Marissa & James
Things To Do
PARK: Bicentennial Park
Just down the hill from the Fairlane Hotel, every 100 years Nashville builds a big wonderful public park. Grab lunch at the Farmers Market attached to the park or browse the free Tennessee State Museum.
BAR: Robert's Western World
Marissa's favorite Honky Tonk on Broadway. If you've visited she has probably brought you here (occasionally repeatedly) and told you how it's the only Honky Tonk locals go to (it is) and they're the number 1 Pabst Blue Ribbon seller in the US (also true, it took the title from a bar in South Carolina in 2024). Go for live music and a chance at a music star taking the stage (Lana Del Ray, Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, and more have all done surprise shows there).
BARS: Broadway
Just down the hill from the Fairlane Hotel, Broadway is an experience. Expect a cacophony of music and humanity. The key is to stroll until you hear some music you like and go in. Our recs: Robert's Western World, Chief's, Bell Bottoms Up, and Wanna B's karaoke bar.
MUSEUM: National Museum of African American Music
Hands down our favorite museum in Nashville. Maybe our favorite museum anywhere (and that's a lot coming from Marissa who grew up in DC). NMAAM is a special, super fun, very interactive place. Tickets Required.
GARDENS: Cheekwood Botanical Gardens & Estate
Gorgeous gardens and 1930's mansion in Nashville. Tickets required.
MUSEUM: Frist Art Museum
Art museum with blockbuster fine art exhibitions where Marissa is a member and is trying hard to turn James into an Art Girly. Tickets required.
MUSEUM: Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
A must-visit for country music fans, everyone else's money is better spent at the National Museum of African American Music. Tickets required.
TOUR: Ryman Auditorium/ Historic Opry
Everyone wants to tour the Grand Ole Opry - well, this is it. The current Grand Ole Opry moved out to the burbs and is now a massive theater near a mall and attached to a giant conference hotel. The Ryman served as the location for the Opry radio show from 1943 to 1974- so most of the stories you may have heard (Willie Nelson stumbling to Tootsie's, etc.) happened right here in downtown. James and Marissa come to see many concerts here (and even spent NYE 2024 here seeing Old Crow Medicine Show!)
PARK: Centennial Park
We in Greece?! A large park with a Parthenon (really, the only full scale one in the world) and a kind of okay if you go/ okay to miss museum inside the Parthenon itself with a giant statue of Athena.