothing but great things about the city – the music, the energy, the love for our country. We didn’t get a chance to go on any tours, so most of the background information is done through research. Who knew I discovered a love for tours in new cities!

Nickname: Music City

If we were to go back to Nashville, I’d definitely want to go on tours to learn more about Nashville’s history – especially how it became the Music City and how it became what it is today.

According to my brief research, the nickname came from the 1800s for several reasons. At that time, Nashville was the national place for music publishing. A popular music group called Fisk Jubilee Singers came from Nashville’s Fisk University and they were the first musical act to tour around the world. It’s been said that the Queen of England was the first person to call Nashville the Music City.

In the mid-1900s was when Nashville officially claimed the title of Music City. A radio announcer, David Cobb, gave Nashville that nickname, and ever since then, it stuck.

Bachelorette City

I’ve also heard from many friends that Nashville is known to be a hot spot for Bachelorette parties, and I can see why. There are so many cute places to visit for brunch and dinner, as well as drinks. Broadway is the most popular strip that you’ll see – stretching over 4 blocks, there are over 30 bars. In every corner, you’ll see several groups of Bachelorette parties bar hopping.

What We Did in Nashville

We took a late flight on Friday after work and arrived in Nashville around midnight. When it comes to traveling, we’re last-minute planners, so we weren’t able to find a hotel until hours after we landed in Nashville. We called several hotels and it seemed like the hotels that had any open rooms were over $600/night, which was more than what we wanted to spend.

After several hours (around ~3 am) and calling nearly 60 hotels, we were able to find a motel for a little over $200/night north of Nashville. The place was, to be frank, very dumpy. The locks on the doors were broken and the area was a bit underdeveloped. We were really scared, to say the least. Luckily it was only for that night. We just needed a place to sleep before we can figure out a more concrete plan.

Lesson learned – find a place and figure out an itinerary before our next trip, ha. Otherwise, you’ll spend a few hours after landing trying to figure out a place to sleep.

Our First Day: Farmers’ Market, Broadway, Liberty Common, Hampton Social

After spending the night at one of the sketchiest motels, we checked into our next hotel that was still slightly sketchy, but a lot better than where we were staying before. We then ventured down to Nashville Farmers’ Market.

Nashville Farmers’ Market

The Farmer’s Market was founded in the early 1800s, located right next to the Tennessee State Museum and Bicentennial Mall State Park. We grabbed some barbeque from B&C Market and coffee from Farm City Coffee.

The weirdest thing happened to me. While we were waiting for our coffee, I walked over to the trash and there were two janitors were cleaning out the trashcan. One of them looked at me and asked if I was single and told me how much he wanted to date an Asian girl. He then also asked if I had any Asian friends with me that I can introduce him to. It was bizarre because he asked if I think he had a chance with Asians, and I just told him that at the end of the day, as long as you’re a good person, you can date whoever you want…

How awkward.

Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park

After grabbing lunch at the Farmers’ Market, we walked around the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, where we learned a lot about Tennessee’s history. We also walked around Downtown Nashville and made our way to Broadway where we bar hopped a few places but didn’t end up drinking.

Liberty Common

After exploring Broadway, we headed over to Liberty Common where we had our dinner reservation. We ate a light dinner because we wanted to go drinking afterward, but didn’t want to have a high tolerance, ha.

Hampton Social

Right next to Liberty Common is the Hampton Social, a very modern and coastal bar. We probably took about 4 shots each and then walked back to Broadway where we continued to bar hop and try to get drunk.

While drunk, we fell in love with country music and started embracing our patriotism. Later that night, it started raining and we tried calling an Uber to go back to the hotel, but it took nearly an hour and a half. Our first Uber canceled because they couldn’t even find us, which was a disappointment since they didn’t bother calling or texting to let us know that they were in the area.

Our Second Day: Otaku Ramen, Parthenon

On our final day, we stopped by Otaku Ramen for food.

Otaku Ramen

Originally, we wanted to go to Milk & Honey, but there was a long line to put your name on the waitlist – the waitlist itself was over an hour wait, so we were approximately looking at waiting over an hour and a half. We then walked around the Gulch looking for food options that had little to no wait time, which we stumbled upon Otaku Ramen.

Nashville Parthenon

After grabbing our first meal of the day, we went to our final destination of this trip: the Parthenon. The Parthenon in Nashville is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens. It was designed by architect William Crawford Smith and was built in 1897.

Next Time: Redneck Comedy Bus Tour, Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage

Because our trip was such a spontaneous one, we didn’t really have time to plan some of the activities we wanted to do. I’d love to spend a little bit more time exploring Nashville. I’ll be back in mid-January for a work trip, but unsure if I’ll be able to go out and explore during the little free time we may or may not have.

Redneck Comedy Bus Tour

If we do come back to Nashville for a vacation as opposed to a work trip, I’d love to do the Redneck Comedy Bus Tour. We heard about this from our Uber driver, who recommended that. I love comedy and rednecks, so that will be a must-see when we come back to Nashville.

Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage

Second on our list is Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage. You’ll be able to peek at former President Jackson’s mansion at the Hermitage. There are a few options on what kind of tours they offer, including a wine tasting! It would be so educational to learn more about one of our former Presidents.

What’s Next on the List?

As I mentioned earlier, I’ll be in Nashville again in mid-January, but I’m not entirely sure if there will be time to explore the city. We were also in Las Vegas recently, so expect a blog post on that soon. I’ll be in Vegas again to celebrate the New Year, so that’s on deck.

Besides the frequent Vegas trips and an upcoming work trip to Nashville, there aren’t any concrete plans. We definitely want to travel to Austin, Texas to visit some friends out there, but we will see!