Nashville

Story and photos by Mary Medland

Say “Nashville” and the first thing that comes to mind is the Grand Ole Opry. But there’s much, much more to this city than country music.

Visitors looking for a relatively quick overview should head by the Nashville Convention & Visitor’s Bureau. Grayline Trolley has a number of tours that takes travelers past venues including the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Ryman Auditorium, Music Row, Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, Belle Meade Plantation, The Hermitage, The Parthenon and the Jack Daniel Distillery.

Anyone who is planning a tour should be sure not to miss The Frist Center for the Visual Arts. Located in what was once the Nashville Post Office, the building dates to the 1930s and, after a renovation in 2001, remains a stunning example of Art Deco architecture. Although it has no permanent collection, the Frist has a number of traveling exhibitions, such as Medieval Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art, Paint Made Flesh—which features works by Lucien Freud, Willem de Kooning, Pablo Picasso and Francis Bacon, among others--Chuck Close Prints and Georgia O’Keeffe and Her Times. In addition to the exhibition space, there is an Art Library and Resource Center, Prints/Drawings Study Room for scholars and an auditorium for films, lectures and other events.

Nashville’s Centennial Park is a beautifully maintained 132-acre property that, in 1897, was the site of the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition. After the Expo closed, the space was renamed Centennial Park: Many who have never visited Tennessee will recognize the park as it was featured by Robert Altman in his film “Nashville.” While most of the Expo’s buildings have been dismantled, the full-scale model of the Parthenon in Athens remains. Feel free to wander the park’s grounds—here there is Lake Watauga, an artificial lake—a number of historical markers, band shell and sunken gardens.

Hatch Show Prints is one of the oldest poster printing shops around. Dating back to 1879, when it was founded by brothers C.R. and H.H. Hatch the company really came into its own in the 1920s under the direction of C.R.’s son Will T. Hatch. Will was known for his innovation in carving woodprints and for much of the 20th century, Hatch Show Print was the leader in advertising for Southern entertainment, including posters for the Negro League baseball games and vaudeville and minstrel shows. In the 1950s Hatch was best known for posters of the Grand Ole Opry performers. Today Hatch is owned by the Country Music Foundation and produces re-strikes of its original prints, as well as creates new posters for legends such as Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones.

History buffs and lovers of historic homes should head to The Hermitage, the plantation of U.S. President Andrew Jackson. Purchased in 1856 by the state of Tennessee from the Jackson Family, The Hermitage has been under the supervision of the Ladies’ Hermitage Association since 1889. Jackson (1767-1845) was president from 1829 to 1837. As a teenager he was captured by the British during the Revolutionary War and later was the U.S. commander at the Battle of New Orleans. While he was known for his support for a popular democracy, Jackson’s legacy was tarnished by his removal of Native Americans from their land and his owning, at one point, more than 150 slaves.

The Hermitage encompasses 1,120 acres and has 30 buildings on the property, including the log cabin in which Jackson’s immigrant parents originally lived. The beautifully maintained property includes restored slave cabins, the family cemetery, the Heritage Church and formal gardens. There is a guided tour of the mansion, but afterward visitors are free to take self-guided tours of the property.

The Nashville Symphony is housed in the stunning Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Under the direction of its new music director, Giancarlo Guerrero, the 2009-2010 concert season offers not only a classical repertoire, jazz and pops concert along with world-renowned guest artists. A few of the names performing here include actor Christopher Plummer, Sir Neville Marriner, Hilary Hahn, Glen Campbell, Branford Marsalis, Al Jarreau and others.

Finally, even for those who are not die-hard country music fans, a concert at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center is a must. Better known as The Grand Ole Opry, which came from a radio show that aired in 1928, the Opry for many years held forth from Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. In March of 1974 it moved to its current location. Everyone from Johnny Cash and June Carter to Elvis Presley and Ernest Tubbs, along with Minnie Pearl, Roy Acuff, Keith Urban, Martina McBride, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Dolly Parton and a gazillion others have appeared on the Opry stage.

Nashville boasts a number of places for absolutely terrific food. Here are a few places to indulge your taste buds.

1. The Hutton Hotel’s 1808 Grille is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and has 24-hour room service. Standout items include crab and chive fritters with a chipotle tartar sauce, whole wheat fettuccini with artichoke, pine nuts, capers and olives, and a grilled rack of lamb with slow-roasted eggplant and feta cheese.
2. The Acorn—acorns are a sign of hospitality in the South—features an acorn squash-stuffed ravioli with pecan pesto and herbed apple cider, chorizo and potato-crusted halibut with sweet potato hash, rustic green beans and Jack Daniel’s pecan cream sauce and a grilled filet of beef with toasted Sally Lunn bread, roasted mushrooms, bacon braised onions and sweet garlic demi glace.
3. Before taking in a show at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center visit its Cascades Seafood Restaurant. Executive Chef Forrest Parker has pulled together a menu that includes Maine lobster salad, beef carpaccio with horseradish cream, spicy greens and Parmesan cheese, roasted organic chicken with English peas, asparagus and mint and a vegetable plate with daily selections from the local farmer’s market.
4. MAFIAozA’s Pizzeria & Neighborhood Pub is the place to go when it comes to Italian food, especially pizza. The stone-oven pizzas feature the freshest, locally grown ingredients, and the restaurant has earned praise from The New York Times and Frommer’s as well as coverage on NBC and Fox affiliates.
5. Located in East Nashville, Margot Café & Bar is known for its homemade potato chips with aioli, eggplant soup with spiced pine nuts and grilled Ashley Farms chicken breast with olive oil mashed potatoes, asparagus and pine nut Gremolata.