Tourist magnets in this booming Tennessee city range from first-class music museums to restaurants that dish up good old-fashioned Southern cooking.
Nashville is just plain fun. On my recent trip to Music City, I loved every minute. Here are 10 highlights:
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The Parthenon: A Piece of Greece in Nashville
The Parthenon, the centerpiece of Centennial Park, and its statue of Athena (Greek goddess of wisdom) are the only full-scale replicas of the Athenian originals.
Constructed for the 1897 exposition celebrating the 100th anniversary of Tennessee statehood and later rebuilt, the stately Parthenon was the fair’s Fine Arts building, housing works of art from around the world. It symbolized Nashville’s reputation as a center of culture and learning, reflecting the city’s nickname, “Athens of the South.”
The gilded statue of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, was sculpted by Nashville artist Alan LeQuire. (Randy Mink Photo)
The 42-foot Athena statue, gilded with eight pounds of 23.7-carat gold, is the tallest indoor sculpture in the Western world. Sculpted from 1982 to 1990 by Nashville artist Alan LeQuire, the colossal figure, based on a sculpture by Pheidias from the 5th century BCE, holds a 6’4” statue of Nike, goddess of victory, in her right hand. In observance of the 35th anniversary of Athena’s installation, an exhibition of new LeQuire sculptures will be on display at the Parthenon in 2025. (Groups can arrange a tour of LeQuire’s Nashville studio and art gallery.)
Also inside the Parthenon is a collection of American art, including paintings by Benjamin West, Thomas Moran and Winslow Homer. And take a minute or two to admire the world’s largest matching set of 24-foot-high bronze doors, each weighing 7.5 tons.
Visitors can take a cellphone audio tour that describes the Parthenon’s exterior architectural details and are welcome to climb the center steps to explore the colonnade.
Another Centennial Park point of interest is LeQuire’s sculpture of early 20th century Tennessee suffragettes demonstrating for women’s voting rights.
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
This downtown treasure house of memorabilia, a full city block long, is a must-see for any first-timer to Nashville, country music fan or not. Galleries feature instruments, stage wear, and rare recordings and films of country performers from old-time favorites to the current generation of stars.
There’s a two-story wall with gold and platinum country records, and the museum’s rotunda showcases plaques of Hall of Fame members. One of the most photographed artifacts is Elvis Presley’s solid-gold 1960 Cadillac limousine
Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House: The Ultimate Country Music Venue
In the Opryland/Music Valley area, less than a 15-minute drive from downtown Nashville, stands the world-famous Grand Ole Opry House. It has been there since 1974, when President Richard Nixon played a song on the house piano on opening night.
Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. (Randy Mink Photo)
The 4,400-seat theater spotlights country music superstars, legends and up-and-coming talent. In line with tradition since 1925, each “Grand Ole Opry” show is broadcast on the radio. Backstage tours tell stories about Opry history and the stars.
The Gatlin Brothers and Sara Evans were among the acts at a Thursday night “Opry Country Classics” show that our group attended. Larry Gatlin, host for the evening, welcomed to the stage Nancy Jones, who was promoting a book about life with her husband, the late country music icon George Jones. At intermission she signed copies of Playin’ Possum.
Ryman Auditorium: Mother Church of Country Music
Housed in downtown’s former Union Gospel Tabernacle, this country music shrine was home to the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. Self-guided tours include the powerful “Soul of Nashville” theater experience, museum exhibits and a free souvenir photo at the microphone on stage. Backstage tours are available.
Considered hallowed ground by country music fans, the Ryman Auditorium retains its original oak pews. Pews on the main floor of the old church sanctuary date back to 1895, the balcony pews to 1897. They all were meticulously restored and reinstalled in time for the Ryman’s June 1994 re-opening. The 2,000-seat concert hall continues to host performances of country music and other genres.
