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| My observation that “they should call this place NashVegas” proved to be not as clever and original as I thought, when I saw the same on a t-shirt in a store window a few minutes after I said it. |
I had heard that Nashville had quite the nightlife, but I confess I didn’t expect anything like what we found. We walked from the B&B all the way downtown on our first night, and coming over the last hill to see the neon of Broadway dazzling into the distance before us was impressive.
The food, the bars and the music were all amazing, and though we don’t really go for country, it turns out that is hardly all downtown Nashville has to offer. On our second evening’s visit to downtown, I made reservations for us at BB King’s, a blues bar and restaurant on 2nd that seemed like a lot of fun even from the outside. The place was packed, and we had to wait a bit, even with our reservation, as nobody seemed to want to leave. The reason for that wasn’t the food (although the food was quite good), but the food isn’t why you go to BB Kings.
The live music was nothing short of spectacular. Three lead singers, two guitars, a bass guitar, a three piece brass ensemble and a jazz organist rocked the house for hours with original and classic blues, Motown favorites and even a few bluesy covers of more recent pop songs. The level of talent just feet before us on the stage was impressive even for a town so steeped in music history. The highlight of the show for us was when the lead guitarist, a white kid from Las Vegas who could also sing with more soul than anyone could have expected him to have, went into a guitar solo that went on for some six minutes, some of which he spent standing on a chair at our table, jamming away while we clapped and laughed and danced in our seats. His solo covered everything from Jimi Hendrix to George Gershwin, and left us all with jaws on the floor and hands sore from clapping.
Our ears were still ringing the following night, when we found ourselves at Puckett’s Grocery Store and Restaurant, just a couple blocks up the hill from the Broadway strip, for our last dinner in the Music City. It was quiet when we first arrived, being late for dinner on a holiday, but soon a lone kid showed up with a guitar. A member of the staff quickly apologized, saying something about their planned act cancelling, and that this was his buddy who was going to sub in. And then the kid, one Sammy Arriaga from Miami, Florida plugged in his guitar and sang his heart out for two hours. He was good, and his simple, quiet music was a welcome contrast to the previous night’s bring-the-house-down concert extravaganza. He sang some pop country, played to the crowd and took requests, and sprinkled in a few of his original songs, at least one of which contained a verse in Spanish that was a beautiful touch. Despite not being fans of country music, we found our toes tapping and smiles on our faces throughout his performance.
And the food wasn’t bad, either!
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| Fried green tomatoes (which were amazing!) and sweet barbecue wings. |
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| Chicken and waffles! |
On our final morning, we kept our tradition of visiting the state capitol building, and were guided on a tour of the relatively small, but impressively constructed building. With its high ceilings, excellent condition and historic significance, we were thoroughly impressed with the tour we were given, which included access to both chambers of the legislature. And perhaps most significantly, we were shown the same sort of easy hospitality for which the South is famous, and which we enjoyed for the duration of our stay in Nashville.
It’s a city worth not only a weekend visit, but weeks of exploration. There is something there to interest absolutely everyone, from beautiful parks, to a thriving cultural scene, to a bustling nightlife, to an abundance of sports to spectate or participate in, to walks into history. We will undoubtedly return, and I hope for much, much longer.
