Nashville

[tarheelmjfan]

The info is probably not released until late fall. If you are staying at the Omni I would ask the concierge to keep you in the loop. I know they have a staff that has access to tickets around town. I don't mind checking for announcements, just remind me when your dates get closer.

This is a good link to activities from last year to let you know what may be available this year:
http://nashvilleguru.com/13943/new-years-eve-nashville

We are staying at Omni. I wouldn't have thought to contact the concierge. Good tip. I appreciate you checking on announcements. I'll remind you, when our dates get closer.

Thanks for the link. That will help a lot.

 

[mandy200587]

Enjoy the Omni, it's my favorite place to stay downtown. Try Kitchen Notes at least once while you are here. There's also a Dunkin Donuts across the street literally 2 minutes walking. Once it gets closer to October/November information should start popping up about everything. I think they wait till after July 4th passes to announce New Year's performer

Here's a video of the fireworks and it doesn't do it justice it honestly

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Enjoy the Omni, it's my favorite place to stay downtown. Try Kitchen Notes at least once while you are here. There's also a Dunkin Donuts across the street literally 2 minutes walking. Once it gets closer to October/November information should start popping up about everything. I think they wait till after July 4th passes to announce New Year's performer

Here's a video of the fireworks and it doesn't do it justice it honestly

I'm excited about staying at Omni thanks to the recommendations here. The fireworks & everything in that area will be so much easier to experience from a convenient location. I'm off to check out Kitchen Notes now. We'll definitely give it a try.

 

[elaine amj]

Been following along as I loved my last trip to Nashville and hope to return sometime soon.

This fireworks look so cool! Makes me regret choosing to visit San Antonio for NYE last year instead of Nashville. All the stuff I found online said there was an awesome party. In the end, the Riverwalk was beautiful - but the NYE celebrations were rather blah. People started pushing out of the crowd just as we started counting down at 10 seconds. At midnight, it was a mad scramble to get out with nobody bothering to hug their family to wish Happy New Year. The fireworks were ok but hard to hang on to a festive mood. To top it off, the bands playing on the main stage were terrible. Great song choices - but terrible musicians. Which was soooo disappointing when I had expected fabulous music being so close to Austin.

Hmm...maybe I should consider Nashville for this year's NYE.

 

[mandy200587]

Been following along as I loved my last trip to Nashville and hope to return sometime soon.

This fireworks look so cool! Makes me regret choosing to visit San Antonio for NYE last year instead of Nashville. All the stuff I found online said there was an awesome party. In the end, the Riverwalk was beautiful - but the NYE celebrations were rather blah. People started pushing out of the crowd just as we started counting down at 10 seconds. At midnight, it was a mad scramble to get out with nobody bothering to hug their family to wish Happy New Year. The fireworks were ok but hard to hang on to a festive mood. To top it off, the bands playing on the main stage were terrible. Great song choices - but terrible musicians. Which was soooo disappointing when I had expected fabulous music being so close to Austin.

Hmm...maybe I should consider Nashville for this year's NYE.

I recommend it! The crowd sometimes goes all the way back to the Bridgestone arena and the concert I think goes till almost 1 am. New Years Eve and 4th of July are done huge here.

This is our 4th of July concert:
SHERYL CROW TO HEADLINE THE 2016 MUSIC CITY JULY 4TH CELEBRATION!
The lineup also includes Maddie & Tae, Erin McCarley, Andrew Combs, Ruby Amanfu, and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.

Last Year's New Years Eve: Kings of Leon, Chris Stapleton, Kelsea Ballerini and others

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Been following along as I loved my last trip to Nashville and hope to return sometime soon.

This fireworks look so cool! Makes me regret choosing to visit San Antonio for NYE last year instead of Nashville. All the stuff I found online said there was an awesome party. In the end, the Riverwalk was beautiful - but the NYE celebrations were rather blah. People started pushing out of the crowd just as we started counting down at 10 seconds. At midnight, it was a mad scramble to get out with nobody bothering to hug their family to wish Happy New Year. The fireworks were ok but hard to hang on to a festive mood. To top it off, the bands playing on the main stage were terrible. Great song choices - but terrible musicians. Which was soooo disappointing when I had expected fabulous music being so close to Austin.

Hmm...maybe I should consider Nashville for this year's NYE.

Aren't those fireworks amazing? I'm so excited about this trip. DS's time vacationing with us coming to an end, so we want to make those trips amazing. It looks like he chose the perfect destination for a memorable trip.

It's too bad San Antonio's NYE was a bust. We've only been to SA once & really enjoyed that visit. It was a summer visit though. There's so much potential for a great celebration there. I can see how the crowd could make or break the event. We're going to try to book a semi-private party like the one Asta recommended. This is partly due to my poor health & partly due to the fact that we'd rather avoid the massive body pool.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Hey ladies, are any of you familiar with Memphis? We've booked 3 nights in Memphis, then 4 nights in Nashville. Does that sound about right? Will we have time to see everything we want in that amount of time? FWIW, DS wants to do everything music related in both cities. I want to go to Gaylord hotel to see the Christmas stuff. The only shopping we would do would be at the Gibson factory or similar. No outlet or other malls for us. Nice dinners, followed by a honkytonk or bars & the NYE celebration would round out our days.

 

[pryncess527]

Rofl, I have been avoiding this thread untill I was caught up on the tv show because I didn't want to see spoilers

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Rofl, I have been avoiding this thread untill I was caught up on the tv show because I didn't want to see spoilers

Too funny. I don't watch the show, so it never occurred to me that the title would be confusing. I should have titled it "Visiting Nashville".

