We're Nashville bound soon, but also splitting our time to go to the Pigeon Forge/Sevierville/Gatlinburg area. Why Nashville? Well, I simply looked at places that were still warm in September/October and where we haven't visited and that's how we landed on Music City. We also had been wanting to do Dollywood for a long time.
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| Photo by Andrew Sterling on Unsplash |
As someone who was born in Tennessee, I always think about going back and immersing myself in that atmosphere, the people, the food, and the history. We aren't fans of country music really. I stopped listening in the late 90s and have not really loved most of that genre since. Because of this, we have decided to not visit the Country Music Hall of Fame or the Grand Ole Opry, but there are so many other things to do instead:
Black people created country music, despite what you may feel about the industry right now. There have been some inroads made there, but the fact that even Beyoncé didn't even get into the running to win an award in country music shows that it's not enough. Anyway, the NMAAM is a one-of-a-kind museum that showcases all of African American music, which is so varied, and its historical significance.
You know I love a farmers' market and the Nashville Farmer's Market is open 7 days a week and into the evening. I imagine it's a lot like Reading Terminal Market in Philly, but I aim to find out. I feel like this is the place to find the real local foods and authentic meals. I also really love talking to people at a market and learn about their farms, animals, vineyards, and processes. They're always really happy to talk to someone about their work and gives you more perspective on the food you eat and the reasons behind the prices you're paying.
Cheekwood Harvest Festival
I've been listening to City Cast Nashville, like I did before going to Denver, and like I do every day for Portland. Their episode on things to do in Nashville in September gave me a few ideas, but the top one was the Cheekwood Harvest Festival. Cheekwood is an estate that you can tour that has a botanical garden, a Japanese garden, art, and more. The harvest festival brings in tons of pumpkins for photo ops (and probably purchase) and they even have a scarecrow trail, with unique scarecrows made by those in the community.
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| Photo by Mike Gattorna on Unsplash |
Riverfront walk
You can't go to a city that has a river and not walk along it. I mean, there's a park to visit, but look at these views!
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| Photo by Katy Anne on Unsplash |
City murals
We've been doing a lot of art walks on our trips, because most major cities (and even a lot of small ones) have a large artistic community that work to beautify a city through large wall murals on the public buildings. I've talked about the guided graffiti art walk we did in Denver, but this time we're going to be taking two separate self-guided walks based on city maps. I'd say to follow me on IG for a lot of free art shots.
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| Photo by Brian Morin on Unsplash |
Parthenon
Nashville has the only full-scale replica of the Parthenon in the world. Once known as "The Athens of the South", Nashville took this to heart when they celebrated 100 years of statehood. They erected this replica of the Greek Parthenon and turned it into an art museum. It creates an affordable way for people to gain access to fine art, history, and education.
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| Photo by Chad Morehead on Unsplash |
Broadway St
It's clearly a tourist trap, but you can't go to Nashville and skip visiting the most popular street for honky tonk bars. Think of it of the equivalent of New Orleans' Bourbon Street.
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| Photo by Blake Guidry on Unsplash |
Nashville Hot Chicken
Gotta eat the local foods and Nashville brings the southern comfort foods and brought hot chicken to the people as their foodie contribution. I've only ever had hot chicken at home, so I'm interested to see what it tastes like where it originated.
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| Photo by Adam Kring on Unsplash |
Dollywood
It's not Disneyland, but Dolly Parton has done so much good for her community that even if I thought the theme park would be bad, I'd still want to contribute to this amazing person. Each year, Dollywood unveils a new ride and right now they have a two-days-for-one ticket deal, so even if we don't spend an entire second day there, it's okay. They're having their own harvest festival right now though, so we'll be indulging in all the jack-o-lantern selfies and the harvest food specials. Plus, there's a train!
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| Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash |
Astra Lumina
Astra Lumina is a "Celestial Pathway of Lustrous Light, Cosmic Vsions & Astral song." It looks similar in a way to the Forbidden Forest Experience that I have yet to get to. I found out that Astra Lumina was going to be in Seattle and put myself on the wait list to learn when tickets went on sale, but then I found out that they were going to be in Gatlinburg. We're already going to be 10 minutes away in Dollywood, and though we have to buy day passes to the adventure park it's being held at, it's still more convenient and cheaper than having to plan a separate trip to Seattle.
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| Photo by Stephen Ellis on Unsplash |
Sunsphere
We'll be passing through Knoxville on our way to and from Pigeon Forge. They have a World's Fair Park that is home to the Sunsphere, a big golden sphere that was build for the 1982 World's Fair that offers 360-degree views of downtown Knoxville and the Smoky Mountains.
We'll be passing through Knoxville on our way to and from Pigeon Forge. They have a World's Fair Park that is home to the Sunsphere, a big golden sphere that was build for the 1982 World's Fair that offers 360-degree views of downtown Knoxville and the Smoky Mountains.
We've got a few more things planned for our visit, but these are the must-do things we have on our list and many we've already bought tickets for. If you have suggestions for things we should do, see, or eat, I'd love to see them in the comments.
Have you been to Nashville or are you hoping to visit?
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