NBIA's 17th Fall Training Institute

Experience Music City!

While you’re in town for the Fall Training Institute, set aside some time to explore Nashville. In addition to its heritage as a center of country, jazz and blues music, offers a variety of cultural and historical attractions. Within walking distance of the hotel, you can find an arts exhibition center, a performing arts center, the Tennessee State Museum and, of course, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. For more information about what Nashville has to offer, visit www.visitmusiccity.com.

A Native's-Eye View of Nashville

Mildred Walters, executive director of the Nashville Business Incubation Center, was born and raised in Nashville. She left the city for about 14 years during and after college, but returned to her hometown in 1994. NBIA asked her where she takes out-of-town guests to enjoy the best of the city. Read on to find out Mildred’s recommendations for shopping, sightseeing, entertainment, music, dining, the arts and sports.

Shopping

The Mall at Green Hills
www.mallatgreenhills.com
"My friends and I usually shop at the Mall at Green Hills."

Sightseeing

Country Music Hall of Fame
www.nashville.com/attractions/countrymusichalloffame
"Delightfully entertaining and informative. They have Elvis’ gold Cadillac and Ray Charles’ guitar and sunglasses."

Parthenon
www.nashville.gov/parthenon
With 13 colleges and universities, Nashville is known as the Athens of the South. This replica of the Parthenon was built for a World’s Fair in 1897. "The statures and artwork are fascinating."

The Hermitage
www.thehermitage.com
The home of Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, is preserved as it was when he lived there. "They have done a wonderful job of being sensitive to African Americans in the presentation of slave life on the plantation."

Bellemeade Plantation
www.nashville.com/attractions/bellemeade/
Tour the sumptuously restored 1853 mansion and the original 1790 log cabin, one of the oldest extant homes in Tennessee, at the "Queen of Tennessee Plantations."

Cheekwood Botanical Gardens
www.cheekwood.org
This estate was founded by the Cheek family, which launched Maxwell House coffee. The 30,000-square-foot mansion now houses the art gallery, started from the collections of the former Nashville Museum of Art. The gardens cover 55 acres.

Adventure Science Center
www.adventuresci.com
If the family's coming along, send them to this interactive science museum, where kids (and the young-at-heart) can explore biology, physics, outer space and other topics.

Entertainment

Chaffin’s Barn Dinner Theatre
www.dinnertheatre.com
"Good food on the all-you-can-eat buffet, and pretty good actors, too."

General Jackson Showboat
www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylordopryland/gjack/index.cfm
"This is a fun cruise down the Cumberland River. The entertainment is usual pretty good."

Miss Marple’s Dinner Theatre
www.missmarples.com
Feast on prime rib and other fare, but take care not to choke as you laugh at the murder mystery-comedy on the stage.

Music

While Nashville is synonymous with country music, "Country music is not our only music," Walters says. "We have great jazz and blues concerts here, too."

Ryman Auditorium
www.ryman.com
The original home of the Grand Ole Opry was restored in 1994 now hosts concerts ranging from country to R&B.

Grand Ole Opry House
www.opry.com
Catch a show featuring country-music legends and tomorrow's stars, or take a backstage tour.

Nashville Symphony
www.nashvillesymphony.org/
"Our new symphony hall just opened last fall. Many Nashvillians have not been inside yet."

Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC)
www.tpac.org
TPAC hosts touring Broadway shows as well as three resident companies: the Nashville Ballet [insert hyperlink: http://www.nashvilleballet.com/home/], the Nashville Opera Association, and Tennessee Repertory Theatre.

Dining

Loveless Café and Motel
www.lovelesscafe.com
"The best biscuits in the world. They have been featured on several TV shows, including the Food Network, for their wonderful Southern-style fare."

Swett’s Restaurant
http://nashville.citysearch.com/profile/9328578
"Nashville's culinary specialty is Southern cooking." One of the best places to get it is this diner. (FYI, Nashville's diners are called "meat 'n' threes" for the entrees of a meat and three vegetables on plate.)

The Arts

Frist Center for the Visual Arts
www.fristcenter.org
This museum will feature two traveling exhibits during FTI: "The Societe Anonyme: Modernism for America," including works by Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst and Wassily Kandinsky, among others; and the art photography of Australian Rosemary Laing.

Fisk University’s Van Vechten & Aaron Douglas Galleries
www.fisk.edu/gallery/index.html
Founded in 1866 to educate newly freed slaves, Fisk was the first integrated university in the U.S. Its galleries house a large collection of international pre-Modern, Modern and contemporary works.

Vanderbilt University’s Fine Art Gallery and Sarratt Gallery
www.vanderbilt.edu/gallery/exhibits
Vanderbilt's 5,500+ collection specializes in East Asian, African, Oceanic and pre-Columbian art, with additional holdings of European Old Masters and contemporary works.

Sports

Tennessee Titans
www.titansonline.com/
The city's NFL team will host the Oakland Raiders on Oct. 28 and the Carolina Panthers on Nov. 4 at LP Field.

Nashville Predators - Gaylord
www.nashvillepredators.com/index2.html
Catch pro hockey action from the minute the puck drops at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.