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I've read The Catbird Seat is tough to get a reservation at. Do any of you have experience booking this restaurant? If I'm stalking the site at 30 days out, should I be able to book it for three people? DH & I are very much into fine dining, but this trip is all about making memories with DS. He's not as into fine dining as we are. For the most part, we'll be eating at places he will enjoy. He prefers authentic, hole in the wall places or restaurants with live music. The Catbird Seat screams memory making though, so we definitely want to go to there.

 

[mandy200587]

I've never ate at the Catbird Seat if you're around when they release those reservations you should be able to get it. I'm the more hole in the hole in the wall places myself.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I've never ate at the Catbird Seat if you're around when they release those reservations you should be able to get it. I'm the more hole in the hole in the wall places myself.

You'll have to give me more suggestions. I already have Gus's on the list. We all have adventurous palates & are up for anything.

 

[mandy200587]

You'll have to give me more suggestions. I already have Gus's on the list. We all have adventurous palates & are up for anything.

Puckett's for sure. Burger Up and Burger Republic are both suppose to be really good. Asta may be able to help out more with local hole in the wall places. I go to more typical food fare with burgers, chicken and sandwiches


Also if your son has a love for vinyl...check out Grimey's or Third Man Records

 

[asta]

I've read The Catbird Seat is tough to get a reservation at. Do any of you have experience booking this restaurant? If I'm stalking the site at 30 days out, should I be able to book it for three people? DH & I are very much into fine dining, but this trip is all about making memories with DS. He's not as into fine dining as we are. For the most part, we'll be eating at places he will enjoy. He prefers authentic, hole in the wall places or restaurants with live music. The Catbird Seat screams memory making though, so we definitely want to go to there.

We have never eaten at the Catbird Seat. It is a little too exotic for me. I think it is a 7 course prix-fixe meal with u shaped seating around the cooks. There are many, many good restaurants in town. We love Husk, the chef-Sean Brock is up for the James Beard award as the best chef in America. City House, Josephine's, Sinema, Sperry's, Kayne Prime, Watermark and Rolf & Daughters are all very good restaurants for upscale dining. There are many others but the food will be great at any of these places.

For a little cheaper dining downtown I reccomend the Southern. You still need a reservation. My twenty something daughter loves to eat there. She is also trying to get us to go to Acme for the catfish. We have been there for the bar but haven't tried dinner before.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Seeking honest opinions....

We've decided our dates in Nashville will be 12/29 - 1/2. What do you all think about a split stay of 2 nights at Gaylord & 2 nights at Omni? That would save us over $200, but I'm not sure it's worth it. If you would do a split stay, which hotel would you stay at first? If we went this route, we'd be at the second hotel on NYE. Should we just forget the idea completely & stay at Omni all 4 nights?

Speaking of NYE, the schedule shows performances at Ryman on the 30th & 31st. Will there definitely be a show those dates? It looks like we'll be too late for the Christmas show at GOOH. We'd go the week before Christmas, but DS's school doesn't start winter break until the 16th. Hopefully, we'll at least be able to take the tour.

If it were my trip, I'd stay downtown at the Omni for all four nights. You're close to the Country Music Hall of Fame, and you can always walk to the Ryman Auditorium. You can arrange a bus tour of the rest of the city from there. You can also drive out to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel or book a car (in advance) to go out that way and see the Christmas lights.

The traffic downtown during that period will be intense, so you'll be really glad that you have a parking space at the hotel. There's also New Year's Eve entertainment usually down at Riverfront Park, so you could take advantage of that and then return to your hotel without any hassle.

Those are just suggestions based on what I know the traffic will be like during that period. I'd pick one hotel downtown and arrange to go out from there.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

For a little cheaper dining downtown I reccomend the Southern. You still need a reservation. My twenty something daughter loves to eat there. She is also trying to get us to go to Acme for the catfish. We have been there for the bar but haven't tried dinner before.

The food at Acme is quite good. We were there earlier this month, and I was pleasantly surprised. Now it's not upscale dining by any means, but it's tasty.

 

[dashofsunshine]

We were at Acme last night, and I agree, the food is really good my husband and I are kind of foodies, so we have a long list...The Stillery, The Southern (Steak & Oyster), Hattie B's or Pepperfire tend to be our favorite hot chicken, Yeast Nashville is one of my favorite places for breakfast in the world (daily kolaches, unbelievable), Silo, McNamara's, and Five Points Pizza (my husband is a New Yorker, lol). We really like Otaku Ramen, which just opened recently...we returned from a trip to Japan about a month ago, and their ramen is the closest we've found to the real thing stateside. Sam & Zoe's is our favorite coffee place in town you will have a great time and certainly won't go hungry!!

 

[dashofsunshine]

Also, our favorite Indian place is Taj, which is right down the road from our house - best Indian food in Nashville, hands down (we love Indian food, lol), but it's a bit out of the way from downtown. Still, if you have your heart set, it's an option! Chauhan Ale & Masala House was pretty good, but I didn't think it compared to Taj, especially for the price. We have several Thai restaurants that we love, but Ginger Thai tops that list. And my husband just reminded me to mention Darfon's, lol.

 

[mandy200587]

Yes if you want to try hot chicken, Nashville is the place to do it. Hattie b is the go to place and so is princes. Also the jam they serve at kitchen notes on the biscuit bar, hands down my favorite local jam. It beats loveless even

 

[asta]

You can tell by the replies here that there are many great dining choices. That will be a harder choice than picking a hotel. Nashville has become a real foodie town. I would look at online lists for top restaurants and then pull up their menus to help you decide.