Sights and Restaurants
Below are a list of sites to visit on your way to the conveniton and in Nashville. To see more sites and activities to do in Nashville, please click HERE.
The Battle of Franklin Trust
The Battle of Franklin Trust is dedicated to a better understanding of the five bloodiest hours of the American Civil War. Two historic landmarks witnessed the carnage firsthand: The Carter House and Carnton Plantation and include in the tour is the Lotz House, which has been on the National Historic Register since 1976. To find out more, please click HERE for information about their tours.
List of Restaurants around Hotel
To see or get a printout of restaurants around the Airport Marriott Hotel, click HERE.
Belle Meade Plantation
http://www.bellemeadeplantation.com/: Belle Meade Plantation is a 30 acre historic site 6 miles west of Nashville. The centrepiece of the property is the Belle Meade mansion built in 1853.The mansion is open for tours daily.
Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville
http://countrymusichalloffame.org/: Collection of historical costumes, memorabilia, instruments, photographs, manuscripts and other objects tell the story of country music.
Nashville Music Gardens: http://www.nashvillemusicgarden.com/
The Nashville Music Garden is a way to acknowledge the music and artists synonymous with Nashville and also to beautify Music City. The seed for the idea of the 2,700-square-foot public garden was planted when country music legend Barbara Mandrell gave her namesake rose to her friend, Pat Bullard, a LifeWorks Foundation Trustee. She found that over three dozen roses were named for Nashville artists, songs or industry leaders. These include Minnie Pearl (1981), Barbara Mandrell (1990), Brenda Lee (Williams Variety 1991) and Pam Tillis (2003), but the “celebrity roses” had never before been housed together in one garden for the public to view, Since the initial collection was assembled, the now thriving Nashville Music Garden is home to the over six dozen roses and daylilies of the Nashville Music Garden Collection. Hybridizers are already working on additional selections for use in the garden in future years and to bring honor to those in need of recognition. The garden is funded by LifeWorks Foundation and is supported by MetroParks, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, the Hilton Downtown Nashville and the Nashville Rose Society.
General Jackson Showboat
http://www.generaljackson.com/: The General Jackson is the world's grandest showboat that offers delicious meals and world-class entertainment while cruising the majestic Cumberland River in Nashville, TN.
Gray Line Nashville Tours
http://www.graylinenashville.com/tours.cfm
- Discover Nashville
- Homes of the Stars
- Historic Tennessee
- Nashville Nights and Lights
- General Jackson Lunch Cruise
- Full Day City Tour & Home of the Stars
- Grand Legends
- Jack Daniels Country
The Hermitage, Home of President Andrew Jackson
http://www.thehermitage.com/: The Hermitage is reputedly our nation’s most authentically preserved home site. The museum includes original artwork, furniture, textiles, personal items, wallpapers, and much more. Convention attendees will find a brochure in their gift bag which includes an offer of a $2 discount from the cost of admission to the Hermitage while visiting in Nashville.
Ryman Auditorium - original home of the Grand Ole Opry
http://www.ryman.com/: Known as the “Mother Church of Country Music”, the Ryman Auditorium has been one of the country’s premiere concert venues for more than 100 years. This is a National Historic Landmark and former home of the Grand Ole Opry (1943 – 1974).
Cheekwood Botanical Gardens & Museum of Art
http://www.cheekwood.org/: The gardens include a Japanese garden, herb, perennial and wildflower gardens, as well as a woodland sculpture trail and a nature sanctuary. Cheekwood’s art collection includes broad collections of American art; American and British decorative arts; contemporary art, especially outdoor sculpture acquired for the Woodland Sculpture Trail.
Tennessee State Museum
http://www.tnmuseum.org/: You can find it all at the Tennessee State Museum, Military Branch and State Capitol -- art, history, textiles, crafts and culture. One of the largest museums in the nation with interpretive exhibits beginning 15,000 years ago with prehistoric people and continuing through the early 1900s, special displays of furniture, silver, weapons, quilts, and paintings.
Centennial Park & The Parthenon
http://www.nashville.gov/parthenon/: The Centennial Park is on the National Register for Historic Places. Considered a designed landscape, there are buildings and monuments that both maintain historical integrity and are one-of-a-kind architecturally. The Parthenon stands proudly as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, Nashville's premier urban park. The re-creation of the 42-foot statue Athena is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece. The building and the Athena statue are both full-scale replicas of the Athenian originals.
Lane Motor Museum
http://lanemotormuseum.org/visit-lane-motor-museum: Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee features the largest European collection of cars and motorcycles in the United States.
