Hi all
My wife and I are planning a trip to Nashville Valentines Weekend. Any Tips for restaurants, bars, etc.
Thanks

Rick Springfield is performing at the Wildhorse Saloon that night. The food is OK, the hall is great.

Opry Mills has an awesome IMAX theater, as well as the Aquarium restaurant, which is an interesting place to eat.

Oh, crap, Rick Springfield is going to be at the Wildhorse Saloon that weekend? Tony and I just bought a butt load of Webb Wilder tickets for the Down Home for that same weekend. Now what????
Susan

Do yourself a favor and get a barbecue sammich at Jack's on Broadway. If you like bluegrass, go to Station Inn on 12th Avenue and check out Jeff White.

How many tickets are in a butt load?

Hey, I like Rick Springfield!

He puts on a good show. Forget about that teeny sh*t of the past, he rocks!
I once went to Opryland when it first opened, there wasn't much. I bet it's expanded quite a bit since the 70's. I remember they had this really cool old merry go round from Germany. Any one know if it's still there?
Sorry I couldn't comtribute to the request, I go to Memphis usually, though I do have a friend in the N'ville area who is not going to be around there much this year, so I guess that means more Memphis. Aren't you guys glad you asked?

Opryland isn't there anymore. It has been replaced by a mega-mall called Opry Mills (aka Shopryland).

Oh that sucks! As if America doesn't have enough places to shop. And what the F are we shopping for? Must step away now to slash my wrists!

Given the crowds at Opry Mills pretty much any time, it was apparently the right choice from a business standpoint. I had heard, but don't know if it's true, that the Opryland rides were so old that insuring them was going to cost a fortune. Given that Opryland was never that great, they decided to close it down and build Opry Mills.

And those old rides? Some of them ended up at Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green. Which is why I've never been there.....

Another great attraction in Nashville is the Parthenon. It is an actual life size authentic replica of what the original is supposed to have looked like, inside and out. Our Docent (tour guide, a volunteer Nashville attorney so you know she would not lie) told us that people from Athens Greece come here to see what the original would look like if it hadn't been used for target practice by conquering armies for a couple thousand years and exposed to car exhaust fumes for a 100 years. It even has a gold plated statue of Athena inside.

Despite having lived only an hour away from Nashville for more than 20 years, I've never been to the Parthenon. I need to remedy that someday....

There is also an NC&St.L 4-8-4 Northern Steam Locomotive near the Parthenon. Would love to see that baby running again.

Wonder what happened to the little steamers than were at Opryland??

not "than" but "that"

Got to Rotier's on Elliston Place and get some good ol' grub. they are closed on sunday, though...I think. WW

Too bad it's not the weekend of the 7th. The Long Players are playing at the Mercy Lounge that night, performing Aretha's "I Never Loved A Man the Way I Loved You" in its entirety. Sometime Beatneck Steve Ebe plays drums, and doing the vocals this time are Ashley Cleveland, Jonell Mosser, Etta Britt, Sheila Lawrence and Vickie Carrico.

I think Webb has performed with The Long Players before...

Glen

Another thing, Susan and I took Webb's advice and went to Dan McGuinness' Irish Pub at Music Row. It was great

Also on the 7th and 8th, the Belcourt is showing "Planet of the Apes" (the original 1968 masterpiece) at noon! (And again on Monday the 9th at 7 PM.)

(Yeah, this has nothing to do with this thread, but Glen brought up the 7th, and since I'm a huge Apes fan, I had to spread the word....)

There are more things to do in Nashville than you can shake a stick at! A trip down Lower Broadway at nearly any time of day can be interesting - stop in at ALL the clubs, listen to a song or two, and tip the band. You won't like all of it, but you'll come away with some new interesting memory, and maybe hear someone surprisingly good. If you like the Western wear at all, there are some cool shops in the area, but the best one is on 12th Ave. South (yikes - I'm going on muscle memory now - Katy K's is on 12th, right?) You can find new and vintage and somewhere-in-between at Katy K's, and you have to drive past Grimey's record shop to get there. There's a nifty little shop in the antiques district called Pre and Post Modern, if you like the fifties and sixties decor. And for dining, I always make a point to go to Demos.
I haven't been to Nashville in eight months. I miss it a LOT.

Jimmy'll be playing his Sunday night gig at Robert's Western Wear on Lower Braodway around 6:30, if you're still in town, and there's a pretty good little guitar store down there too- Gruhn's Guitars.

Tom or Webb are there any other guitar joints worth taking a stroll through in Nashville. The article about Gruhn in the Vintage Guitar magazine was a good read , who would have ever thought he keeps repitles in his office...

The Guitar Center of Nashville is pretty cool. Last time Susan and I were there they had a 1953 Telecaster for the low, low price of $89,995

And Randy, I don't know what happened to the engines that Opryland had although they did have one of them up at the Doe River Gorge for a little while.

The grand Ole Opry is always a fun day. There are numerous restaurants on the way if eating is part of the game plan. Price comparisions at various retailers that you dont always get to go to can be fun and produce interesting results when visiting in another city. Most of all be sure to be yourself and enjoy the whole weekend with your spouse or significant other. Hope you have a great time and be sure to let us know how it went and share some of those cell phone pictures... but just don't let it get too personal! See ya! and dont spend it all in one place!!!