12 Fun Off-Broadway, Non-Country Music Activities in Nashville
When we lived in Arkansas, we were just a short 3 hour car ride from Nashville. In the 7 years we lived there, Nashville changed drastically. We visited every few months, and each time there were new neighborhoods, bars and restaurants popping up, and far more tourists as the years went on. If you aren’t already aware, it’s easy to learn about Nashville’s “can’t miss” spots related to country music (and there are truly some awesome experiences to be had and sights to be seen within that realm). But even if you aren’t a country fan, don’t write Nashville off! Because we have gone back frequently, we have spent plenty of time away from Broadway (the country hub for tourists) and have found some favorite activities that go beyond the typical music scene.
Eating & Drinking
The Wild Cow – This is the most delicious vegan restaurant I have ever been to, not just in Nashville but anywhere in the country. I am a vegetarian, but Sarah and most of my friends love meat. I’ve taken about a dozen friends and family members to Wild Cow, and only one was a vegetarian. But I have yet to bring someone here that did not spend most of the meal trying to explain to everyone else how good their meal was. It is not a “I can’t believe this isn’t meat” conversation, but a “this is so good and you have to try it” conversation. My personal favorite: the Buffalo Grinder. Sarah loves the Lentil Bowl.
Monell’s at the Manor – Breakfast at Monell’s is my #1 recommendation to anyone traveling to Nashville. You sit at a giant family style table in an old Nashville Mansion. You sit with strangers and always have a good conversation, and the food is all you can eat! They continuously bring you out all the fixings for a big Southern home cooked breakfast. The items range from eggs to fried chicken to breakfast potatoes to biscuits and gravy. My favorite is the fresh hot cinnamon rolls, and I always request a second bowl of them to be sent out before we even finish the first. It is also the most reasonably priced breakfast buffet I have ever been to, at just $15 per person! The location is close to the airport, so it’s a good stop if you have a flight coming up. Just avoid the post-church crowd on Sundays or you may wait an hour to be seated. They don’t take reservations, to plan accordingly. Pro Tip: Be sure you’re headed to Monell’s at the Manor, not one of their smaller cafes in the city because they don’t do family-style buffets in a mansion.
Martin’s BBQ Joint – If you ask a dozen people for the best BBQ spot in Nashville, you might just get a dozen different suggestions. While we are big fans of the food at Peg Leg Porker, we especially love to find places where good food is served in really unique settings (and the inside of Peg Leg Porker isn’t anything special). But walking inside Martin’s BBQ makes you feel like you’re leaving the heart of a city and stepping into a funky oasis. You’d never suspect it from the outside, but there’s an indoor beer garden with enough plants to make you think you’re outside. There are multiple rooms, each with a different vibe. There’s unique seating options that include old church pews and rows of seats taken from vans. Add in some ping pong and shuffleboard tables and you could stay for hours! Martin’s BBQ has grown to have many locations, but this one near Broadway can’t be missed. If we haven’t sold you on it, check out these pictures.
Five Daughters Bakery – With the donut craze in full swing across the country, I’m sure it’s not hard to believe that Nashville has gotten in on the action. We are big fans of Five Daughters Bakery, and there is one conveniently located in the same complex as The Wild Cow in East Nashville. The Purist and Cookies & Cream are our family favorites.
Brewery Crawl – With the rapid influx of millennials, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Nashville has breweries popping up left and right. There are more than enough to spend an afternoon strolling from one to another for hours. If you don’t mind a decent walk, Yazoo, Jackalope, and Tennessee Brew Works are walkable from each other (disclaimer: not the most scenic walk). Most of them are pretty kid friendly, too.
Getting Outside
Shelby Bottoms Nature Center and Greenway – If you’re looking for a spot to walk or run, this park provides a couple of trails that go along the Cumberland River for quite a few miles. It is a surprisingly flat park in a city that is rather hilly overall.
Anderson Beach at Percy Priest Lake – Okay so this is a 25 minute drive from the city, but if it is a beautiful day and you like to take the family for a swim, Anderson Beach is your spot! Anderson Road is open from April 1 to October 30 for day use, and there’s just a $5 parking fee. It is certainly a family environment, but adults can bring their drinks, too. Just be prepared that they might be knocked over by an errant football or frisbee. If my kids were making this list, they’d put Anderson Beach first on the list. It’s also a great spot for a quick dip after a long race, which brings us to our next suggestion…
St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon – One of our favorite traditions with our friends while living in Arkansas was running either the half or full marathon in Nashville each year. Always the last Saturday in April, the race is part of a weekend full of festivities. With the expo on Friday, a concert on Saturday (that is included in your race number purchase), and the general good vibes of the running community, this is a fun event for anyone. Whether you’re a runner or choose to clap on the sidewalk, the course makes it a fun event for everyone. While runners wind through several neighborhoods, the whole city comes out to support and celebrate. Oh and the medals given to finishers are top notch swag. Pro Tip: book an Airbnb many months out if you plan to attend. They book up early, and hotel prices in downtown Nashville have skyrocketed in recent years.
Fannie Mae Dees Park – Our kids don’t get as excited as they used to about playgrounds these days (#teenagers), but we’ve had a lot of fun at this city park with cool mosaic climbing structures (see the photo above). A variety of playground areas and plenty of space for playing catch make this a great outdoor spot right in the city.
Miscellaneous Activities
Marathon Village – This is definitely a tourist spot, but it has a good variety of stores to check out with local art and tons of niche shops. If you have ever watched American Pickers on the History Channel, you can find their store here. And there is also a distillery and music venue as well that add to the variety of attractions on this industrial-looking city block. Even just walking around the building that was previously a motorcycle factory is cool on its own for those non-shoppers out there. Bonus Tip: If you buy a ticket for the Old Town Trolley tour, they have a stop right at Marathon Village so you can hop off and check it out before continuing with your tour, which brings us to our next suggestion…
Old Town Trolley Tour – We usually shy away from formal tours when we visit cities, choosing instead to have less “packaged” experiences. But Sarah’s dad is a tour conductor for Old Town Trolley in Boston, so when he came to Nashville with us we had the opportunity to tour for free. At this point, we had been to Nashville more times than we could count, but we learned TONS of new things about the city on the Old Town Trolley tour. We had driven down Music Row a few times, but hearing some back stories really brought it to life. We discovered some new areas to explore, and finally figured out what some of the monuments were representing. A perk of Old Town Trolley is that you can hop on and off their tours all day long, so you can explore the city at your own pace. If you have multiple days to spend in Nashville, the tour is a great way to spend Day 1 so you can get a feel for the layout of the city and decide which spots you want to put on your own “can’t miss” list.
Woolworth on 5th – Just a short walk from Broadway you can check out the location of the famous sit-ins during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. Woolworth was a “five and dime” store with a lunch counter that did not allow African Americans to dine in. The historical marker outside will quickly help you realize the significance of the events that happened there, including the arrest of US Congressman John Lewis, who was then just a local college student. John Lewis would go on to be arrested more than 40 times while he protest segregation, with the sit-in at Woolworth being the very first. Be sure to read John Lewis’s graphic novel trilogy, March, to hear the full story of the protests in detail and learn a lot about the Nashville-area during the 1960’s. The counter is still preserved but now the site is a restaurant. I can’t speak to the quality of the food, but stopping to take in the historical context makes it worth a visit.
These are some of our favorites spots away from the tourist/country scene, but what about you? Comment below any of your “go to” places in Nashville.