Things To Do in Nashville

Souvenirs

If you’re looking for affordable, music-centric souvenirs, you’ll find more than anyone’s fair share on Broadway, 2nd Avenue, or near Opryland. The downtown souvenir stores at the Johnny Cash museum offers more upscale memorabilia, but even those feel pretty cheap considering no one but Willie is even alive to sign off on selling this stuff.

At Opryland, gift shops such as Cooter’s Place and the Willie Nelson and Friends Museum & General Store (2613 McGavock Pike) offer lackluster museums that may run you up to $10 to enter, while the main goal is really to get you to buy what my mother would simply refer to as “crap.” However, if you are a fan of “The Dukes of Hazzard,” you might enjoy a stop by Cooter’s Place, which is owned by actor Ben Jones, who starred in the late 1970s TV show. Entry is free, though calling this a “museum” is a bit of a stretch. It’s the kind of place you can buy a novelty T-shirt, a Confederate flag (please don’t), or have your picture taken in front of the General Lee, the famous bright orange 1969 Dodge Charger. Next door at Willie’s place, you’ll find something similar, except that it will cost you $10 to enter the dusty exhibits in the big back room, so it’s for Willie completists only. There are a few of his guitars, movie posters, and his pool table back there, as well as small areas dedicated to fellow Outlaws Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson, though you can typically find more detailed explorations of the latter at the Johnny Cash Museum or the Country Music Hall of Fame. To get to the museum, you’ll have to brave racks of shot glasses, swizzle sticks, and dolphin figurines, so for my money, the best thing to do here is spend $1 and get your fortune read by the Willie Zoltar machine; then go next door to Nashville Palace and have a beer while you contemplate your newly revealed future.

Western Wear

Downtown Betty Boots caters only to the ladies (321 Broadway; tel. 615/736-7698) while Boot Country sells everything from work boots to python-skin stunners (304 Broadway; tel. 615/259-1691). There is also Boot Barn, Boot Country, and Big Time Boots, and several more. For thorough shoppers who wish to pour over shelves of shoes and scour every store, here’s my advice: Start at the corner of 5th Ave. N. and walk toward the river. Near Opryland, there is Trail West, which is not the draw it once was due to steeper prices than their competitors, but they do carry the Brooks & Dunn Collection for those who simply must boot-scoot-boogie with legitimacy (2416 Music Valley Dr.; tel. 615/883-5933). There’s also Boot Barn, a major Grand Ole Opry sponsor, and you know they wouldn’t steer you wrong (405 Opry Mills Dr.; tel. 615/316-2209).

For those with upscale tastes and fat wallets, there is Manuel, a shop (800 Broadway) where Nashville’s clothier to the stars designs custom western couture. Born in Mexico, Manuel was the fifth of 11 children. He learned to sew at age 7 and worked his way up the fashion ladder in the prestigious tutelage of Nudie Cohn, for whom “Nudie suits”—flamboyant, rhinestone-encrusted cowboy outfits—were named. Manuel’s works of art can be found in museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, and locally in Nashville at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Manuel's close friend, Marty Stuart, is rumored to have more than 3,000 pieces of cowboy couture from Manuel, Nudie, and the like. And you can have one of your own—if you have $7,000 to spare.

Antiques

For the best antiques, just start driving away from downtown on 8th Ave. S. and take your pick. First up you’ll find Preservation Station (1809 8th Ave. S.; tel. 615/292-3595), an architectural salvage store that locals frequent for unique finds. Down the road a little ways in Berry Hill you’ll find the slightly more upscale GasLamp Antiques (100 Powell Place, #200; tel. 615/297-2224) and GasLamp Too (128 Powell Place; tel. 615/292-2250), both of which are packed with treasures including vintage jewelry, light fixtures, art, books, and even stuffed animals—the taxidermied kind, not the Care Bear kind. Antique Archaeology (1300 Clinton St., #130; tel. 615/810-9906) bears mentioning, if only as a cautionary tale: The store is full of excellent finds, but thanks to the popularity of History Channel’s “American Pickers,” the line often stretches around the block on weekends, so try to hit it on a weekday. There are also several smaller antiques shops in West Nashville off Charlotte Avenue including Cool Stuff Weird Things (4900 Charlotte Pike; tel. 615/460-1112), which stocks odd things as advertised, but also carries the ubiquitous lighted name signs emblazoned “Nashville” (or neighborhood names) if you’re looking for a souvenir with heft.

Department Stores

Dillard’s: One of the nation’s leading department stores, Dillard’s at the Mall at Green Hills, 2126 Abbott Martin Rd. (tel. 615/297-0971), recently got an update, so visit that one if given the option. Other locations include RiverGate Mall, 1000 RiverGate Pkwy., Goodlettsville (tel. 615/859-2811), and Cool Springs Galleria, 1800 Galleria Blvd. (tel. 615/771-7101).

Nordstrom: This high-end national retailer located at the Mall at Green Hills, 2126 Abbott Martin Rd. (tel. 615/850-6700), offers clothing for men, women, and children, as well as cosmetics, fragrances, shoes, and other merchandise. Whenever you go, it will be impossible to find a parking spot, so go ahead and take a tip for the valet.