So, what's in Nashville?

February 12, 2009 1:44 PM

Road trip. Thinking of driving from northern Virginia to Nashville.

What can I see on the way? Any world's largest balls of twine? Natural wonders? Restaurants? Parks? Picnic locations? Pinball machines? Cool little hotels that I just have to stay in, even though I could totally make it down in one day?

I'm staying two, possibly three days. Any good concerts in the city? Restaurants? Dinner theaters? Street performers? Buildings? Markets? Monuments? Places to sit around and read a good book? Elvis impersonators?

Tell me the things I have to fit in, por favor.

Super cheap hotel advice would be excellent as well.

posted by Number Used Once to Travel & Transportation around Nashville, TN (11 answers total)

Response by poster: Whoops. I asked for happenings, and didn't give any dates. I'm driving down on 2/15 and coming back up on early 2/19.
posted by Number Used Once at 1:51 PM on February 12, 2009

Relatively new to Nashville myself, but I'd say no visit would be complete without a visit to Rosepepper.
posted by blucevalo at 2:10 PM on February 12, 2009

I have driven often to Nashville. Unless you go a long scenic route there's pretty much nothing in between. The good news is that 66-84-40 through VA only takes about 9 hours if you floor it. The better news is that Nashville is awesome. I haven't been there in a few years but Exit/In and 12th and Porter are great rock venues, and the area around Vanderbilt is full of shops bars cafes and so forth. If you need Bluegrass the Bluebird is decent though a bit touristy. Find the local alternative weekly to get updates on what's going on while you're there.

And when ordering meat and three mac and cheese is a perfectly acceptable "vegetable."
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:24 PM on February 12, 2009

If you have the time to drive 40w-75s-24n you can swing by The Lost Sea and Ruby Falls
posted by meeshell at 2:57 PM on February 12, 2009

Oh also the Sunsphere sun deck is open during the day.
posted by meeshell at 3:03 PM on February 12, 2009

Virginia wine country. That and there's a llama farm somewhere in central Virginia, right off I-81.
posted by j1950 at 3:06 PM on February 12, 2009

You could stop at Dinosaurland on your way out of Virginia. I also always enjoyed the trashy lunacy that is the Pigeon Forge/Sevierville/Gatlinburg area of Tennessee, near the Great Smoky Mountains. It's the home of Dollywood.
posted by hilaritas at 3:35 PM on February 12, 2009

I second both Dinosaur Land and Pigeon Forge/Sevierville/Gatlinburg. Pigeon Forge used to have not one but two miniature golf courses that had live bunnies on the course.

A friend and I drove from Alexandria to Memphis a few years ago, and we stopped at both the above mentioned Dinosaur Land and Pigeon Forge/Sevierville/Gatlinburg. Pigeon Forge used to have not one but two miniature golf courses that had live bunnies on the course. We also stopped at the Miniature Graceland in Roanoke and Luray Caverns.
posted by amarynth at 4:27 PM on February 12, 2009

Aw, crap. I only meant to post the second paragraph!
posted by amarynth at 4:28 PM on February 12, 2009

I use Pollstar to find out whether bands I like are going to be playing in places I'm visiting.
posted by lblair at 6:27 PM on February 12, 2009

I've always wanted to go to Nashville for the sole purpose of going to Hatch Show Print. You might recognize some of these posters, but they are also responsible for some very iconic letterpress images, like this Elvis poster, this Johnny Cash poster, and some of these country music posters might ring a bell. Hatch Show Print was and is super influential, and if you love music and deisgn, it's a must-stop on your Nashville visit. Please take a lot of pictures and share them with us!
posted by kidsleepy at 7:22 AM on February 13, 2009