Nashville

...in the arrivals hall at Nashville Airport, a recorded announcement welcomes you to Nashville - "the home of the Taco Belle". (Taco Belle, for those who don't know, is a restaurant/fast food chain selling a variety of Tex-Mex food but primarily tacos - a crispy corn tortilla, folded in half and crammed with spicy meat and vegetables.) Taco Belle tacos are, as anyone who has had one will tell you, surprisingly good and are remarkably good ...
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And it isn't. Nashville is probably most famous for it's epithet as the United States of America's "Music City" - the home of country and western music. In Nashville you will find the palatial office buildings and the genre's biggest and most influential record companies, the homes of many of it's star performers and song-writers and the studios where some of the best known country music songs have been recorded.

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As you wait to collect your luggage in the arrivals hall at Nashville Airport, a recorded announcement welcomes you to Nashville - "the home of the Taco Belle". (Taco Belle, for those who don't know, is a restaurant/fast food chain selling a variety of Tex-Mex food but primarily tacos - a crispy corn tortilla, folded in half and crammed with spicy meat and vegetables.) Taco Belle tacos are, as anyone who has had one will tell you, surprisingly good and are remarkably good value, but this alone cannot, surely, be the defining feature of this famous city?

And it isn't. Nashville is probably most famous for it's epithet as the United States of America's "Music City" - the home of country and western music. In Nashville you will find the palatial office buildings and the genre's biggest and most influential record companies, the homes of many of it's star performers and song-writers and the studios where some of the best known country music songs have been recorded.

However, the reason behind our short trip to Nashville was down to another music genre altogether. My partner and I had won a trip sponsored by Jack Daniels to see a private concert by the quirky Oklahoma rock band the Flaming Lips at the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, about an hours drive from Nashville.

We arrived late on Friday afternoon and stayed for only two nights. Since all of Saturday afternoon and evening was taken up with a tour of the distillery and the concert itself, this dd not leave much time for independent exploration of the city but we gave it our best shot! I hope that here I can give a taster of Nashville but I would urge readers to bear in mind that I can only scratch the surface. If I leave glaring omissions it is probably because I simply didn't have enough time to do this fine city justice.

The airport is just a thirty minute ride from Nashville's Downtown. Within minutes the impressive Bell Southern building loomed into view. Known by locals as the "Batman building", this striking skyscraper can be seen from almost every part of the city and is a good way of finding your bearing when exploring.

We soon arrived at the Downtown Hilton Suites, a vast and many storeyed complex in the heart of Downtown. With thirty couples to be checked in, this could have taken some time but the staff were prepared for our arrival and five staff made short work of the task. In true southern fashion the reception staff were friendly and warm and I was especially delighted when the gentleman who checked us in told me that Fiona was a "real purty name". We quickly found out that this is typical of all the hotel's staff and among people in the city as a whole. (Most of the hotels in Downtown are larger chains offering suites, but there are hundreds of reasonably priced motels all the way from the airport into town)

A pair of glass elevators in the centre of the massive lobby area carried guests to and from the accommodation floors. Our accommodation comprised an comfortable and beautifully decorated sitting/dining area with an enormous TV set, a minibar and a coffee making machine, a huge bedroom with TWO double beds and another huge TV set and a spacious and pristine bathroom.

Despite the jetlag we were anxious to make te most of our limited time so after a quick spruce-up we hit the town.

A word here about the way the city is composed. As with other American cities, the "Downtown" are is the primary business zone of the city. Nashville has only a small downtown are with a couple of skyscrapers housing offices for the big businesses and a very small number of shops - really only convenience stores and some souvenir shops. Since few people actually live Downtown, residents of Nashville do most of their shopping at out of town malls some distance away from Downtown.

Luckily, though, there is quite number of restaurants in the area covering all types of cuisine - American, Cajun, Italian, Japanese...the list goes on. We ate at Joe's Crabshack - a reasonably large place with a mammoth selection of crabs and seafood cooking an equally astonishing number of ways. Our crabs and prawns were probably the moist delicious we'd ever eaten and the portions were very generous. Most places seem reasonably priced - we ate for around thirty-five dollars including starters and beers.

Before hitting the country and western bars on Broadway we tried a few places on Second Avenue where the scene is a bit more mixed - an Irish-style pub, a few bars aimed at younger people and a couple of sports bars. All were friendly, fun and comfortable places selling a wide variety of beers and spirits. Many also offered food.

