I went to Nashville for the first time two weeks ago and it was a magical place. There were so many things to do and so many things to see. If you're planning a trip any time soon, I would recommend going, and to help, I'm giving some of the good and bad I saw while I was there.
When we first arrived we went to dinner at Wild Horse Saloon. This was recommended to us by our Uber driver. When we arrived we sat down to order and noticed that there wasn't a single drink that was less than $11. While I knew that Nashville was going to be more expensive than Clemson, this seemed a little ridiculous to me. We ordered the fried pickles for an appetizer and I ordered the pimento cheese as my meal (don't ask why, I was just feelin it). The food was average, nothing special. There were line dancing lessons being taught while we ate, which was fine. I wouldn't get up and dance but I understand why people would want to. Around seven a girl named Abby Anderson got up and started to sing, and she was incredible. Definitely wish I could've stayed to see more.
After going into a bunch of little bars around that area, listening to a different incredible band in every one (seriously, I didn't hear a bad group the whole time) we made our way to a bar called Honky Tonk Central. This building was 3 stories with a different band on every floor that would take requests (for $20), and room to dance. There were also balconies on the top two floors which looked out over Broadway. By what I could tell, the bands have to work their way to the bottom floor, because they were definitely the best.
Not too long after that we made our way to The Big Bang, or "Sing-Along Piano Bar". This might have been my favorite place in all of Nashville. The two men that were playing piano could play absolutely anything from The Spice Girls to The Devil Went Down to Georgia (and yes he played the fiddle solo on the piano). I'm pretty sure they do all requests, but if you slip a $20 bill on your request it gets bumped to the top of the list.
Most of the other places we went to that night were the same, pretty crowded with a band. None were a disappointment though, everyone was incredibly nice and all of the bands were amazing.
The next day we woke up kind of late and made our way to Peg Leg Porker for lunch. In Clemson Smokin' Pig is our standard for good BBQ, and while smokin' pig is extremely delicious, Peg Leg Porker put Smokin' Pig to shame. I've never had anything that has tasted so good. I got the BBQ and mac-n-cheese, and let me tell you, if you go to Nashville and don't eat here, you're wrong. It was reasonably priced, not super crowded, everyone was nice, it was incredible, go here.
After lunch we made our way to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Of course, it was the one thing we knew we had to do while we were in Nashville, and it didn't disappoint. It was like taking a time machine through Country Music History. They had the original guitars played by all of the legends, outfits worn by superstars, and a golden piano played by Elvis himself. It was incredible to see the handwritten manuscripts to songs like Jolene by Dolly Parton, Remember When by Alan Jackson and many more. All of it was incredible to see.
We made our way back to Broadway to hang out before dinner and we ended up at the George Jones Museum. We didn't actually go to the museum, instead we went up to the rooftop bar, enjoyed the view of the river and the two men playing guitar and singing. It was the perfect place to relax after a long day.
For dinner we ate at Acme Feed & Seed. This ended up being incredibly cheaper than the dinner the night before and twice as good. I had shrimp-n-grits, and my boyfriend had country fried steak. We both ended up sharing and the food was incredible. Of course there was a band in this restaurant too so we sat for a while and watched them.
We weren't ready to go back to the hotel just yet so we stopped at BB King's Blues Club. This place was the perfect place to sit and let your dinner settle. The music was unbelievable and the atmosphere was perfect. It wasn't too crowded, which was perfect because we got a seat right in front of the stage. If you were ever a fan of BB King I would recommend going here.
Finally our final stop of the trip was on Demonbreun at a bar called South. This was more of a college kid bar because it's closer to Vanderbilt. This was completely different than everything on Broadway. This bar had the low lights, the loud DJ, and the girls dressed up in their function clothes. While it was fun, it wasn't anything I couldn't get on my own college campus.
So overall there aren't too many places I can say anything bad about in Nashville. It was an incredible experience and I can't wait to go back.
