On July 2, 2023, Al and I drove into Nashville on a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon. Although we had traveled to Nashville previously, we had never celebrated Nashville Independence Day. We were meeting up with my brother, Craig, who had always wanted to visit Nashville.

Broadway Avenue, also known as the Honky-Tonk Highway, serves as the main street in downtown Nashville. As we strolled along, music blared from every doorway. It was wall-to-wall honky-tonks, yet we had no problem enjoying the distinctive performances in each place. It was amazing! We spent some time walking along Broadway and enjoyed some cold beer.

Grand Ole Opry House

My first memory of the Opry was hearing snippets of conversation at my friends whose parents loved country music. Al’s parents were big country music lovers and they often traveled to Tennesee, so he was more familiar with what the Grand Ole Opry truly represents. We hold a deep respect for its cherished country music history.

We had 7 pm tickets for the Grand Ole Opry July 2nd. The show included some performers we had never heard of: Jeannie Seely, Darryl Worley, Rhonda Vincent, and Wendy Moten. Ella Langley and Eric Paslay were a little more familiar. As we took our seat, we noticed that the great hall offers seating with clear views of the entire stage. The lights reflect on the resplendent wood throughout.

We enjoyed every act, appreciating the artists’ rendition of familiar and new music. Each Opry performer referenced being invited into the circle and how honored they felt to stand in the circle. What they meant by that eluded all of us until later when we participated in a guided tour of the Opry.

In 1974, the Opry was relocated from the Ryman Auditorium to its own facility where it stands today. To pay homage to the Ryman, it was decided to cut out a portion of the stage flooring and install it into the Grand Ole Opry stage. It was carefully fashioned into a circle where performers stand.

In 2010, a flood threatened to destroy the stage flooring, but the circle remained intact and again was preserved to remain a part of country music history. If you want to learn more about the circle and the Grand Old Opry, check out the links below. It’s fascinating, especially having been there to stand in that honored circle ourselves.

https://www.opry.com/story/the-history-of-the-grand-ole-opry-s-iconic-circle-of-wood

https://www.opry.com/

The Opry tour included photographs on the walls and the dressing rooms where scheduled performers wait to take the stage, including Dolly Parton's room complete with purple couch! We walked the magical halls where country greats have traveled; performers Vince Gill, Randy Travis, Dolly Parton, Randy Skaggs, and Reba McIntyre, to name just a few. In fact, as we stood looking at the doors where performers enter and exit the Opry House, Eric Paslay appeared on his way out after his performance. He graciously chatted with us for a few moments. We all thought it was a cool experience.

This tour and the personal photographs are a highlight of our trip. We highly recommend purchasing the guided tour and photo package mementos of your trip.

Ryman Auditorium

On July 3, we had the whole day ahead of us. After a great breakfast at the Embassy Suites by Hilton, we decided to hit Broadway Avenue and visit some honky-tonks. Great music and places to eat and drink abound along the strip. We highly recommend Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row.

After having a few beverages along Broadway, we decided to go to the Ryman and do the self-guided tour we had purchased. This was a relaxing walk-through. This auditorium was the original home of the Grand Ole Opry which began in this location in 1943. It is said that bluegrass music began in the Ryman Grand Ole Opry with Earl Scruggs.

Clothes and musical instruments from its famous performers are on display throughout. We stood at the back of the hall looking down at the stage. It is magnificent! We walked through this historical building at our own pace. I tend to read everything in museums, whereas Al likes to look around. That is the beauty of a self-guided tour. You can spend the time you prefer with each exhibit.

Carol Burnett's and Dolly Parton's exhibits were two of my favorites. I was particularly taken with the vintage country music exhibits featuring artists like Hank Williams and Patsy Cline, whose names are so well-known that even a rock and roll girl like me was awestruck. What an amazing place.

There was a digital photography system in the building where you could do a free portrait selfie and have it sent digitally to your email. We took photos of Al and me, and me and my brother. They emailed it to us just as they said they would, and they are treasured pictures of our time there. Try it when you visit!

https://www.ryman.com/

Broadway Avenue

The bulk of Monday, July 3, we spent enjoying shopping, eating, and drinking on Broadway Avenue. After having a few drinks in various bars along Broadway, the costs tend to add up. Most beers average $9 a bottle. We had heard about a less expensive place to get a beer and light lunch. Since we’re not big spenders on alcohol, we couldn’t wait to check it out. If you get to Nashville, go to Robert’s Western World. They have a “Recession Special.” When we were there, the cost was $6 for a fried bologna sandwich, bag of potato chips, and a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR). I had fried bologna as a kid, but I don’t remember wanting another. Robert’s Western World makes a heck of a good fried bologna sandwich. Al and I split a special and it was awesome, especially because it was an entire lunch for $6 (or $3 a piece!).

We did more souvenir shopping, music listening, and fully enjoyed downtown Nashville and its people. Let me just say that the people of the south are known for being gracious and this was true throughout our entire stay. You would think that with the amount of drinking going on, the heat (94°), and the number of tourists flowing into the area, somewhere along the line we would run into a short-tempered individual. It never happened. What a great city and lovely bunch of people. Thank you, Nashville!

