Nashville, TN
We spent a long weekend in Nashville, TN in January 2022. We chose Nashville because my younger daughter and two of my nieces were competing in a gymnastics meet there on this weekend. Adding a couple extra days to the weekend gave us a chance to explore some of Nashville.
What We Did
Some of the famous murals of Nashville were our first stops. Nashville is well known for many interesting murals all around the city. Before our trip I had done some online research and found locations for some murals that looked like my family would enjoy them. When we arrived in Nashville we chose a handful to stop and pose for pictures in front of. After our mural hunting, we found a place for dinner with live music and then headed to bed early.
The following morning we had some activities surrounding the music history in Nashville planned. We did a tour of Studio B through the Country Music Hall of Fame. Studio B was a top recording studio. There were many famous and influential musicians who recorded many hits here including Elvis Presley. At 11 and 14 years old, my girls really enjoyed this tour. The tour meets at the Country Music Hall of Fame and participants are taken by bus to the recording studio. Our tour guide was excellent. She had so much interesting history to share and made it fun.
Once the bus returned the group to the Country Music Hall of Fame, we toured the Hall of Fame. It is an entertaining place to visit. There are videos, memorabilia, instruments, and pictures to see featuring many country music stars. They also offer tours of the Hatch Show Print Shop which we’d love to do on a future trip.
A visit to the Adventure Science Center was also part of this trip. This is an interactive science museum targeted at children. There are several floors of exhibits and we enjoyed our visit. My daughters and nieces ranged in age from 3 to 14. There were things that all of them liked, but I think it was a better fit for the younger kids than the older ones. I would recommend this science center for families traveling with kids under 10. One half day is a good amount of time to plan to spend. The space and music areas were favorites. There was also an area to make a fidget to take home. The top floor has a fun climbing structure.
Dinner and dancing at the Wildhorse Saloon was next. This was a great stop. It is very family friendly. They had live music and a large space for dancing. There were also periodic line dancing classes. We would recommend a stop in here for everyone visiting Nashville!
We spent some time walking on Broadway. It is a must have Nashville experience to walk down Broadway and see and hear the live music drifting out of each bar or restaurant. Quite a few of these locations are family friendly, at least during the day. We didn’t stop in any this time. A visit to a candy store and some boot shopping for my niece were our main Broadway adventures this time.
The kids’ gymnastics meet was held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. This is a huge and beautiful resort. There are plenty of places to explore indoors during the winter. The resort has a water park for guests of the hotel. Several restaurants are available inside the hotel along with a river and so many plants. We loved walking around and taking pictures between meet sessions.
Where We Ate
On our first evening we had dinner at the Sutler. This venue has live entertainment. It was a fun place. The music was great and the atmosphere was comfortable for a family dining with kids. Most of us really enjoyed our food and the server was helpful in finding gluten free options for my daughter.
We had dinner at Johnny Rockets in the mall one night. This wasn’t our original plan. The mall is large and has many restaurants in it. Most had very long waits and we were tired and hungry. Johnny Rockets is always a fun option though and the food is pretty good.
Another dinner was at the Rainforest Café. This is also in the mall and is another fun location. Everyone enjoyed the pretend rainforest feel and seeing the audio-animatronic animals do their animal things.
One unique place we ate is called the Pfunky Griddle. This was a first for us. The center of each table is a griddle. You cook your own food. We had pancakes, eggs, and toast. They have quite a few toppings for each to choose from. We also had bacon and sausage which came to the table precooked. This was more expensive than a similar meal elsewhere, but we had a lot of fun. Customizing your own food was fun and we didn’t even have to clean up. They did have gluten free & dairy free pancakes available.
We visited a donut shop called Five Daughters Donuts. Donuts are hard to find when you are gluten free. The donut shop was nicely painted and had a couple of fun murals outside. The donuts were good, but not our favorite donuts. We love to support restaurants that make eating out fun for everyone, including those with special diets!
Breakfast at the Red Bicycle Coffee Shop was another good choice. This coffee shop offers many crepe choices, both sweet and savory. They had multiple gluten free options too! We really enjoyed our visit and the crepes were great.
Where We Stayed
My brother-in-law’s family owns time share points and he was able to get us a great deal on a time share unit in Nashville for this trip. It worked great! We were able to have much more space than a traditional hotel room for a better price. We also had a kitchen and laundry of our own. Plus a second bathroom! The property had a nice indoor pool too. This option worked perfectly for this trip!
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