Two days in Nashville
All in all, Nashville is a beautiful city. It has a nice skyline, which can be viewed advantageously from many locations. The people are warm, and friendly. And the food is great. But the music is the best part.
I stopped along the way at the TVA’s Kentucky Dam Project. At the visitors center, I noticed that there was an alternate through a nature reserve ‘The Land Between The Lakes’ I took this detour, as it was not far out of my way. I was expecting to be awed by beauty. * WPG2 Plugin Not Validated *Alas, the drive through is not spectacular. It’s better than average, but it was not what I was expecting. In order to see the real beauty there, you probably have to turn in towards the shore, and drive for some. There’s probably another trip in there…
Having arrived in Nashville, I spent that night eating, drinking, and hearing country music at the bar in the hotel. In Nashville… anywhere has good music.
The next day I was going to try to ride the Natchez Trace. But violent Storms, and an equally violent hangover prevented this. It actually got nice around 3pm. But I had stumbled around downtown taking pictures since noon. I was beat.
Everybody thinks that Natchez Trace in north west of Nashville, but it is not. It is south west. And by my research, difficult to find too.
I had two people with equal certainty give me the same directions, which when followed were incorrect - as far as I can tell…
So i didnt get to ride the Natchez Trace, I was hung over, and getting hungry. I walked over to an irish pub, had a glass of wine, and some beef in a really good guinness sauce. Yum.
* WPG2 Plugin Not Validated * I should mention dinner the first night I was there. I went to a place called Layl’a. * WPG2 Plugin Not Validated *it’s a Mediterranean restaurant. The Atmosphere there is great. The food is really quite good. It was a bit on the pricey side, but not off the charts, and worth it for the variety, and the fact that menu changes daily.
Country music is fun.
It’s really about the whole experience. Meeting new people in little bars and night clubs, chatting up musicians, getting autographs - that’s the fun. That’s what makes the music all the better.
The best part about the city is that it is so easy to hear good music. Even the small bars would accomodate artists, most of whom would carry a cd production facility in a backpack. What I saw was that they’d burn a hundred or so discs before they left to play, and carry the cd labels, and tools with them, and make the cd on demand. pretty clever, really.
The bar at the hotel I stayed at was a watering hole for wannabes. So going in and listening for a few hours was mandatory… So then was flirtation…
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What’s geeky about Nashville? The people. I’ve never been to a restaurant that changes its menu every day. That’s geeky! It’s not the food that makes that happen, its a person, the executive chef. I think there’s a chance that the culture of the city has something to do with this, HELLO - these are MUSICIANS after all. But at the end of the day, it takes a geek chef to decide that the menu is going to change everyday that will make that happen, or not.
I should probably mention that Vanderbilt University is in nashville, but I didn’t really get to see much of that. that’ll have to wait for another trip.
