Good Morning & Hello Friday!!

• Spent a long weekend in Nashville with a big group of friends to celebrate another LEO birthday. It was FABULOUS.
• I hadn’t been to Nashville since 2014 (link here). Back then, I came for trend scouting gigs. Loved it then, love it even more now.
• Nashville has changed a lot. It’s got a Soho House now (with 7000 people on the wait list I heard). More people have moved here, and it’s gotten more touristy (but not in a bad way).
• From my vantage point, Nashville in veering away from its hipster cool cred, has become way more vibrant and way more fun!

And with that, please scroll down for Top 10 Things To Do/See in Nashville.

1. Broadway – the epicenter of fun for tourists!

1. For tourists, a daytime stroll down Broadway in the Honky-Tonk district is a MUST. The people-watching is extraordinary. Nothing beats seeing the bachelorettes (in their cowboy hats, boots, and daisy dukes), performing for the crowds on Broadway as they’re towed around town in buses and trolleys. The bachelor parties are more sedate and low-key. The guys are less into performing, they have to focus on pedaling their party bikes if they want any chance at all of catching up with the bachelorettes.
2. Live music. Every bar on the strip has musicians performing (all day, every day) generally by an open window to lure in passersby.
3. Locals tend to avoid downtown like the plague (unless they work there). But WOW for someone visiting for a few days, nothing is more fun!!

2. Cheekwood Estate & Gardens: the antidote to the Broadway scene!!

1. Cheekwood, all 55-acres of it, is magnificent. Make sure you get the tickets for both the Mansion and the Gardens. It’s about 30-mins from downtown (I Ubered there).
2. Schedule at least 2 hours for your visit (I was short on time). Must-sees include the Gardens, the Sculpture Trail with its spectacular Jaume Plensa (see above) and a James Turrell (that I did not see).
3. The 30,000 sq ft mansion’s period rooms are spectacular. The second floor bedrooms have been modernized and turned into contemporary art galleries curated by the Frist Museum. The mansion was originally built as the home of Leslie and Mabel Cheek in 1929, and is considered one of the finest examples of an American Country Place Era estate.
4. Cheekwood also hosts special events, e.g., a concert series (Songwriters under the Stars on Aug 26, 27), and Thursday Night Out with music performances, food, spirits, lawn games, etc. EVERY Thursday night during the summer.

3. East Nashville: the city’s “happening” neighborhood!

1. East Nashville was on my radar because of THE WASH (a former car wash station with each of its 6 bays converted into restaurants). Super cool concept. From our one visit we can recommend Bay 1 (Peruvian/ceviche), Bay 2 (Soy Cubano), and Bay 6 (cocktails). The other 3 bays offer Poke, Pho, and Tacos. The Wash opens at 11 am and is one of the few places open for lunch in the area.
2. Gallatin Avenue has become one of the most popular destinations for niche bars and restaurants. Two recommended to us are Once Upon a Time In France (menu looks fabulous), and Pearl Diver (tiki place that looks amazing but not open until 5 pm).
3. One of the city’s most renowned chefs, Sean Brock, recently opened his flagship restaurant Audrey in East Nashville. Jane’s Hideaway is another hot spot that just relocated here from Printer’s Alley (opening later this summer).

4. Hermitage Hotel: stay here, or just check it out for dinner or cocktails!

1. The Hermitage’s Saturday afternoon tea service (“spillin’ tea with draper james aka Reese Witherspoon) is a big hit with the locals. As luck would have it, there was a cancellation and I got in.
2. In retrospect (and $100 later), I would have preferred lunch downstairs at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Druise & Darr restaurant or the Bourbon Library.
3. Bottom Line: The Hermitage is the most glam spot in town. I even got to check out the award-winning men’s bathroom (“too beautiful to not allow women to see”). The Art Deco-style restroom with its lime-green-and-black leaded glass tiles even includes a two-seat shoeshine station (pics below). The women’s bathroom has also been updated but not nearly as swoon-worthy as the men’s.

