Recommendations for Nashville

ArrowFlyer86

ArrowFlyer86

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The Little Arrow That Could
I'm looking to do a quick 1-2 day trip down to Nashville in the arrow since it's been decades since I was there. Curious if anyone can help me with a few questions...

- I'm planning on landing KJWN since it's close to the city, any PIREPs on it? Avoiding KBNA only b/c the gas seems even more needlessly expensive. Curious if anyone has any thoughts on that?
- I'd like to avoid getting a rental car, does that make sense in Nashville?
- Any non-tourist-trap things worth seeing, or places worth dining at?
- Any areas to avoid?

Trying to use the trip to enjoy live music and see what the big craze is about the city. All recommendations are helpful!
 
The need for a car is dependent on where you are staying. If staying at a downtown, or near-downtown, hotel then a car will be more of a burden as you'll be paying to park it. Plenty of Lyft/Uber around. If you're hitting the civil war battlefields, and other points of interest outside of downtown, a car is more useful.

I'm on the opposite side of town from JWN but it's as convenient to downtown as BNA. I'm near The Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson. It's interesting to see if you like history. https://thehermitage.com/

Some interesting places to eat...

https://www.assemblyfoodhall.com/

https://www.thepfunkygriddle.com/

https://thepharmacyburger.com/

https://www.samssportsgrill.com/location/blue-turtle-bay/

If you like baseball, the Nashville Sounds park is very nice and not far from downtown. They are the Brewer's AAA affiliate. https://www.milb.com/nashville

The General Jackson Showboat cruises are fun. https://generaljackson.com/

Of course, there's the country music hall of fame: https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/ and the historic Ryman Auditorium https://www.ryman.com/
 
Larry in TN said:
The need for a car is dependent on where you are staying. If staying at a downtown, or near-downtown, hotel then a car will be more of a burden as you'll be paying to park it. Plenty of Lyft/Uber around. If you're hitting the civil war battlefields, and other points of interest outside of downtown, a car is more useful.

I'm on the opposite side of town from JWN but it's as convenient to downtown as BNA. I'm near The Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson. It's interesting to see if you like history. https://thehermitage.com/

Some interesting places to eat...

https://www.assemblyfoodhall.com/

https://www.thepfunkygriddle.com/

https://thepharmacyburger.com/

https://www.samssportsgrill.com/location/blue-turtle-bay/

If you like baseball, the Nashville Sounds park is very nice and not far from downtown. They are the Brewer's AAA affiliate. https://www.milb.com/nashville

The General Jackson Showboat cruises are fun. https://generaljackson.com/

Of course, there's the country music hall of fame: https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/ and the historic Ryman Auditorium https://www.ryman.com/
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Thank you very much for the recommendations! I'll check out the links to those places.
I'll be there just for a night on this trip so I was going to stick to the downtown area. When I make a return trip to TN I'll have more time to see the historical sites on the outskirts of town.
I'm looking at staying right downtown off of Broadway, so it sounds like a car won't be that necessary... Good to hear. Rental cars are expensive these days...

Thanks again!
 
Awesome!! Love Nashville, so clean and great food!

I went during Covid and stayed at the Virgin Hotel, pretty nice, walkable city, and download the apps you can rent the e-bikes to get around. A car is NOT needed. The main street is LOUD, so I would stay a few blocks away from it.

Plenty of fuel stops en-route in the $5.xx per gallon range.
 
mandm said:
Awesome!! Love Nashville, so clean and great food!

I went during Covid and stayed at the Virgin Hotel, pretty nice, walkable city, and download the apps you can rent the e-bikes to get around. A car is NOT needed. The main street is LOUD, so I would stay a few blocks away from it.

Plenty of fuel stops en-route in the $5.xx per gallon range.
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Glad to hear it's a nice town!

Yep I saw good gas prices even a few miles out at KXNX. I'll get some cheap gas on my way back.

I did a Priceline express deals for the hotel (where you don't know which hotel you'll get before you book, just limited to a certain area) so I'll be staying real close to downtown. Hopefully I still get some ZzZs.

Taking off in about an hour.
 
I go to JWN quite a bit! It’s a great facility and Contour (the FBO) is pretty decent. They have GoRentals if you plan ahead.
 
I’m a foodie, I travel for nice sleeps, food, walking and exploring architecture. All downtown-ish.

Hattie B's Hot Chicken - Nashville - Midtown

The Baked Bear (cookie shop)

Virago (Sushi)
-call ahead

Kayne Prime Steakhouse
-call ahead

The Farm House

Peg Leg Porker BBQ

Looks like the other 3 of my BBQ places have permanently closed! Argg
 
Also if you want, do a day trip to Memphis, for me not much there, dirty, but lots of history and good southern BBQ. Can see Elvis home Graceland!
 
mandm said:
Hattie B's Hot Chicken - Nashville - Midtown
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I keep trying to go there, but every time there’s no exaggeration at least 100 people in line wrapped around the place waiting to get in. I’ve never seen anything like it.
 
RyanB said:
I keep trying to go there, but every time there’s no exaggeration at least 100 people in line wrapped around the place waiting to get in. I’ve never seen anything like it.
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The sweet tea has cocaine in it. :D
 
Nashville is our favorite fly-in destination...we go several times a year.

JWN is nice, but I'll tell you my secret: MQY is WAAAAAY better for GA. Its a little farther (like 10 minutes/$10 farther) of an uber ride, but in my opinion really worth it...unlike JWN, there's no gouging on fuel/parking/etc.

Stay downtown if you're going for the nightlife. Stay RIGHT downtown. Everything is within walking (or if you're out late, crawling) distance.

You'll need a car for the out-of-town stuff, but a car is a pain downtown.

