Weekend in Nashville

While sipping coffee outside of the Ryman, my husband and I discovered there is not a whole lot to do in Nashville, TN when we both googled “what to do in Nashville.” All of the lists referenced a few things – go to a concert at the Ryman (we didn’t have tickets), tour the Grande Ole Opry (too far), listen to live music at the Honky Tonks, shop/ dine in the Gulch area, and see a replica of the Parthenon.

The fact that the Parthenon replica was on everyone’s list seemed to spotlight the lack of things to do other than day drink in Nashville… so we walked in a number of different spots until we settled on the six story restaurant, The Diner, and took an elevator to the sixth floor.

The Diner

The sixth floor has sushi and a terrifying balcony in the shape of a tiny triangle with views of the city. I took a photo of the city with one hand wrapped around the doorframe and my back plastered to the window while the bartender kept the door open. The picture is not even that cool but I didn’t plummet to my death so let’s all admire the shot I got, ok?

Our bartender recommended The Loser for a spot with excellent music without huge crowds (Dave Grohl has randomly showed up to play there!) so off we went.

Honky Tonks

After a few beers and no Dave Grohl, we sauntered down the street. We were about to give up and head back to the hotel when we encountered this:

Axe Throwing and Game Room.

Game on.

Downtown Sporting Club place is two floors of awesome. Board games at the tables, a lounge area with old beach chairs sitting around televisions on top of putt putt grass, an axe throwing section, beer pong, golden tee, and excellent live music.

Do you remember day drinking in your twenties and seeing old people in the bar? “Old” is now like 99 to me. But back in my 20s, I would have called a 40-year-old woman “ma’am” most likely. And here we were. I don’t want to brag, but we rocked it. We sang along to Dixieland Delight, drank a few beers, played Golden Tee, and took photos in a photo booth. But we never hurled axes at a wall.

When we left around 3, the streets were buzzing. Nashville is a party scene. The more crowded the sidewalks got, the quicker we wanted to make our exit. Here’s a quick video that’ll give you a taste of the Honky Tonks:

A lot of people go to the bars in the middle of the day in Nashville because that’s what there is to do. We stayed at the Omni which is a short walk from the Honky Tonk scene so we easily walked back. We met our group for dinner at a place I won’t recommend… and that was the end of our day.

The next day, we went to the biscuit brunch in the hotel’s restaurant (YES a biscuit brunch is not an event to miss), and discussed what to do for the day. The Parthenon replica? Grande Ole Opry? Draper James?

Shopping at Draper James

Draper James won. The store is beautiful, no surprise. Plus, you’re handed a sweet tea when you walk in the door! We strolled around for an hour in the shopping area and then headed to the Gulch, which is another area with shops and restaurants.

Sadly, we never saw the Parthenon replica (our Uber driver Deb said it was not a sight to see, also it was under construction) and did not go out to the Grand Ole Opry.

The Gulch

We strolled around the Gulch area for a little while, which has boutiques and higher-end stores like Frye Boots. However, we did not stand in line for the giant angel wings.

Then, we went to lunch at a place I’d highly recommend if you like fancy Mexican – Bakersfield, which is located off Honky Tonk row- and then headed to the airport.

After a weekend, I feel like we pretty much did all there is to do in Nashville. Have you been? Comment below with your tips + favorite spots!

More weekend getaways: Primland Resort in Virginia, Paso Robles in California, The Greenbrier in WV