5. Fifth + Broadway: Nashville’s newest – and largest – mixed-use development

1. Fifth + Broadway opened earlier this year and it is booming!! There are over 30 restaurants including Hattie B’s and Shake Shack, shops (Carhartt is the newest addition), the National Museum of African American Music, and The Place Residential Units (the tallest for-rent residential tower in state of Tennessee).
2. Assembly Food Hall which is next to Hattie’s is AMAZING!! They serve over 100,000 guests per week. Totally jam-packed the two times I visited. Prince’s Hot Chicken, Pharmacy Burger and Velvet Taco are currently the top performing eateries at the Hall.
3. Here, as elsewhere in Nashville, live music plays from morning til nite.

6. Ryman Auditorium

1. Ryman Auditorium is open for tours from 9 am – 4 pm. It closes early to set up for nightly shows (Vince Gill, The Decemberists, and John Mulaney this month).
2. With your ticket for the self-guided tour, you can step on the stage and get your photo taken by the Ryman official photographer (not sure how much that costs). My tip is to get a friend or anybody nearby to snap a photo of you near the stage and call it a day.
3. That said, the gift shop is amazing (and you do have to exit thru it, just like in the Banksy movie!!).

7. Kudos to Erin Krueger and her team at Compass for this great promo idea!

1. Both the Compass party buses were tooling around Nashville plastered with their catchy slogan: “Tourist Today, Local Tomorrow.”
2. Nashville is indeed booming claiming the third-highest increase in residents from January 2021 through March 2022.
3. And while that is good news for the city overall, it also explains why every single Uber driver and many service workers bemoaned how expensive the city has become for renters, forcing many to move further away.

8. Butchertown Hall: My fave restaurant of the week

• Butchertown Hall was my favorite restaurant during our visit. There were others I was curious to try but with a larger group and a very limited number of days, I did not get to check out all the spots on my to-do list (e.g., Adele’s, Drusie & Darr, Rolf and Daughters, Folk, Once Upon A Time in France).
• One big thing to keep in mind: fancier restaurants in Nashville all seem to close on the early side, e.g., 9-10 pm.

9. Soho House Nashville: a great home base while traveling!

1. Soho House Nashville opened earlier this year. It’s in the up-and-coming Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood.
2. The staff is excellent (even in the midst of a staffing shortage) and I got a lot of great tips/recos from them. The rooms are also fabulous. And I particularly appreciated that this house has dedicated a large area for laptop use, meetings, and phone calls!!! Major improvement.
3. But I do have two questions/comments: i) What’s up with the gigantic TV screen in the work space? Although they were playing music videos, it still gave the space a sports bar vibe. And ii) why are the seating arrangements in the club so wack! There is not a single spot in the club where a group of 6 can comfortably gather, have a cocktail, and chat. Strange misstep for a “social” club.

10. first “Hudson Nonstop” w/Amazon’s Just-Walk-Out technology at Nashville Airport

1. The 1,000-square-food store is located near Gate C14 and uses Amazon One palm recognition as a contactless way to pay without any checkout or cashier interaction.
2. They did have a person at the entrance warning potential customers that if you picked up an item, you would be charged unless that item was returned to the exact same spot you got it from (appreciated the gesture, but not very welcoming!).
3. I kept an eye on the store for an hour. People hovered but not a single customer entered the store. On the plus side, the store was well-stocked and looked attractive. On the downside, it’s a huge hassle to sign up for Amazon One just to buy a bag of chips – especially when there are several other convenience stores nearby.

And that’s a wrap for today.

Busy week ahead. And not done with Nashville yet. Seeing John Crist at City Winery in NYC tonight (he’s a famous comic out of Nashville). Birthday celebrations also continue (lots of LEOS in my life). And before I head to Bozeman, I’m hoping to check out Le Rock (a buzzy new restaurant in Midtown). Finally, I want to share this short .52 sec video from Ringo Starr. This man is the most youthful and inspiring 82 year old I’ve ever encountered. Who knew Ringo would emerge as the coolest Beatle?