However, it was the well-known honky-tonks on Broadway to which we were headed. Country music lovers will be familiar with names like Tootsie's, Robert's and the Stage. From around 10.00am until the early hours, live country and western music can be heard coming from these bars. Let me stress that the music is what you go for, not the surroundoings. While the bars are clean they aren't exactly stylish and comfort isn't high on the list of priorities.

Now, I'm wasn't a fan of country and western music before I went to Nashville and not exactly a major fan npw but my opinions have changed and it's hard not to go to a honky tonk and tap your feet along. Performers range from one guy with an acoustic guitar to a ten piece band doing a full electric show. Some of the best-known country stars got their first break playing at one of Broadway's honky-tonks. (Children are allowed in the honky-tonks until around 10.00pm.)

Next morning, the jetlag really taking it's toll, we woke unnaturally early and went down for breakfast - a buffet affair with an amazing amount to choose from - fresh fruit, sausage, bacon, eggs (done any way you want), grits (my favourite), scones, cereals, an array of freschly squeezed juices, tea, coffee....feeling hungry yet?

The previous evening we had picked up a leaflet for a trolley bus tour and made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe where the tour was to start from. For ten Dollars each we had an hour tour of the city in what was actually a convential bus clad to look like an old-fashioned trolley bus. Sadly we weren't ab;e to get out anywhere but the bus had open sides so you could take much better photographs than if through glass.

Our charming driver (not a native of Nashville but someone who had chosen the city for his retirement) offered a wealth of information on the city , its history and some of its famous residents. The tour took in the State Capitol building (like a mini replica of the one in Washington), the Ryman Auditorium - the Original home of Nashville's Grand Ole Opry (this is now situated just outside the Downtown in a purpose buit complex which also has shops, hotels and other leisure facilities), the beautiful Vanderbilt University, Music Row (home to the recoed companies and their magnificent glass fronts offices) and the Parthenon. Yes! The Parthenon. You see, long before Nashville was associated with country music it was known as "the Athens of the South" because of its many cultural attractions. One such building is the Parthenon - the only full-sized replica in the world of the famous Athenian monument. Today festivals, weddings and graduations are held here. Beside it are the beautifully landscaped Botanic Gardens.

Despite being short, the trip really gave us a feeling for the city and a few ideas of what we would like to see if ever we have chance to return. If you are particularly interested in country music there are other tours available which concentrate just on that area and you can even cruise past the opulent homes of some of country's biggest stars.

Back in Downtown, the Ryman Auditorium still puts on country shows but on a smaller scale. Such was the popularity of the scene that the new Opry had to be built so that demand could be satisfied. You can also tour the inside of the Auditorium and even record your own CD there - if you're not the best singer this might be a good idea - the Ryman is said to have the best acoustics of any concert hall in the world!

Across the parking lot from our hotel is the Country Music Hall of Fame - a large complex dedicated to the history of country and western music where there are all kinds of exhibitions, displays of costumes, interactive exhibits. Admission for adults is around fifteen dollars but there is plenty to see.

If country music isn't your thing, there are several theatres in town and over-looking the river is BB King's Blues Club and Restaurant - a couple of the members of our party couldn't recommend it highly enough!

Away from Downtown there are loads of other attractions. You can take a ride down the Cumberland on a paddle steamer, visit a mock-up of a Tennessee Plantation, check out some art galleries, visit the home of nineteenth century President Andrew Jackson - a varied selection of things to see and do. (The Jack Daniels distillery is about an hour away, a separate review will follow.)

Sunday morning was taken up with a spot of souvenir shopping. There are two sides to this in Nashville - first the tacky, cheap, kitsch souvenirs that you simply have to take home. The other side is the serious business of cowboy boots, hats and collar tips. The array of boots to choose from is mind-blowing and you'll pay at least half the price you'd pay back home.

Nashville certainly surprised me. For a start I didn't realise I quite like country music. I also didn't think I'd find such varied food but was pleasantly surprised. My opinion of many Americans as brash and arrogant was firmly quashed and my opinion of the south as culturally barren was also dealt a blow!

If you love country music you'll love Nashville, but even if you don't you might just change your mind. While Nashville is not just about country music you'll certainly find it hard to avoid - and you never know - to resist too!
 

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