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[hulkhogan]

I'll be going to a conference in Nashville in a couple of weeks, a city I have never been to. As people can probably guess from the fact that I'm even posting here, I hate country music.

I want to spend a good part of the conference networking but still take an afternoon for sightseeing. What is there in Nashville that one absolutely should see if there is an afternoon's time? I'll have a car, so transportation is not an issue. Oh, and is there a good Indian restaurant anywhere?

Any ideas will be appreciated.

[gennimom]

If I hadn't backed out of that conference, we could have had a meet up!

[barred_owl]

My understanding is that, although Nashville is most often associated with country music, it is also a mecca of sorts for recording artists in all genres, including folk, blues, and rock.  The whole city seems to revolve around the music industry, first, and football second (Tennessee Titans).  Oh, and there is a Jack Daniels distillery there.  Bottoms up! ;)

You might find some helpful information here. 

[dellaroux]

Fort Nashborough, est. c. 1779

  http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=F043

   http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMH1C_Fort_Nash_2E_6

I went there in high school, it was quiet, hot and dry.

  For just a moment I thought I saw a calico skirt flicker by.



And the Cumberland can a lovely river at certain points and times of the year.

[corny]

If you like to sit around contemplating the glory that was Athens, Nashville has a full-size replica of the Parthenon. I don't know why, but it's delightful anyway.

[sacroiliac]

I guess Twitty City is out?

[dellaroux]

I think the Parthenon replica is there as a reference to the original of Memphis, some kind of keeping-up-with-the-McCoys kind of thing...

[whiteknight]

The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's home) is about 15 minutes from the airport, and James K. Polk's less-impressive home is about an hour away. You also should visit Elder's Bookstore on the West End.

[dellaroux]

I think the Parthenon replica is there as a reference to the original of Memphis, some kind of keeping-up-with-the-McCoys kind of thing...

Re: the Parthenon model itself:

   http://www.nashville.gov/parthenon/

Re: the back story...I still think there was something about Memphis that sparked the original plan...

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon_(Nashville)

[corny]

I think the Parthenon replica is there as a reference to the original of Memphis, some kind of keeping-up-with-the-McCoys kind of thing...

Re: the Parthenon model itself:

   http://www.nashville.gov/parthenon/

Re: the back story...I still think there was something about Memphis that sparked the original plan...

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon_(Nashville)

(After perusing the wikipedia article...) Oh, right, the "Athens of the South" - I suppose that would be justification enough for building yourself a Parthenon. I like the idea that there's also some kind of "clash of the ancient capitals" thing going on with Memphis, though.

[locutus]

I thought the Athens of the south was Athens, GA. Home of UGA.

Back to Nashville, I highly recommend just going downtown to where all the music and bars are. It's very interesting. Also I hope your conference isn't in the crappy hotel mine was in. If it is you will know.

[fortepiano]

The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's home) is about 15 minutes from the airport, and James K. Polk's less-impressive home is about an hour away. You also should visit Elder's Bookstore on the West End.

I highly recommend the Hermitage. But be forewarned: the bus that goes out there only takes you so far and unless you have a clear idea where you're going you WILL get lost. I was there this time of year last year (avoiding conference sessions) and I had to walk endlessly in the hot sun---yes, it was November---with a suit on to find and then get to the Hermitage. (The bus driver didn't have a clue about where it was and steered me a couple of miles in the wrong direction.) Still, no regrets. It was amazing.

Also, if you're into that sort of thing, there is the Country Music Hall of Fame.

[hulkhogan]

Thank you all for your suggestions. With all due respect to the ones who grew up in and around Music City,
what we have now is the downtown drag with the music stuff, the home of the guy responsible for the Trail of Tears, and a tacky simulacrum of Greek architecture. Wow. Pardon me while I grab my Umberto Eco to keep my utter bafflement fresh. I will check out that bookstore, though.

[stanwyck]

Well, if you're just going to use our replies to feel superior about yourself...

There are at least three good exhibitions at the Frist Center for Visual Arts right now (Surrealism, Georgia O'Keefe, and Thomas Hart Benton).  You can see a contemporary photo exhibit (Greg Miller) at Cheekwood.  You can also stroll the botanical gardens at that same location.  You can go to Belle Meade Plantation and contemplate the intersection between slavery and thoroughbred racing, not to mention the same between slavery, painting and thoroughbred racing.

You might find your horror of the Parthenon replica lessening if you did some reading about the 1897 Centennial Exposition, and the history of Centennial Park.

Personally, I think I'd prefer it if you'd just stay home and keep your superiority complex away from the rest of us.

[prof_smartypants]

Thank you all for your suggestions. With all due respect to the ones who grew up in and around Music City,
what we have now is the downtown drag with the music stuff, the home of the guy responsible for the Trail of Tears, and a tacky simulacrum of Greek architecture. Wow. Pardon me while I grab my Umberto Eco to keep my utter bafflement fresh. I will check out that bookstore, though.

Or you could pick up a travel guide and stop wasting the time of people who thought you were sincerely interested in getting advice.