Exploring Nashville, TN

Nashville, TN commonly referred to as Music City USA is one of my most favorite places to visit. Perhaps due to my lifelong love of Country Music but you needn’t be a diehard Country Music fan to love Nashville. These days you can discover just about any genre of music you like being played somewhere in the City. The downtown area is vibrating with a lifeforce of energy more commonly felt in NYC or LA.

Located in the rolling hills of middle Tennessee on the Cumberland River, it was first established as a settlement around 1779. At that time it was home to the Cherokee and Chickasaw Indians. It became a popular settlement for settlers as they moved Westward. A bustling City emerged over the next Century which became the State Capital of Tennessee and an economic and educational jewel of the South.

In the first half of the twentieth century, Nashville became synonymous with Country Music. In large part due to the Grand Ole Opry which was broadcast live to 30 states by radio on WSM. Many families would sit in front of their radios on Saturday nights to hear the performers on stage at the Opry.

Today the City is still a mecca for aspiring new songwriters, musicians, and singers arriving every day to pursue their dreams of success and stardom. Just one visit to the Honky Tonks along lower Broadway and the river on 2cd Avenue and you will be surrounded by an incredible amount of soon to be discovered raw talent.

Getting around in Nashville was no more different than any large metropolitan City. A great resource to check out is Access Music City. We drove up from Texas in my wheelchair van so I didn’t get to personally try out a handicapped taxi service or the public transportation but I was assured that it is readily available if you decide to fly into the City and need transportation. Metered parking is free for anyone with a disability placard for their vehicle. If you are visiting the music scene as I was, there are two main areas to visit. Downtown is where you will find a multitude of famous Honky Tonks all playing live music and serving copious amounts of beer and mixed drinks. It is definitely a party atmosphere. The sidewalks along the streets can be quite congested for people in wheelchairs but most if not all of the bars have a handicapped entrance. Some of my favorite places included Tootsie’s, which is right behind the old Ryman Auditorium also known as the Mother Church of Country Music, the original home to the Grand Ole Opry. Where you can step back into history by taking daily tours and enjoying live performances on several nights of the week. Other famous places include AJ’s Goodtime Bar owned by Alan Jackson, the Ernest Tubb Record Shop home of the Midnight Jamboree, and Ole Red owned by Blake Shelton, It is also where you will find many of the museums including the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Musicians Hall of Fame, the Johnny Cash Museum, the Patsy Cline Museum, the George Jones Museum, and the Glen Campbell Museum.

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The second most visited area of Nashville for music lovers is known as the Music Valley area. It is about a 20 to 30-minute drive from Downtown. This is where the Opryland USA Amusement Park used to be located. Now it is a shopping mall located beside the Grand Ole Opry. There are numerous other tourist attractions and music venues including the Nashville Nightlife Dinner Theater, Cooter’s Place, the General Jackson Showboat, the Nashville Palace, John A’s just to name a few. There is an abundance of lodging options within walking distance of the Opry including the luxurious Gaylord Opryland Resort. Of course, if you are visiting Nashville on a budget there are many other options that offer clean, decent rooms without all of the frills. I stayed for several days at the Courtyard by Marriot. They were one of the few hotels in the area that had handicapped rooms with roll-in showers. I found all of the venues in this area to be very accommodating and wheelchair accessible. Especially the Grand Ole Opry which has added private elevators and lifts to make all of the levels accessible to everyone.

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The last place that we always visit is Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home & Memorial Park which is the final resting place to some of the Greatest Country Music singers of all time including George Jones, Johnny Paycheck, Tammy Wynette, Jerry Reed, Lynn Anderson, Porter Wagoner, Jim Ed Brown, Marty Robbins, Little Jimmie Dickens, and Mel Street. If you would like to stop by and pay your respects you can go inside the main building and get a map showing where everyone is located.

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Nashville is a great place to visit whether you love Country Music or not. There are many more places of interest around the City including historic sites, plantations, the Parthenon, Jack Daniels Distillery, and the Nashville Zoo. Everyone needs a vacation in Nashville at least once in their life!