If you don't like being jostled in super packed in crowds, don't go downtown on a Friday or Saturday (heck even Thursdays and Sundays are pretty packed too).

I like country music, but I wasn't a fan of the county music hall of fame. Funny that I'm not much of a Johnny Cash fan, but I did like his museum.

The Grand Ole Opry (not downtown) is worth the Uber ride though.
 
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Oh, and if you're interested in Beechcraft or Jack Daniels, a nice day trip/flight is just 50 or so miles south to Tullahoma. The Beechcraft Heritage Museum is on the field, or take the crew car to the Jack Daniels factory.
 
Lots of Uber Options. I've landed JWN and its busy (and fuel is $$$). I had a run in with the tower there about a year ago (several poorly communicated instructions) so just eyes open going in there.

mandm said:
Hattie B's Hot Chicken - Nashville - Midtown
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This - this so much this. I mean... I have a Hattie B's T shirt gifted to me by my staff when I left one of my previous consulting companies. That's how much of a fan I am.

I also like Pucketts (it's touristy but good) - try the blackberry moonshine. I'm also a big fan of Martins BBQ - I've been to the one on 4th Ave.

I actually want to do a lunch run some time. Leave Chicago in the AM, fly down for lunch at Martin's BBW, then head back. It's an easy day-trip for us.
 
Country Flier said:
JWN is nice, but I'll tell you my secret: MQY is WAAAAAY better for GA. Its a little farther (like 10 minutes/$10 farther) of an uber ride, but in my opinion really worth it...unlike JWN, there's no gouging on fuel/parking/etc.
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MQY is way further than that, especially if you’re going downtown. I can be on Broadway within 10 minutes of leaving the parking lot at JWN. It’s a good 30 miles from MQY to downtown.
 
RyanB said:
MQY is way further than that, especially if you’re going downtown. I can be on Broadway within 10 minutes of leaving the parking lot at JWN. It’s a good 30 miles from MQY to downtown.
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Nope, try googling it, you'll be surprised: I just did. JWN to 1st and broadway, 21 minutes. MQY to 1st and broadway, 31 minutes.

My own experience matches google maps.
 
Country Flier said:
Nope, try googling it, you'll be surprised: I just did. JWN to 1st and broadway, 21 minutes. MQY to 1st and broadway, 31 minutes.

My own experience matches google maps.
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Add traffic to that.

IMG_4842.jpg IMG_4843.jpg
 
Just landed!

Busy little airport for having only 1 runway! I called 7 miles out and they told me to report 5 out. Then report midfield. Then had me do a right 360 when I was getting ready to turn base (and had me re enter downwind). People were calling in already set up on final so they got to cut the line!

I looked at MQY but the gas savings wasn't enough to justify the extra distance for this trip (that may change though). I plan on fueling up at KXNX on my way out anywho.

Staying right downtown on Broadway pretty much. Looking forward to a good time here. Thanks for all the recommendations! Will let ya know where I end up trying for food!

PXL_20230608_211818641.jpg

PXL_20230608_211643511.jpg
 
eman1200 said:
I kinda wanna go to Nashville now. Minus the country music.
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I ain't a country guy either... But I hear it's worth suffering through it for the chicken sandwiches :cool:

Oh, and my Uber driver just told me they have the Country Music Awards here this weekend or something? May have misheard. But definitely did not plan around that, though it would explain the sharp spike in hotel prices for Friday!
 
Here I innocently thought I was going to take back off at 7am. I'm 90 mins into Broadway St. already have paid a live band for two requests and the FBO now has me taking off at noon at the earliest...

Probably should have made this a weekend trip. 12 hours wasn't enough to rediscover Nashville.
 
eman1200 said:
I kinda wanna go to Nashville now. Minus the country music.
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Kid Rock's Honkeytonk, top floor. You'll hear everything from Guns-n-Roses, and Def Leopard, to Johnny Cash... Beware - it gets wild.
 
Yeah it’s a fun place, great food, don’t rush it. The e-bikes are great fun too. Glad you’re having a great time!
 
Larry in TN said:
How long was the flight in an Arrow?
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The Arrow took about 3 hours to get there, but it was a really bumpy ride so I didn't rush it. I think best case scenario I could probably do it in about 2.6h unless I'm gifted with a tail wind :)

Thanks again for the recommendations. I ended up spending 2 days there and I already have a trip on the books to go back with my friend and explore more! :cool:
 
JWN was great. I was down there for business a few months ago.

One note - there is a VERY tall radio tower just west (I think) of the airport. On approach, my GPS was very unhappy that the radio tower was there and very much wanted me to turn lol.

As other said, it was pretty busy as well.

FBO was good, I had no issues with JWN. I considered BNA as well (wasn't too terrible if I remember correctly) but JWN was just a bit closer to where I needed to be.
 
Yeah, there's a radio tower just SE of the field that can catch one's attention turning base to rwy 2. I haven't been back to JWN since we were priced out and relocated the Mooney to a private field in 2021, but those prisons on the west side used to broadcast some type of Christian station that would bleed over onto local/CTAF when you were directly over them. The only other warning regarding JWN is, even after the tower became operational, I've had the closest calls regarding mid-air collisions at and near that airport. It can get a bit crazy with the mix of traffic they have on one runway, and the tower controllers can get easily saturated.

Lotsa good food recs above (Martin's, Peg Leg, Virago), but Hattie B's is a little overrated IMO, especially at the assembly food hall. If you have a car and are visiting civil war battlefields and homes in Franklin there's a cafeteria style place called Bishop's owned by the same folks that run Hattie B's. It's much better in quality and in service.

Oh, and M91 is a short flight NW of JWN if you're looking for reasonably-priced fuel heading back north.
 
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