Our hotel had the best shuttle service with a wonderful driver - Jerry. He picked us up at the hotel and dropped us off right downtown which was about 20 minutes away from our hotel. He pointed out the sights along the way and had great jokes too. He welcomed his guests by finding out where they were from and then calling them by their hometown or state or country. He remembered us every time we got on his shuttle, and called us "Utah". He told the entire shuttle about our journey and we were a little famous during every shuttle ride. The return ride was a hoot because everyone was ready to sing and still party either they had too much to drink or just high on the excitement of Nashville. Jerry had a Darius Rucker CD that he cranked up and we all sang wagon wheel at the top of our lungs. It was a blast!
Once downtown, we went to several bars with no cover charge and every bar had scheduled a band or two or three! We first went to the the world famous "Tootsie's Orchid Lounge" and just people watched. Behind "Tootsies" is "Tootsie's Alley" which is the same alley as the Ryman Auditorium Stage Door and back in the day, musicians would finish up at the Ryman and then go hang out at Tootsies. I think it would have been so cool, to see the Grand Ol' Opry stars relaxing after their gig!
Nashville at night is wild! There are at least 50 bars downtown all with bands. Bands play all day and virtually all night long and the bands audition to play at the bars. Some of the bars had huge lines with lots of people trying to get in and other's had no line at all. There's also a Margaritaville, BBKings, Hooters and Hard Rock Cafe all downtown but most of the bars weren't corporate or franchises, they seemed to be locally owned.
While we were at Tootsie's, they had 3 bands scheduled for the night. At another bar, we saw two different bands and right next door was a karaoke bar called "Wanna Be's". On one of the corners was a three-story bar named "Honky Tonk" with decks on every floor and a different band on every floor. That place was packed! We also went into a bar with two bands, called "Trailer Park". Perfect name because the floors were sticky and the people, (not us of course) all looked like they would fit into a trailer trash park.
Beer is the beverage of choice, because it's so cheap and everyone drinks Bud, Bud Light or Coors. Other favorites included Fireball and Jaegermeister with Red Bull. Red Bull, perfect to keep you dancing all night!
In addition to all the music inside, there are street musicians everywhere. Some good and some horrible. There's lots of people just hanging out, a few panhandlers and lots of cops. Although you have to be 21 years old to get into the bars, there were lots of parents with kids and teenagers everywhere.
What I didn't remember from my previous visits or expect was the huge crowds. The entire area was packed with people of all ages out having a good time. Randy was a little disappointed at this bar but he still had a good time.
What really surprised us was that downtown Nashville is a mecca for bachelorette parties. We saw at least 100 groups of giddy girls celebrating the brides upcoming nuptials. We saw a few bachelor parties too, but the girls outnumbered the boys. The main theme of most of these parties was to be noticed and get drunk! I'm not kidding, we saw a lot of young girls who could barely walk. I didn't get good pictures but here's a couple to give you an idea.
On Saturday night we hung out at a dueling piano bar and sat outside on their deck. This was the only place we found that had a cover charge, but it was worth it. The guys at the piano were pretty good and they played a great mix of music. It was also a good vantage point for watching the crowd. We even saw about 20 military guys in full dress uniform and a group of bikers that cruised down Main Street, parked for about 20 minutes and cruised out. They were definitely out to be seen.
That night, it was so crowded they closed down the street. With all the crowds, entertainment and sheer craziness, it reminded me of Las Vegas so I called Nashville "NashVegas"!
Randy is a people watcher and he loved the energy and craziness of downtown Nashville. For two nights I hung out with him, people watching and enjoying the music, but if I never go back again - I'll be OK. Even though the energy is wild, I'm not big on crowds, and hanging around people who just want to get drunk...isn't my thing.
However, even with all the craziness, it was still exciting to be downtown knowing that lots of old time country artists were once singing in these bars or hanging out after playing at the Ryman. I wonder what Patsy Cline, Hank Williams Sr., Kitty Wells or Buck Owens, would think of Downtown Nashville now. It's a little different today than it was in their day.
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