Nashville, TN

[disneyplanner76]

Can't make it to Disney this year, trying to tell myself that with all the construction in MK that it's okay (not working) - but we want to take the kids on some smaller trips this year to some other places we've not been, that are within driving distance. Going to spend about 3 days in Nashville, TN over Spring Break -

Does anyone have suggestions for fun things to do in the area that aren't too expensive? - kids are 8 and 6. Boy and Girl.

 

[jodifla]

The zoo is great, the Adventure Science Center is a lot of fun as well. They have lots of parks, and lots of great barbecue, and people playing music everywhere.

We also did a city tour when DS was 5. He fell asleep riding around in the trolley, but we enjoyed it.

 

[teacup princess]

We did that last year. The duck tour was fun. Also, visit opryland hotel and the mall next door. Plus lots of caves nearby if you want to drive a bit.

 

[tink2dw]

This may not help but we drove from Nashville to Memphis and did the Elvis Estate tour! It was much better than I thought it would be, And just 2 blocks away is a discount Elvis Gift shop!! And we went to Sun Records we got there late and it was closed.

Plus we accidentally cross over the Mississippi River into Arkansas to West Memphis[who knew, not me] where we found the Cracker Barrel where we ate Dinner! We don't have any Cracker Barrel Restaurants in the Pacific North West, so that was a big deal!!

 

[teacup princess]

Also, eat at a restaurant called Monelles (cant remember the name exactly). It's a great family style restaurant in an old house. They only serve one southern cooking meal a day, but it was lots of food and really, really, good.

 

[my3squeals]

We did that last year. The duck tour was fun. Also, visit opryland hotel and the mall next door. Plus lots of caves nearby if you want to drive a bit.

The mall you are refering to is closed. It was damaged in the flood last pring and becuase of insurance negotiations it has never reopened. we miss that mall.

Like others said the zoo is nice, also downtown right on the river 2nd Ave is a great place to walk and check out all the little "junk and country" stores...(don't know what else to call them). Lots of places to eat....Spaghetti Factory (super cheap and fun) Hard Rock Cafe, lots of other chains and Nashville hot spots. Right outside of Nashville are several state parks which all offer different types of outdoor fun. Nashville has a a minor league baseball team. Tickets are pretty cheap there.
Not sure where you are coming from but Chattanooga is about a 3hr drive from Nashville and we love hitting Chattanooga. Rock City, the park on the ledge, the aquariaums...tons of stuff there.

Have fun

 

[mpbest]

If your members of your local zoo or science center, you might get in free to ones here. I always start with what we can do free and then go from there You could pack a picnic lunch and go to the Bicentennial Mall or Centennial Park. Depending on how your spring break falls and if your Bank of America customers, there will be some freebies. We have a big flea market that will be on March 26. Fort Nashborough is downtown by riverfront. The Opryland hotel just reopened in Nov after being closed due to the floods. You would have to pay to park or walk a good ways, but it is a pretty hotel. I haven't been since they reopened, but they had dancing water, a little boat ride ($) and gardens. I know I'm forgetting some free stuff, but hopefully this can get you started! Have fun.

 

[4forthemouse]

The Frist Art Museum downtown is free for anyone under 18. I think it's $9 for adults. They have a wonderful art center within for kids - all hands on. My kids - 10, 8, and 5 love it. They also have a small eatery inside and the food is very good.

If you want to drive an hour north to Bowling Green KY, you could do the Lost River boat cave tour which is interesting. There are also walking trails there and a free butterfly house, which I think opens in April so that will depend on your spring break. The Corvette museum in Bowling Green also has a traveling science exhibit there for kids right now so you might all enjoy that, but check and see when it's leaving first, I think that leaves sometime in April.

 

[disneyplanner76]

Thanks for all the wonderful ideas! We have returned from our trip and had a fantastic vacation. We stopped at Dino World on our way down (Indiana to TN) in Cave City KY- big hit, couldn't have imaged how dino statues could be entertaining for more than 5 minutes but wow- totally worth the stop, we were there for about 3 hours. Then we went downtown Nashville our first night - at Dinner at Hard Rock (almost did Demos-but St. Pat's day and looked very crowded with local "Irish") and took a carriage ride around down town; great weather and awesome way to see all kinds of things, great tour guide. Next day we went to Adventure Sci Center, a few neat things but overall we were NOT impressed - but we did enjoy the planetarium, and our shorter day there made it possible for plenty of time that evening for Opry Hotel - where we were originally booked to stay but for a lot of reasons ended up changing. Spent several hours here including the boat ride around Delta Island (very Disney-ish; felt a little like Polynesian, Jungle Cruise, Port Orleans, Grand Floridian - kids loved it). We decided against my gut instinct to go to Belle Meade (was worried kids would be bored) but that was one of the best stops we made, glad we did, think a big part of how great this was, was due to our outstanding guide Miss Anne- DD absolutely loved it and DS had good time too. We did have breakfast at Pancake Pantry - got there early didn't have to wait too long but line was around block when we finished - my mom went with us and she's not a big pancake fan (says they are too soggy) this was one of her favorite stops we made! Great trip- thanks for all the Dis-help!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Stay far away from the Gaylord Opryland. It is one big money sucker. You pay to park, you pay for everything. And the rooms are not that great. Mine was horrid.

If I never have to stay in another Gaylord, I'll be happy.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Just wanted to add the Opry Mills mall is closed. It closed last year when Nashville got flooded.

We did that last year. The duck tour was fun. Also, visit opryland hotel and the mall next door. Plus lots of caves nearby if you want to drive a bit.

 

[rockyroad]

The educational stuff would be good too.
The Hermitage, Belle Meade, perhaps a Civil War battlefield.
Stones River maybe.
And Cheekwood.

If you do decide to drive to Memphis you might want to stop at Casey Jones in Jackson. Someone had mentioned being thrilled by the Cracker Barrel in West Memphis, but the Old Country Store restaurant is at Casey Jones was the inspiration for all the Cracker Barrels.