Another fascinating thing about Nashville honky-tonks is the number of people trying to make it big in show business. Many of them belong on a professional stage somewhere! While we ate dinner on the second floor at Ole Red, my brother jumped up and hung over the banister trying to see who was singing. He thought it was Chris Stapleton singing. Instead, it was the security staff we saw at the door when we came in. He had taken the stage to sing Tennessee Whiskey. We were floored. His voice was golden and silky like a great glass of whiskey. When we left, we told the staff that he belonged on stage and not at the door. He thanked us and smiled. I’m sure he’s heard it before. Nashville is truly the home of the up-and-comers in music.

That evening we visited John Rich’s Redneck Riviera on the rooftop and listened to the smooth tunes of Shelby Raye. She is just a petite little thing, but she can croon and belt out the sounds with the best of them. We sat for hours that night enjoying being outside with family and listening to her. She is now on our country music playlist.

https://shelbyrayemusic.org/

https://redneckrivieranashville.com/

Nashville 4th of July

July 4th broke hot and sunny. We were excited for the day ahead and moved to our second hotel, the Renaissance Nashville, with a great view of the city and within walking distance of Broadway. Workers had begun closing off the streets for the evening's concert including headliner Brad Paisley.

https://www.bradpaisley.com/

Souvenir shopping and more eating and drinking were on the agenda. One restaurant our friends insisted we try was Hattie B’s. Every time we walked by the restaurant it had a line, so my clever husband decided to get chicken delivered for lunch at the hotel. We’re big eaters and we like a nap before a long night so that was our plan. We shopped in the morning, finding Al a cowboy hat. I had already bought one the previous day. We purchased a few things and headed back to the room for our Hattie B’s chicken and a nap. I tend to have heightened expectations when everyone tells me to try something. The chicken arrived hot. It had good breading on it too. I found it satisfying, but not as delicious as I had hoped. I would recommend you try it and see what you think. It’s most certainly a hit in Nashville based on the constant lines of people at its doors.

My brother went on the hunt for his final souvenirs while Al and I napped. We had tickets to ride the General Jackson Showboat down the Cumberland River during the fireworks, so it was a touch bittersweet that we wouldn't be at the Independence Day concert downtown. We were reassured that we had the ideal plan when Craig returned and informed us he saw throngs of people headed down Broadway into downtown. We were all glad we would be lazily cruising the Cumberland rather than standing amongst thousands of partygoers. Al’s thoughtful planning would make for a relaxing holiday evening.

General Jackson Showboat

We took our car from the Renaissance Hotel and headed to the General Jackson Showboat 11 miles away. We found the route uncongested with our early departure. When we have tickets for an event we always arrive early so as not to run into problems. When we arrived, we could see the General Jackson waiting for us. It was a beautiful evening. Eventually, people began lining up to board the boat.

We were anticipating a night of food and drink, music from the showboat's onboard performers, and, at the very end, fireworks above Nashville's Cumberland River! We were blessed to even be here because this night nearly didn’t happen!

Let me recount the story of our showboat ticket purchase. We had discussed taking the showboat, but we hadn't purchased tickets. In April we called the showboat's box office and were informed that there were no tickets left. Next, we decided to try online because cancellations sometimes happen. We could only get two tickets online. Al tried calling the box office again and miraculously, there were three seats available together. We were cautioned that our seats were in the back of the boat dining room on the first floor of this two-floor paddleboat, although the staff reassured us there wasn’t a bad seat in the room.

If you are interested in the General Jackson Showboat, especially on the 4th of July, our close call on getting tickets is a lesson for all of us. Buy early! We were fortunate to have a seat for this event. The following is a link to the showboat website.

https://generaljackson.com/

On the showboat, the three of us joined a wonderful couple and their family at our table. Our beverages were brought to us right away and the food service started immediately. There were beverages served and you also could purchase memento cups. The plastic on these mementos had the unfortunate tendency to come off the glasses when they were exposed to cold and moisture. We enjoyed a fine dinner of a baby lettuce salad with pecans and goat cheese, chicken breast, potatoes, broccoli, dinner rolls, and crabcakes. The dessert was a flavorful cheesecake. Everything was delicious, well-seasoned, and served hot or cold as appropriate. The staff were very attentive all night long and delivered consistently excellent service.

The General Jackson show is called Rollin’ on the River and features music relating to the history of America’s iconic river towns. Up to eight showboat artists presented these well-known melodies. They were all very talented, and we enjoyed hearing classic songs like “When the Saints Go Marching” and “Soul Man.” Jazz, rhythm and blues, and country music kept us all entertained and had us dancing in our seats.

When dusk arrived we went upstairs. It was possible to hear and enjoy the music from the Brad Paisley concert in downtown Nashville. Hundreds of people lined the streets and the riverbanks. We had a great view of the fireworks directly overhead as they were fired off along the water’s edge. We watched the night’s sky in awe for at least 45 minutes of the most phenomenal, colorful, mind-blowing fireworks we had ever seen. I found myself laughing out loud at the sheer unrivaled abundance of fireworks lighting up the night sky. There was so much smoke hanging in the air after the show that we had to wait to proceed back along the river until the air cleared.

We suggest if you prefer to be seated during the extended fireworks display, that you purchase tickets on the second level. The alternative is to go upstairs early and get yourself a chair.

The Nashville Fourth of July we enjoyed was unlike any other we had ever celebrated. We firmly believe that Nashville gave us an amazing holiday for our money. If you want to celebrate a Nashville Fourth of July in 2024, everything gets booked up early so preparing ahead is necessary to create the ideal getaway. We sincerely hope you give it a try and enjoy it as much as we did.

Our recommendations are solely based on our personal opinions and experiences.

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