Hello Everyone! I am Chuck and I have lived near Nashville for over 4 decades. I created this website ThingInNashville.com to share all the things I enjoy so much about this VERY energetic city. Also, to share my knowledge to help anyone who wants to come to visit the Music City.
About me
Well, I live in a small town that is about 30 miles north of Nashville. But ever since I first learned how to drive there has always been something about this city that beckons me. Pile a bunch of friends in the car and head downtown for a fun night of just exploring the streets (wasn’t yet old enough for the clubs).
How I Fell in Love with Nashville
To be totally honest .. let’s wind the clock back several more years. I was probably about 12 – 14 years old when Wayne (my best friend – more like a big brother) who is 10 years older than I would always take me along with him when he had to go into Nashville. Can’t forget to mention when we went to the Fourth of July Fireworks each year … AWESOME!!! Those years were when the exposure to the big city was embedded into me. I loved running around downtown! I still do!
Cruising around Nashville
Now .. back to my cruising during the teenage years 🙂 . Luckily most of my friends had the same exploration bug that I had. I was constantly wanting to find something new the next time we went “downtown”. We would take our girlfriends to Centennial Park to the cool walking paths around the Parthenon, which is a full-scale replica of the real Parthenon in Athens Greece. Hence how Nashville got the name “Athens of the South”.
Maybe next time it would simply be cruising the “Honky Tonk Highway” which is the lower end of Broadway near the famous 2nd Avenue. At night, along this part of Broadway, there is always music and lots of people just walking the sidewalks and streets having a great time.
Can’t forget all the rock concerts, monster truck shows, and car shows we went to at the Municipal Auditorium back in the day. So many concerts I have attended at the Municipal. This is one of two places I got knocked completely out in a mosh pit!! Yes, I’m a metalhead but I do like country music as well. Heck, I like many different genres of music.
The Municipal is still going but catering to much smaller acts. Now we have the Bridgestone arena for the really big concerts and big monster truck shows.
My favorite Concert memories
I can’t tell the story of our concert antics without mentioning Starwood Amphitheater. It was an outside venue with very steep grassy hillsides leading down to the flat of the grass area. Then after the grass area was the huge covered seating part of the amphitheater.
If you went to a concert in the hot summer and it started raining and you had “covered seat tickets”. If you were any type of thrill-seeker, you left your seats and climb your way to the top of those tall grassy hillsides. Get to the top and jump down on your tail .. your belly or however you landed. That was the fastest and longest “slip and slide” that you could ever ask for!! Sooo fun!! Security would run from hillside to hillside trying to stop all the chaos. When one side stopped .. the other started. Poor security .. fellas I’m sorry but I was having a blast doing stupid stuff!! LOL
Sadly that venue is nothing but concrete and grown-up grass now :-). Some of my best memories were right there at Starwood. Ozzfest and getting my nose busted in a Slayer mosh pit (I got out of that pit, I was getting my tail kicked)!! Starwood Ampitheater loved that place!! Too bad it no longer exists. We now have Ascend Amphitheater. Ascend is a cool place but it will never come close to matching the energy of Starwood.
Nashville has Nature
Aside from the music, museums, bars, clubs of downtown. There is another part of Nashville the I enjoy to this day. There are so many places to enjoy what nature has to offer such as hiking trails, lakes, and creeks to explore. Like I mentioned above about how much I liked exploring the streets of the city. I find my peace of mind in the woods and Nashville has a lot to offer for that as well.
I could go on with the stories of all the fun I’ve had in Nashville. Some not so smart .. but hey .. I was having fun! I mostly wanted to add this page so you could get a feel of who I am. In short, I like to have a good time. I like to keep things different because I get bored very easily and as you read above about the mosh pits .. I’m an adrenaline junky. So, with that being said, I’ve always been able to find something to do in Nashville to entertain whatever mood I happen to be in. Nashville is a very diverse city that has a plethora of things to do to entertain most anyone. Nashville just simply ROCKS!!
Yall have a great day!!
Chuck