Opryland Hotel Gardens
click here for a visual tour : Come see the Atriums & Gardens of Opryland that encompasses nine lush acres of indoor gardens separated into three areas known as the Cascades, the Delta, and the Garden Conservatory.
Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park
http://www.tn.gov/environment/parks/Bicentennial/index.shtml : The Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park is located in the shadow of the State Capitol in downtown Nashville. The 19-acre park is designed to complement the Tennessee Capitol Building, give visitors a taste of Tennessee's history and natural wonders, and to serve as a lasting monument to Tennessee's Bicentennial celebration.
Downtown Nashville
Lower Broadway consists of 4 blocks filled to the brim with live country music venues, restaurants, and businesses. Most all of the buildings have some historical significance but all will surely keep you entertained.
Frist Center for Visual Arts
http://fristcenter.org/: The Frist Center for the Visual Arts is a nonprofit art-exhibition center, with approximately 24,000 square feet of gallery space, dedicated to presenting the finest visual art from local, state and regional artists, as well as major U.S. and international exhibitions.
Vanderbilt University Arboretum Tree Tours
http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/vu/frame.htm: The trees on the Vanderbilt Univerity were selected to represent native tree species that are commonly seen in Nashville and the middle Tennessee area. All of the trees on the tour should be labelled ad identified as part of the tour with a blue dot on the label. To get more maps and more information, click on the link above.
Printer’s Alley
http://www.theprintersalley.com/: Printer’s Alley takes its name from its early connection with Nashville’s printing and publishing industry, then located in the immediate area. This historic district’s architecture includes elegant late Victorian styles, Nashville’s first automobile parking garage, and the city’s first “skyscraper.” Located between Third and Fourth Avenues stretching from Union to Church Street, the Alley provides a Flair of Bourbon Street.
Tennessee Central Railway Museum
http://tcry.org/: The Tennessee Central Railway Museum’s mission is to preserve, restore, interpret, and operate historic railroad equipment to educate our guests about America's railroads. They have preserved a collection passenger cars, cabooses, freight cars, and locomotives for visitors to enjoy.
Grand Ole Opry Museum
http://www.opry.com/shows/TourTheOpryHouse.html : A tour of the Opry House provides a behind-the-scenes look at country's most famous show and a true entertainment business phenomenon, complete with great stories about the Opry and its members as well as enough photo opportunities to fill any Nashville scrapbook.
Fort Nashborough
http://www.nashville.gov/parks/historic/fortnashborough.asp: Named for Revolutionary War hero Francis Nash, this reproduction of the original settlement stands on a bluff overlooking the Cumberland River.
Bluebird Café
http://www.bluebirdcafe.com/: The Bluebird Café is one of the world’s preeminent listening rooms and the venue has gained worldwide recognition as a songwriter’s performance space where the “heroes behind the hits” perform their own songs; songs that have been recorded by chart-topping artists in all genres of music. At The Bluebird, performers include up-and-coming songwriters along with those whose music is regularly on the charts, country music as well as pop, rock and Contemporary Christian hits.
Loveless Café
http://www.lovelesscafe.com/: The Loveless Motel and Cafe first started serving its famous fried chicken and biscuits in 1951 when the property was purchased by Lon and Annie Loveless. Today the Loveless Cafe serves over 400,000 guests a year and makes between 4,000 to 7,000 biscuits a day – still using that same original secret recipe from Annie Loveless. The Loveless Cafe is the quintessential country-western eatery: wood-panelled walls, red-checked tablecloths, and out-of-this-world down home vittles that include fried chicken, country ham, and biscuits served with the Loveless's legendary preserves not to mention its homemade deserts of Banana Pudding, Coconut Cream Pie and Peanut Butter Pie to name a few.
Downtown Presbyterian Church
http://www.dpchurch.com/newsinfo.php: The present sanctuary was designed by William Strickland, who also designed the Tennessee State Capitol, in the Egyptian Revival style. Exterior design elements include Egyptian style lotus columns and a winged sun disk. Interior Egyptian style elements include stained glass windows, woodwork and perspective renderings of Egyptian scenes on the sanctuary walls. Downtown Presbyterian Church is one of the few examples of Egyptian Revival architecture in the United States, and may be the best surviving ecclesiastical example.
Plus lots more things to do in Nashville: http://nashville.about.com/od/3/u/ThingsToDo.htm
Outside of Nashville
Jack Daniels Distillery
http://www.jackdaniels.com: The oldest registered distillery in the U.S. It is where Mr Jack first crafted the recipe for Old No. 7 and it’s where the pure, iron-free cave spring water flows. It’s where every drop of Jack Daniel’s Whiskey is still made today.