Nashville

[mandy200587]

And if you have a sweet tooth...I have heard nothing but glowing reviews about Five Daughter's Bakery...I haven't been yet but I desperately want to.

 

[dashofsunshine]

And if you have a sweet tooth...I have heard nothing but glowing reviews about Five Daughter's Bakery...I haven't been yet but I desperately want to.

I have dreams about that place. The red velvet donut and the maple bacon donut... both my wallet and my waistline are thankful that I'm not at Belmont anymore and thus, not right near 12 south, lol. You should go! It's so good.

 

[mandy200587]

They just announced the Music City Bowl for the 30th, so on the 29th they will have battle of the bands on Broadway

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Sorry, I didn't mean to disappear on you guys. I got busy & distracted. Now, back to planning.

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

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll add Puckett's to the list & check the location of the others.

I mentioned Grimey's & Third Man Records to DS. He said he's heard of TMR & would like to check it out. Should we try to make it to Grimey's also?

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.

Thanks for the info & suggestions. We've never encountered anything edible that we would try once. Catbird Seat looks like a place to talk about for years.

I'll look into the other restaurants you mentioned. It sounds like we'll have plenty of great restaurants to choose from. That's always nice. We can choose based on location. Some destinations require you to travel quite a distance for excellent food.

 

[mandy200587]

Absolutely check out grimey's! Amazing record store, it's a bit of a hole in the wall it looks from outside but so much in there. Especially if he's a vinyl enthusiast

 

[tarheelmjfan]

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.

Thanks for the help. We've decided to stay at Omni the whole time. I was tossing around the idea of spending a night or two at Gaylord, due to the commute from downtown. You all have convinced me that's not a good idea. I'm sure NYE will be amazing. We're all looking forward to that. When I was telling DS about NYE, he said, "this may turn out to be a pretty great trip." That's the idea.

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!!

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll look at all of the menus & map them for location. When you all say hot chicken, do you mean burn your mouth off hot? I love flavorful spice, but I'm a wimp, when it comes to heat. DH & DS like hot, spicy foods more than I. If that's what it is, I'll have to check the menu to see what they have for a wimp like me.

And if you have a sweet tooth...I have heard nothing but glowing reviews about Five Daughter's Bakery...I haven't been yet but I desperately want to.

I have a major sweet tooth. I could literally eat only sweets 3 meals a day. Bakeries are always on my radar for vacation. We'll definitely be making a trip to FDB.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I have dreams about that place. The red velvet donut and the maple bacon donut... both my wallet and my waistline are thankful that I'm not at Belmont anymore and thus, not right near 12 south, lol. You should go! It's so good.

Red velvet doughnut sounds so good. I could go for one of those now.

They just announced the Music City Bowl for the 30th, so on the 29th they will have battle of the bands on Broadway

Perfect! Thanks so much for relaying the info. I'm going to have to research it for hours, tickets, etc. We'll probably need to leave Memphis really early on the 29th. The best part is it sounds like DS will be able to easily come & go from our hotel. That way he won't have to leave, because his broken down Mom needs a break.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Absolutely check out grimey's! Amazing record store, it's a bit of a hole in the wall it looks from outside but so much in there. Especially if he's a vinyl enthusiast

Will do.

 

[dashofsunshine]

Hot chicken is a Nashville tradition! It's basically spicy fried chicken, usually with a spice paste (not quite a sauce, not quite a rub, lol) applied to the outside directly after frying. Most places serve it on top of a slice of white bread with pickles and don't worry - I don't like things super spicy either, that's my husband. Lol. But Hattie B's and Pepperfire both offer a sliding scale for spice - they have everything from no spice at all (so, just the fried chicken) up to terrifyingly hot (i.e. you will regret it, haha!). Usually, I do mild or medium, which is just a touch of spice for flavor, but nothing TOO crazy Hattie B's has pimento Mac & cheese too, which I love.

 

[asta]

Hot chicken is a Nashville tradition! It's basically spicy fried chicken, usually with a spice paste (not quite a sauce, not quite a rub, lol) applied to the outside directly after frying. Most places serve it on top of a slice of white bread with pickles and don't worry - I don't like things super spicy either, that's my husband. Lol. But Hattie B's and Pepperfire both offer a sliding scale for spice - they have everything from no spice at all (so, just the fried chicken) up to terrifyingly hot (i.e. you will regret it, haha!). Usually, I do mild or medium, which is just a touch of spice for flavor, but nothing TOO crazy Hattie B's has pimento Mac & cheese too, which I love.