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Robert’s Western World, one of many honky-tonks on Lower Broadway in downtown Nashville. (Randy Mink Photo)
Robert’s Western World: Honky-Tonk Haven
You can’t visit Music City without spending some time at one of the honky-tonks on Lower Broadway in the heart of downtown Nashville. Crowded sidewalks on either side of Broadway between Sixth Avenue and the Cumberland River bustle with locals and tourists, including groups of carousing girlfriends decked out in cowgirl boots and hats, sequin tops and short skirts. Neon signs light up the sizzling strip lined with dimly lit bar rooms, loud music from rock and country bands pour out of the clubs’ open windows, and, more often than not, peeks inside show people dancing.
Our group waited in line to enter Robert’s Western World, a Nashville standby where we listened to a traditional country band called The Cowpokes. As at other places on this Honky Tonk Highway, there is no cover charge or drink minimum, though you’re expected to tip the band.
Food and drink at Robert’s are not expensive at all. The menu’s Recession Special ($6) includes a fried bologna sandwich piled high, chips, a Moon Pie and an ice-cold Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. The menu also lists burgers, chicken tenders or grilled cheese, or you can order a cheese curd or sweet potato fry basket. Common domestic beers are low as $2.50, with premium craft brews $8.
Besides music joints rockin’ away into the night, you’ll find several Western wear and boot stores on Broadway, not to mention souvenir shops.
Goo Goo Clusters: Official Candy of Nashville
Nashville’s Standard Candy Company has been making Goo Goo Clusters since 1912. Its store on South Third Avenue, just south of Lower Broadway and across from the Johnny Cash Museum, is the “Home of America’s First Combination Candy Bar.”
Nashville’s signature candy bar. (Randy Mink Photo)
You can see candy makers at work behind glass and stock up on boxes of Goo Goo Clusters, the official candy of Nashville. They come in three varieties of rounded goodness, all coated in milk chocolate. The Original Goo Goo Cluster combines peanuts with caramel and marshmallow nougat, while the Pecan Goo Goo Cluster substitutes pecans for peanuts. But my favorite is the one with peanuts and peanut butter filling. Happily, they were doing a 2-for-1 sale when I was visiting the store, so I got two boxes of those heavenly peanut butter discs for the price of one.
The store also sells an extensive line of logo gear, from dog collars and leashes to umbrellas, ponchos and Christmas tree ornaments.
At Design Your Own computer kiosks, people can choose the ingredients in their very own premium Goo Goo Cluster, which one employee compared to a hockey puck. Cost of a customized cluster starts at $16.
From Monday to Friday, the store offers hands-on chocolate-making classes.
Fifth + Broadway Food Hall: A Smorgasbord of Temptations
A mixed-use complex unveiled in 2021, Fifth + Broadway has been a big addition to downtown Nashville. Steps away from the honky-tonks of Lower Broadway, its Assembly Food Hall is reputedly the largest such hall in the country. Of the 30-plus eateries and bars, 70 percent of them are locally owned. Choose from sushi, Thai specialties, Southern BBQ, Nashville hot chicken or gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, among other options.
I wanted to try Nashville hot chicken, so I joined the long line at Prince’s Hot Chicken, the gold standard for this local favorite that in recent years has enjoyed popularity around the country. Observing that heat levels for the spicy coating ranged from “light mild” to “xxx-hot,” I was conservative and ordered four “light mild” chicken tenders, which came on a bed of white bread slices. My side was baked beans, but other choices included mac ’n’ cheese, Southern-style potato salad, corn muffins and pickles. Some in my group got the fried chicken salad or tortilla bowl.
Dessert choices at Assembly Food Hall include Hattie Jane’s Creamery, Whisk Crepes Cafe, NoBaked Cookie Dough and The Liege Waffle Co. Just outside the food hall, satisfy your sweet tooth at Five Daughters Bakery, famed for its croissant-donut hybrids that come in flavors like chocolate sea salt and maple-bacon.
Fifth + Broadway. (Photo credit: Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.)
On my next food hall visit I will bring my appetite to The Cheese Lab and have the Pimento Mac ‘n’ Cheese Melty, a blend of sharp cheddar cheese, house-made pimento cheese, macaroni and thick-cut bacon on butter-grilled sourdough bread. Or maybe I should have a hand-smashed patty, fries and a chocolate malt at The Pharmacy Burger, a Nashville cult favorite.
