# What to do in Nashville if you hate Country



## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

I have a meeting in Nashville next weekend. Any suggestions for what to do with free time? I hate Country Music and always have so that seems to eliminate about 95% of the tourist options. Even the Symphony, which I know is well regarded, is having some type of Country Crossover event that weekend


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

In the downtown area, there are two bus lines, the Blue and Green Circuits, which run through downtown for no charge, which is nice. As you ride, if you see something interesting, pull the cord, and they will let you off at the next stop. Then you can catch the next one every 15 minutes. 

Staying in the downtown area, there is the Musicians' Hall of Fame on Fourth Avenue. (I'm just throwing that out; I haven't been there.)

The Frist Art Museum on Broadway has an exposition on life in Paris at the end of the 1900s.

The Tennessee State Museum just opened in a larger facility, just north of the Farmers Market, in the Bicentennial Mall, which is a nice park with markers telling Tennessee history. There is also a military museum in the Capitol Hill complex. 

The Hermitage Hotel, 231 6th Avenue, is historic: everyone from Houdini to Sinatra stayed there. The lobby bathrooms are tourist destinations. 

If it isn't too cold, the John Siegenthaler Pedestrian Bridge spans the Cumberland River, and it gives you some nice views of the city. 

The Downtown Presbyterian Church on 5th Avenue is interesting; it was built during the Egyptian Revival, so the inside is painted like an Egyptian temple.

If you have a car, you might like McKay's Used CDs and Books on 636 Old Hickory Boulevard, right off Interstate 40. They have a TON of used classical CDs on the second floor, most of which are very cheap, and the south wall has 99 cent CDs. They also have tons of used books, video games, and movies.

On West End Avenue there is a full-scale replica of the Parthenon. Mick Jagger was so impressed, he took a selfie there on his last visit. 

If you like trombones, Blair School of Music on the Vanderbilt campus will host faculty member Alex van Duuren's recital on November 6, and it won't cost you anything. 

If you want to see an authentic antebellum mansion, the Belle Meade plantation is what everyone goes to. A more impressive mansion from a little later in time which has been converted into a museum/art garden is Cheekwood. Those are about 20 minutes outside of Nashville. 

If you are interested in the Civil War, Fort Negley is just south of the city. Then you can drive to Shy's Hill, where the Confederate line was broken, which ended the Battle of Nashville. But for an authentic battlefield, Carter House in Franklin, 30 minutes south, is worth seeing, where they had the Battle of Franklin. You can stand in front of the house and imagine yourself holding off the massed assaults of the Confederates and turn around and see all the bullet holes behind you on the walls. Stones River Battlefield in Murfreesboro is also impressive; you can see the rocky ground that the Confederate troops had to drag their artillery over and understand why it was so hard to overcome. 

Nashville is a fun city to walk through; it is small enough that you can see the city without much trouble, and there are a lot of places to eat. Everybody likes the Frothy Monkey for coffee on 5th Avenue. A few doors down is the newly reopened Woolworth's diner, where they had the civil rights sit-ins in the 1960s. 5th Avenue has several art galleries also. 

That's what I'm coming up with off the top of my head.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Nashville is home to some of the nation's most accomplished musicians. You can hear all kinds of music there.


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

and some good bar-b-que


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