This year’s Annual Institute and the follow-up Special Institute on Bridging Traditional and Renewable Energy Practice will be in Nashville, Tennessee, a great city to visit. Nashville has fantastic food, refreshing drinks, wonderful music, interesting history, and other fun attractions.
Food. Nashville has become a great food city. It has great upscale restaurants, or if you want a casual local dish, try Nashville’s famous “hot chicken” or southern biscuits with gravy. A few of the notable restaurants include Gannons Nashville (casual fine dining), Luogo (Italian), Harper’s (upscale steak, seafood, wine, and cocktails), The Butter Milk Ranch (breakfast, lunch, and bakery), Lockeland Table (an award-winning neighborhood restaurant), and Monell’s (classic southern food).
Rooftop Bar. Try Harriet’s Rooftop Bar, which has great views of Nashville from nineteen floors above the street.
Music Scene. Nashville is known as “Music City,” and there is plenty of live music to suit a variety of tastes.
Grand Ole Opry. The Grand Ole Opry is Nashville’s most famous music venue. The Grand Ole Opry was founded in 1825, so it is having its 100th anniversary this year. Backstage tours are available during the day and country music shows are presented every night except Monday. https://www.opry.com/
Downtown venues. Nashville has numerous clubs that have food, drink, and live music. The biggest concentration is on Broadway, sometimes called the Honky Tonk Highway.
Ryman Auditorium. The “Mother Church” of music in Nashville. https://www.ryman.com/
Country Music Hall of Fame. Nashville is home to the CMHOF. https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/
Centennial Park. Nashville’s Centennial Park is in the City, about two miles from Downtown. In addition to green space, the Park has a full-size replica of the Parthenon. Inside, there is a 42-feet tall statue of Athena, information on Greek mythology, and an art museum.
History and wine. Nashville has historic buildings. At least one of these also allows you to sample wine. The Belle Meade Historic Site and Winery offers wine tastings from the site’s winery and tours of the Belle Meade Plantation Mansion. https://visitbellemeade.com/
Tennessee whiskey. Tennessee whiskey is famous. You can visit a distillery to get a tour of a working distillery and participate in a taste-testing to decide which of the distillery’s products you like best. Some distilleries are in Nashville itself, and the famous Jack Daniels distillery is about 75 miles away, in Lynchburg, Tennessee.
Nashville Zoo. Nashville has a wonderful zoo. https://www.nashvillezoo.org/
Museums. Nashville has several museums that might interest you.
Frist Art Museum – hosts touring exhibitions. https://fristartmuseum.org/
Tennessee State Museum – exhibits on Tennessee history. https://tnmuseum.org/
Botanical Gardens – Cheekwood Estate & Gardens. https://cheekwood.org/