Nashville has been my dream destination for years. Actually, since I found out that my musical obsession of 2016-18 – Natural Child -was from Nashville. I armed myself with the best possible travel companion to the Music City: a music-buff drummer extraordinaire who plays Americana on regular basis. The buff is, full disclosure, also my boyfriend.

We arrived in Nashville in the evening. Short Uber ride dropped us off at some dubious-looking dark apartment buildings. We quickly made a slew of discoveries:

• that our little Airbnb apartment is smack on the Cumberland, a few feet from the passing barges.
• that we are mere 15-minute river walk to Nashville’s Honky Tonk Highway: Broadway Street.
• our regular Nashville hang: Robert’s Western World, home to the best local acts, inexpensive beer and yummy fried bologna sandwiches. Coming here daily to hear 3 sets of one band, 3 sets of another, we further discovered that some of the same musicians play in many different bands. And we discovered that the patrons seem to always request the same songs. Many quick discoveries, you see. LOL

We walked everywhere: to Ryman (please make it a priority to visit! Even without a show, the museum is fascinating: you will learn a ton even if you are a total music buff!), Frist Art Museum (wow, what a collection!!!), Parthenon (yes, it is made to look exactly like it! The Centennial Park where it is located is visit-worthy as well!), Tennessee State Capital, Bluebird Cafe… AS WELL AS through the gorgeous Shelby Bottoms Greenway and 2-Rivers Park all the way to the the Grand Ole Opry (where we saw a great show) and to the nearby Willie Nelson Museum (please pay a visit!).

We saw shows at the Basement, City Winery, Cannery Ballroom… We shopped for records in the Ernest Tubb Record Shop… Caney Fork was by far our favorite restaurant: not so much for the tastes as for the quirkiest atmosphere of any restaurant ever.