Life in Nashville
I love being in my hometown for Thanksgiving. My parents are the strongest people I know, my sister makes me laugh till my sides hurt, and my high school friends tell amazing stories from their adventures all over the world. I come home for my family.
At the conclusion of the holiday, though, I couldn’t choose a better place to return to than Nashville, TN. There are three professional sports teams, over 20,000 live music concerts per year, food and art festivals every month (how could you ever be bored!?). Many prospective students and families ask me about life in Nashville, and I always get asked, “What do you do for fun?” So here are some notes:
My favorite thing about Nashville is the eclectic food. Most of the restaurants in Hillsboro Village have roll-up walls so they are entirely open-air restaurants during favorable weather – I have spent long hours lounging on the patios of restaurants in the neighborhood chatting with friends. East Nashville and Sylvan Park have some cool upstart restaurants with menu items featuring a Southern twist (such as the Southern Fried Taco) and the Belmont area features great coffee shops and tapas restaurants in transformed Victorian houses.
Also, let me explain the “honky tonk” – the area of Nashville always featured on TV where many people are wearing cowboy boots and neon signs abound. This area of Nashville is literally six blocks long and about three blocks wide. It is most definitely an experience I can have, but it is in no way core to my Nashville experience. I like going here for great people-watching and it can be an entertaining girls/guys night out.
I often attend concerts in town, and if you are not the biggest fan of country music, you will survive. Music is even more eclectic than the food in Nashville. In the past year or so I have seen Sister Hazel, Dave Matthews Band, Celine Dion, OAR, and a number of lesser renowned bands that were outside the country music genre. However, if you are similar to me (a diehard country fan), you have to consider the CMA Music Festival held in June every year. Four days of country’s greatest!
My final note is about the sports environment, which is fantastic! As a Commodore you have access to all of Vanderbilt’s football and basketball games for free (you just need your student ID card). School spirit is in full swing even when our teams struggle and it’s frenzied when we’re doing well. Off campus, the Predators (our professional hockey team) have college nights (cheaper tickets for students) regularly. The Sounds (our minor league baseball team) and the Titans (our NFL team) are also fun events for a night out!
No matter what type of music, food, or activities you love – it’s easy to find a niche in Nashville. I can’t wait to be back on Sunday!