Y'all Going to Nashville?

We Stayed at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown. The location couldn’t have been better… only 4 blocks from downtown. The room was a good size. We had a King sized bed with a nightstand on either side of the bed, a large entertainment center that included several good sized drawers, a desk, a sofa, a coffee table and an end table next to the sofa. We also had a full sized closet and an average sized bathroom. There was a supplied coffee maker that made one cup at a time (my only complaint.. ONE CUP, are you kidding, I could easily drink a pot of coffee myself in the morning). There was a small stain on the carpet, but otherwise, it was very clean. The Furnishings were a very attractive dark wood. My favorite part of the room was a lovely picture of a road with trees lined on either side of it... black & white; I smiled every time I looked at it. Our view from our room was over the business district… lots of skyscrapers.
The lobby was beautifully decorated with the usual marble and high ceilings. It was set up like a courtyard, you could overlook the railing from any of the floors down onto it. The hotel had a great restaurant that we enjoyed breakfast in every morning, and a lounge/bar area that also was comfortable and attractive. One great amenity was the business center... I didn't have to pay a thing to access the internet and print out my boarding passes! We did, however, have to pay $20 a day for parking… this was unexpected as it was not mentioned anywhere on the website. They have a later check out than most hotels… at 12 pm. I feel that sometimes just that extra hour keeps the rush to get out at a minimum. They also had an indoor pool that we didn’t use. We did check it out though, and it looked clean and had plenty of area around it to sit. I did buy a few things from the gift shop which had a good variety of items: T-shirts, knick-knacks, post cards, magnets, sundries, refreshments & snacks.
Tip: I am an SPG member and only paid $135 plus 8400 SPG points for 3 nights. If we had just paid cash, it would have been $690 plus tax. With only points it would have been 21,000 points.

Sheraton Nashville Downtown
623 Union St., Nashville, Tennessee 37219
(615) 259-2000
https://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton

Our first meal in Nashville, the Patriot’s were playing their second game of the season… our main concern was a TV to watch the game. We walked around downtown Nashville and found the Big River Grille & Brewery. We sat right beside a TV… the waitress had some trouble finding the channel the game was on… finally, success. We got a couple orders of Louisiana Fried Shrimp (Hand breaded and fried, served with Cocktail Sauce and Cajun Remoulade) $9.99. You’d think we hadn’t eaten in years, we gobbled those shrimp up in about 3 minutes. For my meal: Gorgonzola Pear Salad with Hazelnut Crusted Chicken in Balsamic Vinaigrette $9.99, and a Mushroom Swiss Burger $8.99. I had ordered the salad in place of fries and Cole slaw, so much food there was no way I could eat it all. The salad alone would have been plenty. Oh my god, it was to die for. The burger was the best I’ve ever had too!! My 3 travel buddies all had the Bistro Filet & Crab Stuffed Shrimp with Rice Pilaf and grilled vegetables $22.50. I didn’t try any, but they oohhed and aahhed the whole meal. I’m telling you, the portions were huge. We each tried a couple of the Big River’s micro brews; the Nashville Steamer Golden Ale & the Sweet Magnolia Brown Ale. Both brews were delicious. Aside from the food… the atmosphere was great too! The tables were spaced apart enough so that conversations didn’t spill over onto the next table. The brewery is on site, one entire wall of the brewery area is glass… you can see it in action from the restaurant. The bar is huge and wraps around from the dining area to the billiard table area. They have 4 billiard tables with ample room so there isn’t any knocking of pool sticks. The wait staff were awesome… they gave us a free round of drinks because we had missed a few minutes of the game during the time they couldn’t find the right channel. In short, if I ever come across another Big River Grille in my travels… I’ll pee my pants with excitement.

www.bigrivergrille.com

111 Broadway
Nashville, TN 37201
(615) 251-4677

As I have already said… the drive to Lynchburg is a scenic experience in itself. It took about an hour and 20 minutes to drive from downtown Nashville to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery. Let me just say, the grounds are beautiful and the distillery buildings are momentous. Tree barks had turned black from the distillery process. I know it sounds bizarre… but it was beautiful to see black trees with vibrant green leaves growing on them. Very strange… but, no alcohol is served on the premises (Lynchburg is a dry town). Not that it really mattered to me (as stated earlier)… not a whiskey drinker. Expecting to pay between $10 and $15 a ticket for the tour, I was unbelievably surprised that it was FREE!! Our tour guide, William, was awesome. He was funny and did a great job involving everyone in the group in conversation. I had a hard time understanding his authentic southern accent at times, but even that added to his charm. We learned all about the makings of Jack Daniel’s: from smelling the fermenting tank to the bottling. Let me tell you… the smell from the fermenting tank was strong enough to clear my allergy ridden sinuses. There were even a couple of people that had been on the tour the day before, and came back for more. The tour lasted 1 ½ hours, at the end we were greeted with freshly made glasses of lemonade, plane lemonade (not Lynchburg Lemonade). I do believe, it was the best lemonade I have ever had. Much to my surprise, when we got home, I checked the Jack Daniel’s web-site for our tour picture. I expected to order a copy for a few bucks… also, free!! The only thing that disappointed me was that they didn’t have a gift shop on the premises. We did take the short walk on the path from the distillery to downtown Lynchburg where there was a Jack Daniel’s store (Lynchburg Hardware & General Store).
Tour hours are 9am – 4:30pm daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years Eve & New Years Day.
182 Lynchburg Highway
Lynchburg, Tennessee
37352
(877) SPIRITS
www.jackdaniels.com (the distillery)
www.lynchburgstore.summitmg.com (the store)

One of my favorite parts of the trip was driving through the country. Aside from every other building being a church (the locals call Nashville the belt buckle of the Bible belt), there are Farmhouses everywhere. I became enthralled with the barns and the beautiful landscape. Everywhere the eye could see were huge barns… bigger than most of the houses, cattle & horses. Then the most amazing trees… that you could just picture yourself underneath one with a picnic lunch just gazing out at the lush green countryside. Words can hardly describe… hopefully my photos will do this beautiful part of the country some justice.

Let me just say… I’m not a big Country Music fan. However, I still can appreciate good musical talent. On any given night, you can stroll down 2nd Street and Broadway Streets and find the music pouring out of countless bars, all live music. It’s like shopping for your own entertainment, pick the one that sounds the best, and go in. Most of the bars/clubs don’t have a cover charge. The only one we went into that did have one was BB Kings (we got there early enough to avoid it though). If you’re a smoker, you’re sure to find a club that has great music and still allows smoking (completely up to the proprietor). As soon as the sun goes down, the neon lights go on. Just looking up and down the streets is awe inspiring. The scenery is so eclectic… the streets are lined with old buildings with so much character. All of them with route 66 style signs and decorated in their own unique way. Behind these clubs/bars are high rises & sky scrapers. It’s just mesmerizing. After a couple of drinks… walking around can be dangerous… I think I almost fell over a couple of times from looking up instead of at my feet. The best part of downtown Nashville, if you stay in a downtown hotel, all you have to do is walk to the clubs. Our hotel was only four blocks from downtown. Of course, it was always easier to walk to the club than the walk back to the hotel after a few drinks. On the sidewalks you’ll find life sized Elvis statues, guitars and other kinds of musical themed items as conversation pieces. You do come across the frequent homeless person. I was a bit surprised, seeing more homeless around downtown than I have in any other city I have ever visited. We didn’t get bothered by any of them. But, I still wouldn’t venture out alone at night. Just the same, on foot is the best way to get around downtown… as in most cities, parking is a pain in the but! All in all, I was pleasantly surprised. I had a great time, and felt that I saw & did so much in just a few days.