Today I want to talk about Broadway, Nashville’s Honky Tonk Row. Sue and I walked this area a number of times during our stay. This street is lined with bars/restaurants on both sides and they have live music from 10am to 3am every day with no cover charge. A number of the bars are owned by famous entertainers. No matter what the temperature you will find they have their large windows and doors open. When you walk down the street there is live music coming from every direction. It is a hodgepodge of sounds and voices until you walk into the bar. Then you are engrossed by the music of only that band. A very important fact I learned about the bands is that they are not paid! That is what I said! They do not get paid by the establishment where they are playing. The only payment they get is by the tips from the audience. If you ever go to Nashville remember to tip the bands.
Mixed in between the bars you will find a few stores selling merchandise and there are some boot stores in the mix. If you don’t physically see the stores the smell of leather permeates the air on the street and is definitely an attention getter for me. I resisted for a while but eventually broke down and I bought myself a pretty cool looking pair to go with my cowboy hat from Dallas.
On Broadway you get to enjoy the entertainment of the bands as well as the people. No matter where you go it is always fun to people watch. We found the third floor of the famous Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, which was known as Mom’s prior to 1960, very entertaining! Tootsie’s is where a number of famous singers and song writers started their careers.
If you are looking for a less touristy area we learned about Bourbon Street. We were told by a local that Broadway was for us, the tourists, and Bourbon Street or Printers Alley was an area more traveled by the locals. Something to remember is that many of the bars have multiple floors and there is usually a band playing on every floor!
I have to tell you about a really cool find that isn’t on Broadway. It is the Woolworth on 5th that opened in February of this year. This building originally housed the F.W. Woolworth department store. You will find great food and entertainment here as well as history. During our stay we went there for a breakfast and lunch and both were delicious. The Woolworth department store first opened in 1930. Much of this original space has been preserved and there are areas that have been recreated to resemble the what it used to look like. It has the original terrazzo floors, and cast iron railings with the Art Deco design to mention a few. There is a huge dining room with tables, booths and a large bar. The ballroom in the basement level is called New Era Ballroom and provides different genres of entertainment during the week. You never know where you will find a gem. Sometime you just need to take a look beyond the facade.
Tomorrow I will give you a little history about the Parthenon.
First person to message me with the original name of Toosties gets entered into the drawing for Rtic tumbler or MACE Brand pocket model.
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