Jared and I have a bucket list of places we want to visit and Nashville has been on our list for a while. Since we moved to Fayetteville, AR we’ve been talking about making a long weekend out of it. Since my birthday fell on Labor Day weekend it seemed like the perfect opportunity for a weekend trip to Nashville, TN.

When planning trips I always make a running list of cool places I find on Pinterest or Instagram (these are my go to places when doing research). I make 3 categories: places to eat/drink, places to shop and things to do. After I have my running list I then begin to form an itinerary…I might be a little type A. I always do this to ensure we get the most out of our trip.

For Nashville, my process was no different. We drove from Fayetteville to Nashville and stopped in Memphis for lunch both ways to break up the trip a little.

Memphis

Places To Eat:

Central BBQ

Seriously the best pulled pork I have ever had and that says a lot coming from a girl raised on Texas BBQ.

The Arcade

This is a quaint Memphis diner that’s been around since 1919! They have anything on the menu you could ever want and takes you back in time with it’s 1950’s tables and vintage memorabilia. Even Elvis used to eat there!

Nashville

Places To Eat/Drink

Pinewood Social

This might be the number one Instagrammed place in Nashville. I totally put this on the list just to get a good Instagram, but I was pleasantly surprised by how good the food and drinks were. Jared and I split the fried chicken and it was amazing!

Bastion

This was a total local hang out! Jared found this place n Garden and Gun and it was definitely a hole in the wall, even our Uber driver had never heard of it.

Bartaco

This is nothing crazy unique to Nashville, but bartaco is only available in major cities. Jared and I are very picky eaters, so we just ordered the chicken tacos, but our waiter surprised us with a free taco to push our limits. We also got churros and holy cow! They were amazing!

The Stillery

One of our good friends recommended The Stillery to us. This was right in the middle of all of the action on Broadway, but had great food and drinks. I recommend the baked cheese as an appetizer and the dreamsicle moonshine to drink!

LA Jackson

Ok, this might have been my favorite place we went! This was an ultra swanky rooftop bar at the Thompson hotel in The Gultch. The people were cool. The vibe was cool. Honestly, it was just overall cool.

Pucketts

Almost every pin on Pinterest I had looked at recommend Pucketts, so we decided to try and I was super pleased with the food. It’s in the heart of downtown and expect to wait a while for a table, but it’s definitely worth it for down home country cooking.

Merchants

We ate at The Merchant on my birthday. This was the only restaurant that was impromptu. Like I mentioned I am a VERY picky eater, so sometimes eating at fancy restaurants can be difficult because it’s hard for me to find something on the menu. I wanted something simple and somewhere I could leave full and happy. Merchants is cool because the downstairs is more of a burgers, soups, salads menu and then upstairs is a more gourmet menu. I opted for the Johnny Cash Chili and couldn’t have been happier!

Acme

EVERYONE said Acme is the place to go. It’s a four story bar and grill, where each level is a different theme. The bottom level is casual live music, the second floor is a sushi bar, the third floor is for private events and the rooftop is DJ party vibe.

Sprinkles

It was my birthday, so I obviously had to make a stop at Sprinkles to enjoy a classic Sprinkles cupcake.

Places To Shop

12 South

This is where we spent a majority of our time shopping. The Draper James store is located along this strip accompanied with great local boutiques and pop up shops!

Downtown Antique Mall and Antique Archeology

Jared and I LOVE antique shopping, so these stops were no brainers! We didn’t find any treasures, but we enjoyed browsing!

Things To Do

There are so many fun things to do in Nashville! I highly recommend checking out the Nashville Visitors Center to help plan your trip. They have a lot of package deals and discounts to help you save while visiting the Music City. Jared and I got the backstage pass and were able to get access and discounts to some of our top items on our list.

Grand Ole Opry

This might have been my favorite thing we did. I’m not really a tour person because I don’t like groups, but the tour was very detailed and gave access to exclusive areas including dressing rooms, the stage and the rehearsal space.

Country Music Hall of Fame

If you are die hard country music fan, I highly recommend this. I’m not a huge country music person, so I opted for seeing the pop country items like Taylor Swift’s rhinestone guitar and Carrie Underwood’s dress.

Music City Walk of Fame

This was a fun little stroll similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame right outside the Country Music Hall of Fame featuring stars of Nashville from all genres.

The Parthenon

This was amazing! It was so cool to see such an exact replica of the Parthenon. Again, I’m not a huge tour person and I’m definitely not a history person, so we visited The Parthenon, but just walked around the outside and opted out of the indoor tour.

Belmont Mansion

We didn’t tour the Belmont Mansion because we were short on time, but we drove up looked around at it. Honestly, I think there are cooler things to do, so I wouldn’t recommend spending too much time on this.

Music Row

This was pretty anticlimactic, it’s a short drive with several music studios and signs of different celebrities who recorded there. I probably wouldn’t go out of your way to visit this.

Nelson’s Greenbrier Distillery

This was a last minute decision, we were shopping at the Antique Archeology and stumbled upon the distillery. Jared loves Belle Meade Bourbon which is distilled by Nelson’s Greenbrier, so we switched the Jack Daniels tour with Nelson’s Greenbrier Distillery and I was so impressed. I don’t drink whiskey or bourbon, so I passed on the tasting, but learning about the history of the company and the process was very interesting.

John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge

This is another free attraction that is a definitely must do! The view of the city is absolutely stunning! I recommend planning to go around sunset for Instagram worthy pictures!

I Believe In Nashville Wall

This classic Nashville staple wall located right by Draper James on 12 South, just be prepared to wait in line for your photo.

Full Itinerary:

Friday

Lunch in Memphis at Central BBQ

Pinewood Social for dinner

Bastion for drinks following dinner

Saturday

Grand Ole Opry Tour

Shopping in 12 South

Bartaco for lunch

Antique Archeology

Downtown Antique Mall

The Stillery for Dinner

While waiting for a table at The Stillery we walked down Broadway and went and visited the river

LA Jackson for drinks following dinner

Sunday (My Birthday!!)

Country Music Hall of Fame

Music City Walk of Fame

Pucketts for lunch

Sprinkles

The Parthenon

Belmont Masnion

Music Row

Nelsons Greenbrier Distillery

John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge

Merchants

Acme

Monday

The Arcade for lunch in Memphis

Roadtrip Playlists