The open-air Skydeck at Fifth + Broadway, Nashville’s largest rooftop patio and bar, features concerts and other special events along with scenic views.
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Tracing the Roots of Black Music
The National Museum of African American Music, located in the Fifth + Broadway complex, celebrates the many music genres created, influenced and inspired by Black artists. Opened in January 2021, it is the only museum of its kind.
Galleries display instruments and performance costumes from the world of blues, jazz, gospel, R&B and hip-hop. Touchscreen stations let visitors learn about their musical heroes, from Marian Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie to Lionel Ritchie, Janet Jackson and Beyonce.
Loveless Cafe: Southern Comfort Food at Its Best
Known for down-home cooking for 73 years, the Loveless Cafe was high on my list of places to visit in Nashville, and I wasn’t disappointed. Made-from-scratch biscuits make me happy, and I indulged to my heart’s content. All meals come with biscuits and Loveless homemade preserves—blackberry, strawberry and peach.
Whether you have a fried chicken lunch or the pulled pork barbecue omelet for breakfast, this temple of good ol’ Southern dining is a treat. Along with scrambled eggs, my breakfast included salty country ham served with red-eye gravy (coffee-flavored), a pimento cheese/fried green tomato biscuit and a side of cheese grits. I also got to sample my companions’ pancakes and cinnamon raisin French toast.
The Loveless Cafe, with its iconic neon sign and roadside historical marker, is located on the Natchez Trace Parkway, or Highway 100, the main road between Nashville and Memphis. Welcoming more than a half-a-million visitors each year, the beloved landmark operates out of the original home of Lon and Annie Loveless, who started selling hungry travelers fried chicken and biscuits in 1951. Guests would dine on picnic tables in the front yard, but the homemade dishes became so popular that the couple eventually converted their four-room home into a restaurant, adding a 14-room motel a year later. Lon stayed busy managing the motel and curing and smoking country hams, while Annie whipped up biscuits and preserves in the kitchen.
Homemade biscuits and jam accompany every meal at Loveless Cafe. (Photo credit: Loveless Cafe)
Filled with tables covered in red-and-white-checked tablecloths, the Loveless Cafe still operates out of the family home, serving up heaping helpings of Southern staples using Lon and Annie’s unaltered recipes. (Even the vanilla wafers in the banana pudding are made from scratch.)
The motel rooms have been converted into event spaces and shops. Hams and Jams Country Market sells smoked ham and sausage, biscuit and pancake mixes, frozen biscuits and fried chicken breading along with jams, relishes, rubs, barbecue sauces, pickled vegetables and kitchen goods.
Antebellum Days at Belle Meade Historic Site & Winery
Tours of an 1853 Greek Revival-style mansion, recreational activities and a variety of culinary experiences await groups at this historic horse farm on the southeastern edge of Nashville. Whether they choose a tour focusing on the mansion, Civil War or Belle Meade’s enslaved African Americans, or just a grounds pass, visitors are entitled to four complimentary wine tastings. The winery’s top seller is the blackberry dessert wine.
The cafeteria-style Belle Meade Meat and Three restaurant specializes in Southern cooking. Guests choose a meat—like fried chicken, chicken tenders, fried catfish, pork or meatloaf—and sides such as butter beans, black-eyed peas, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, mac ’n’ cheese, fried okra and collard greens. There are biscuits and cornbread, plus desserts like fruit cobblers and caramel apple bread pudding.
The Fox Run Cafe offers appetizers, sandwiches and charcuterie boards, while Coop ’N’ Scoop (in the old chicken coop) has fudge and ice cream.
Small bites are available at Bonnie’s Bourbon & Wine Bar. The property also organizes food, wine and bourbon pairings.
The games court at Belle Meade features croquet, golf putting, cornhole, horseshoes and bocce ball.
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By Randy Mink, Senor Editor
Lead Photo – The Parthenon, a full-scale replica of the Athenian original, is the centerpiece of Nashville’s Centennial Park. (Randy Mink Photo)
