Connie, who does a lot of work in venues in Nashville, often talks to visitors to Nashville, often suggests an urban hike that focuses on Broadway early in the day. This idea works at sunrise. It also works in the late morning. I lean towards the sunrise version. It is good exercise and I always like walking around the aftermath of the night before. It is a great way to get the lay of the land in downtown Nashville while the crowds and the bands and the sights, the neon lights, the smells, the overall sensory overload are not present. When Kris Kristopherson recently passed away, I spent several sessions having my smartphone play his music. When “Sunday Morning Coming Down” came on, Connie shared how she always played that song when she took a morning walk in New Orleans. Ever since, that has been the earworm in my head when I walk in a city in the early morning.
We recently embarked on a Nashville urban hike to share an updated version of this experience. I mentioned that Connie works at venues, and we did this after she worked a night shift. For this reason, this was not a sunrise walk. It was also late July during a string of heat advisory days, so we did not walk the mile and a half from our house to Broadway. We caught up in the morning a little by taking a rideshare to Broadway. The fare was about $5.50. I had a plan in mind, and I knew to try to leave flexibility in it to allow for spontaneity and flexibility for Connie. Another way of putting this is that it is always best to have a plan, but don’t let the plan get in the way of enjoying yourself.
It was hot already, but some clouds kept us comfortable in the morning. We made our first stop at the Nashville Visitor Center at Bridgestone Arena, the home of the Nashville Predators. This is a nice shop with some well curated selections for souvenirs. It also is a functioning visitors center to get some friendly suggestions about your Nashcation. On this day, there was an opening to the arena to peer down. We flounced around the store some and talked about some of the items and then we headed out. We crossed the street after we left to find the location of our last stop of the day. It sells shaved ice. Connie does not have a very active sweet tooth, but she got a craving for a shaved ice cart in Paris when we were there recently and we only had misadventures trying to find one. Those cravings build up and require being satisfied. At long last, we were going to have shaved ice, as long as my research was correct this time. Low and behold I was right. We went into Assembly Food Hall and asked about the location from a help desk. We found Cotton and Snow and then headed out for more of our walk. From here we walked down the famous alley that is between the Ryman Theater and the honkytonks including Tootsie’s that served as a between sets watering hole for Opry performers. There you go, an origin story about Nashville Honkytonks.
It is really difficult being in the presence of the Ryman without getting a little awestruck. We pulled around the Little Jimmy statue and went into the giftshop. It is no bargain bin store, but it has a great selection of keepsakes to consider. From here we crossed the alley and doubled back to Robert’s Western World. I hate to have to admit that I was asleep on Robert’s for way too long. It was music again in the form of a song by our favorite musician, Ride to Roberts, that inspired this visit. Following the lyrics, you go early and sit down and people watch. In the morning and early afternoon, there is usually no need to go to the upper bar. There is usually a seat at the main bar. We tend to think Jason Isbell has fantastic taste in things. One thing that makes Roberts superior is its commitment to older country. On this day we heard a set of fantastic music by Don Williams and Jimmie Rodgers among others. We also had a nice conversation with one of the band members as he circulated through with kindness and a tip jar. The menu at Roberts is consistent, it also has some bargains that will make you giggle. Their Recession Special is a Fried Baloney Sandwich, chips, a PBR, and a Moon Pie for $6. They have a selection of beers served all day long for $2.50 including PBR and ICBL..or Ice Cold Busch Light. Smiling is what you will do a good bit at Roberts. Generally good service and food are not to be counted on on the strip on Broadway, I do mean that you should plan out how and when you are going to eat when you go to Broadway. At Roberts, the food and the service are very good. I recommend the burger. It is cooked right in front of you on a stainless steel grill. It has great toppings and a good bun to boot. Connie and I split a burger. Whenever possible, split on meat or appetizer at a place so you still have room left for other stops.
From there we crossed the street and window shopped at some of the newer Honkytonks that have been set up in the past two years. If you plan on going to Broadway at night, this is a great way to decide what places you will want to go. Nashville keeps adding newer and more elaborate Honkytonks, all connected to a musician owner. In recent years Garth Brooks, Jelly Roll, Jon Bon Jovi, and Lainey Wilson have added new neon shingles in downtown Nashville. Connie and I found ourselves drawn into Posty’s, Post Malone’s place that opened this past June. We marveled at how well done it was from the first floor stage, through multiple levels to the roof. It also was set up in a way that you could use internal openings to go to Jason Aldean’s and Luke Bryan’s. Posty’s is now my suggestion for new honkytonks to visit.
We walked off Broadway and into the GooGoo Cluster Nashville storefront. We were lucky in the sense that their cluster making class was in process in the back and we could see novice chocolate artists being guided through making their own GooGoo Cluster. To one side were kiosks where you can do something similar without needing a smock and gloves. This is a good time to point out that an advantage of the late morning Broadway walk is that it is a very kid friendly time of day in the sense that most HonkyTonks are all ages before 6PM.
From there we walked up the Pedestrian Bridge. This is a great, free, way to see Nashville. It crosses the Cumberland River and heads toward the Titan’s stadium. On this very hot July day, we walked up about a third of the way and took some pictures and then moved out of the heat. Parched and overheating, we stopped in to the bottom of Lower Broad and got a Froze at Acme Feed and Seed. It is a multi floor HonkyTonk, usually with live music playing on multiple levels, and it has a great rooftop view of the Cumberland River and Broadway.
After cooling off for a half hour or so, we headed back out into the heat, and walked down Second Avenue, which is in the process of being restored still after a Christmas day bombing that happened several years ago. We stopped in the Opry Shop on Second Avenue and looked around. Then we turned up commerce and headed back to Assembly Food Hall. The shaved ice at Cotton and Snow was fantastic and scratched that itch for Connie. It is a large portion, but Connie committed herself to finishing almost every last drop. I had a Key Lime Pie cone and was pleasantly surprised that it was not overflavored. In fact it was fantastic.
From there, at around 2PM we took a ride share home and spent some downtime together and talked about how fun a morning walk in Nashville is and made plans to do it again soon.
