Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, has a vibrant downtown with everything from honky tonks to haute cuisine packed within an area of about twelve square blocks.
Nashville’s Lower Broad Is Rhinestone Heart of Country Music
Lower Broadway is lined with honky-tonks, cafes and shops stocked with cowboy boots and hats and big flashy belt buckles. The strip is anchored at one end by the Hard Rock Café and at the other by Nashville’s Sommet Center and the famous Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Ole Opry.
The first and most famous of these joints is Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, a noisy and popular bar where singers perform on a miniscule stage. Back in the day, the greats of country music would slip out the back door of the Ryman across the alley to the back door of Tootsie’s for a quick beer between sets.
Check out these other spots on Lower Broad:
- Hatch Show Print store for famous music and arts poster designs,
- Ernest Tubbs Music Store for Nashville music memorabilia,
- The Merchants Restaurant for upscale dining, and
- Jacks Bar-B-Que for authentic Tennessee ribs.
At the end of Lower Broad, stroll up Second Avenue toward Nashville’s Court House for more non-stop night spots, including the Wildhorse Salon, where line dancing lasts all night, and Buffalo Billiards, for pool with a country swing.
Fine Arts, Theater in Nashville’s Center
For visitors wanting a bit more refinement, downtown Nashville also offers the Tennessee Performing Arts Center across from the state Legislative Plaza and Capitol Building.
A few blocks away on upper Broadway is the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, a fine arts museum, with revolving exhibits and a small permanent collection, housed in a beautiful 1930s classical Post Office building with art deco interior design.
Just across from the Country Music Hall of Fame one block south of Lower Broad is Nashville’s new symphony hall, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, a neo-classical building famed for the quality of its acoustics.
For anyone who wants to grab a good book while in town, Nashville’s new library in the heart of downtown is another neo-classical beauty with a courtyard garden, delightful coffee shop, and a collection of Nashville history on the second floor.
Tennessee State Capitol Holds Historical Wealth
A tour of the Tennessee State Capitol is also recommended. The Greek revival building, perched on a hill overlooking all of Nashville, was designed by William Strickland, a Philadelphia architect who died while the building was under construction and is entombed above one of the massive limestone cornerstones.
The famous bronze sculpture of Andrew Jackson on the east lawn of the Tennessee Capitol is one of three identical casts. The other two are in Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington, D.C., and in Jackson Square in New Orleans.
Free tours of the Capitol are available hourly Monday through Friday. Visitors can view the paintings, murals, the House and Senate chambers, even a chip out of the stone stairs where a bullet was fired just after the Civil War. The building was a Union headquarters during the Civil War, and for that period renamed Fortress Andrew Johnson.
The Tennessee State Museum nearby on Deaderick Street also is a place to explore Tennessee’s history and culture, from its presidents Jackson, Polk and Johnson, to the kings of country music.
Farmers Market to the North, Ante-Bellum Churches to the South
North of the State Capitol, across James Robertson Parkway, is the Bicentennial Mall State Park, which houses an extensive and busy farmer’s market. A history of the state is etched in a long wall facing the market, and the park is landscaped with indigenous trees and plants.
Directly south of the state Capitol is Nashville’s famous Beaux Arts Hermitage Hotel, Tennessee’s only five-star hotel. Several blocks farther south of the Capitol are St. Mary's Cathedral and the Downtown Presbyterian Church, both used as hospitals during the Civil War.
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