Nashville Travel Guide for Grown Ups
My husband and I have had a lot of fun visiting our oldest son in Nashville in the 3 years since he moved there. We are impressed that he has become quite a good guide to his city. We have seen the sites and ate at some amazing restaurants in Nashville. I have prepared this Nashville Travel Guide for Grown Ups to help you see what is hip and fun without peddling around on one of those drinking trams!
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Nashville Travel Guide for Grown Ups: Where to Stay
We have stayed at chain hotels near our son’s apartment and we have also both slept on his couch on occasions. We have now stayed at The Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Of those options, The Opryland Hotel would be my 3rd choice. There are always great choices with VRBO if you would rather not stay in a hotel -and often it is a better deal!
We stayed at the Opryland Hotel because my husband was involved in a conference at the hotel. I think this is how most people end up staying there. While the Opryland Hotel is quite a sight to behold, it also requires a map to get from your room to almost anywhere in the hotel. You will feel like you are transported to a childhood day at Six Flags using a paper map trying to get to the log ride.
Everything at the hotel is extremely expensive and there are very few restaurants or other places near the hotel to grab food. It also costs $39/day to park a car. You will need a car because there are only a few things close to the hotel to do and see. If you are doing anything other than a conference and want to see Nashville, most everything is 20+ minutes away by car. There are way too many good restaurants in Nashville to waste your time and money at the hotel’s offerings.
Nashville Travel Guide for Grown Ups: What to Do
There are many, many things to do in Nashville. Whether you want country music, shopping, or history and museums. Here are some of the things we have done on our trips.
The Parthenon: Can’t make it to Greece? No worries. The world’s only full scale replica of the Parthenon is in Nashville. We toured the artwork on the first floor. I was unprepared for just how stunning and overwhelming the statue of Athena would be. I was recently watching Jeopardy and this statue was the answer to a final Jeopardy question! The Parthenon is located in Centennial Park, which is fun to walk around.
Tee Line Curling: When the weather is 100 degrees, then go find some place cool like a curling venue. We took an hour long curling lesson as a family and laughed while we learned what exactly they are doing in the Olympics. And, of course, it is harder than it looks!
Golf:
I don’t golf, but my son and husband report that they loved Gaylord Springs Golf Links.
The Hermitage: I visited the Hermitage by myself while my husband was in conference. The Hermitage is the homestead of President Andrew Jackson. It is a little weird to be from Oklahoma and walk around the estate of the guy responsible for the Trail of Tears, but history is history and I like to learn about it. The house and museum are interesting and I enjoyed the educational video at the start of the museum.
The Grand Ole Opry: I have been several times to the Opry. It is definitely worth an evening of your time to experience being a part of the radio show. You never know what country artist will show up that night.
Nashville Travel Guide for Grown Ups: Where to Shop
Opry Mills: I skipped this outlet mall. It is close to the Opryland Hotel if you happen to be staying there. I wanted to look in more local shops.
Nashville Farmer’s Market: The Farmer’s Market is full of food, shops, crafts, plants, produce, and entertainment. It is within walking distance of my son’s apartment. It is a don’t miss experience. You can walk over to the Capitol Mall Park from the Market.
12 South: The 12 South neighborhood is full of unique shops and restaurants including Reese Witherspoon’s Draper James. I bought a number of cute gifts and items at Serendipity. There are a number of restaurants also.
The Mall at GreenHills is an upscale shopping mall. They have several stores we don’t have in Tulsa like Arhaus and Crate and Barrel. There was also a Ballard Designs across the street. I was excited to go in there and see the things from their catalog in person.
There are many more shopping areas I have not gotten to yet, but will work in on future trips.
Nashville Travel Guide for Grown Up: Restaurants
Our son has selected many wonderful culinary experiences for us in his city. Here are some we have been to and loved.
Germantown Restaurants
German Town Cafe – My son and I went here for a Sunday brunch. It was amazing. I had the shrimp and grits.
Steadfast Coffee – I walked from my son’s Germantown apartment to this breakfast place. Like everything else in Germantown, it was charming and yummy. This area is buzzing with good food to check out.
Emmy Squared Pizza – This is not local, but still a good spot. Great pizza. We ate there one time late in the evening and had it delivered on another trip.
Little Hats – Little Hats is an Italian deli and market in Germantown. They have beautiful soups, salads, sandwiches, and pastas. The market offers many direct import Italian items. Not sure why, but I have several pictures of our sandwiches.
Lockeland Table – We visited Lockeland Table with our son. They have a brick oven for pizza. Their food is yummy!
Barcelona Wine Bar – Barcelona Wine Bar is my favorite restaurant I have visited in Nashville. It is a tapas menu. We started with the charcuterie and cheese and then selected 7 tapas plates to share. The scallops were out of this world! The staff was so nice and patiently answered every question about our choices.
The Frothy Monkey – We ate one of our breakfasts at the East Nashville location of The Frothy Monkey. I had the Huevos Rolandos. It was wonderful.
The Baked Bear – The Baked Bear is a franchised ice cream cookie bakery. You choose a cookie and then the filling. I took a picture of mine!
We will keep going back to Nashville to see our son and will try new restaurants and find new fun each time. I will keep adding to this Nashville Travel Guide for Grown Ups.
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