I go for mild and it has plenty of heat for me. And ask for extra pickles. They really help with the heat.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Hot chicken is a Nashville tradition! It's basically spicy fried chicken, usually with a spice paste (not quite a sauce, not quite a rub, lol) applied to the outside directly after frying. Most places serve it on top of a slice of white bread with pickles and don't worry - I don't like things super spicy either, that's my husband. Lol. But Hattie B's and Pepperfire both offer a sliding scale for spice - they have everything from no spice at all (so, just the fried chicken) up to terrifyingly hot (i.e. you will regret it, haha!). Usually, I do mild or medium, which is just a touch of spice for flavor, but nothing TOO crazy Hattie B's has pimento Mac & cheese too, which I love.

I go for mild and it has plenty of heat for me. And ask for extra pickles. They really help with the heat.

Mild, for me, it is. Thanks for the pickles tip. Pimento mac & cheese, huh? We'll have to try that too to say we have.

 

[asta]

Red velvet doughnut sounds so good. I could go for one of those now.



Perfect! Thanks so much for relaying the info. I'm going to have to research it for hours, tickets, etc. We'll probably need to leave Memphis really early on the 29th. The best part is it sounds like DS will be able to easily come & go from our hotel. That way he won't have to leave, because his broken down Mom needs a break.

You may not be looking for a big arena show but this was announced for New Years Eve:
http://www.tennessean.com/story/ent...-play-nashville-new-years-eve-shows/83891314/
There will still be plenty of music otherwise and the free concert takes place down the street. The acts for that show will be announced later.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

You may not be looking for a big arena show but this was announced for New Years Eve:
http://www.tennessean.com/story/ent...-play-nashville-new-years-eve-shows/83891314/
There will still be plenty of music otherwise and the free concert takes place down the street. The acts for that show will be announced later.

Thanks so much for the info. I'll share the link with DS to see what he thinks. I don't know who Widespread Panic is, but I don't know any bands that weren't popular in the 80s & 90s.

Is the free concert packed in like sardines like it appears in the pictures I've seen representing NYE in Nashville? (I'm not sure what the pictures are of exactly, but it looks like the crowd in Times Square on NYE.) If that's the free concert, it would have to be a band DS was dying to see, before we'd even consider that. Even then, we'd probably make him go by himself. DH & I are getting too old for that madness.

 

[asta]

Thanks so much for the info. I'll share the link with DS to see what he thinks. I don't know who Widespread Panic is, but I don't know any bands that weren't popular in the 80s & 90s.

Is the free concert packed in like sardines like it appears in the pictures I've seen representing NYE in Nashville? (I'm not sure what the pictures are of exactly, but it looks like the crowd in Times Square on NYE.) If that's the free concert, it would have to be a band DS was dying to see, before we'd even consider that. Even then, we'd probably make him go by himself. DH & I are getting too old for that madness.

I think it is packed in for at least 4 or 5 blocks.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I think it is packed in for at least 4 or 5 blocks.

Thanks, I think we'll pass on that. Isn't it funny how time changes us? We used to talk about planning a trip to spend NYE in Times Square. Unfortunately, we never got there, when we were young. Now, it looks like torture.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We didn't buy tickets for Widespread Panic. DS wanted to wait to see our other options, before we commit to anything. Please let me know, when other NYE events are announced.

asta, thanks again for keeping an eye out for me.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I'm sure someone already posted this above, but just in case

http://www.visitmusiccity.com/visitors/events

You can check this for the latest events.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I'm sure someone already posted this above, but just in case

http://www.visitmusiccity.com/visitors/events

You can check this for the latest events.

Thanks. I noticed Opry at the Ryman tickets are available for 12/30. Do we need to purchase those now to get good tickets?

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Speaking of Ryman tickets, any suggestions on what section(s) &/or row(s) we should try to get tickets in?

 

[mandy200587]

If you can get first few rows of the balcony do that, otherwise go more for center. There's hardly a bad seat at the ryman