My Experience on Broadway

Street of Broadway Nashville, Tennessee; picture by Anieka Travels

After I traveled to the east coast for the first time, I wanted to keep the ball rolling and travel to another region of the United States. I had never been to the south before and Tennessee had never been on my bucket list, but a friend of mine is a huge country enthusiast and has been wanting to go for years. She convinced me to take a chance on Nashville and I'm grateful I agreed. While planning for the trip, I had a very specific perception of what Nashville would be like. I imagined everyone dressed in cowboy boots and hats with thick accents line dancing to country music, but the scene I was introduced to upon arrival was much different.

My entire perception of Tennessee was torn to shreds the second I stepped onto Broadway and entered my first Honky Tonk. After weeks of preparing for the trip by buying a new pair of cowboy boots, learning how to line dance, and perfecting a country girl aesthetic, all my preparations were thrown out the door after my first night.

Keep reading to learn more about my experience on Broadway, things I learned there along the way, and what you should and shouldn't do as a tourist there.

My First Impression

Street view of Broadway Nashville, TN; picture taken by friend

Broadway was not what I was expecting. I mentioned that I had envisioned a street filled with country music and line dancing at every Honky Tonk. However, this was simply not the case. I could hear all varieties of music being performed from every window I passed by, from country, to heavy metal, EDM, and rap. As a person who listens to music every single second of my day, this atmosphere was a musical heaven for me. I was also relieved it wasn't only country music being performed, because I can only listen to country for so long. Every bar had a rooftop where we had a view of the street, lounges had multiple levels, and at each level there would be a different band performing. My first day on Broadway, I was surprised by how calm and clean the street was. This would change later at night and also once the weekend rolled around, but I expected Broadway to be crowded and packed to the brim at all times of the day. Being the Thursday right before Easter weekend, the first day was actually quite carefree and there was plenty of seating at the rooftops.

Luke's 32 Bridge Food & Drinks

Luke's 32 Bridge Sign Nashville, TN; picture by Anieka Travels

We settled on Luke's 32 Bar and Lounge to catch some rays, drink cold hard cider, and listen to our first band of the weekend. The performers had been walking next to us on the way into the bar with their guitars strapped around their backs. When we chose our seats and they took the stage, there was a connection of familiarity between us. This was a relationship between the performers and the audience that I would begin to realize was what made Broadway such a special place.

Everyone was there for the music, feeding off each other to make an ambiance so amazing, people traveled from all over the world to experience it. I didn't have to be on Broadway long to completely fall in love. I was hooked the second I stepped into my first bar. When I think of my first memory of Broadway, I'll always think of sitting at Luke's 32 and observing that intimate relationship between bands and their audiences.

Casa Rosa & The Second Fiddle

Inside of Casa Rosa on Broadway in Nashville, TN; picture by Anieka Travels

Our first night bar hopping on Broadway, we chose to stop into Miranda Lambert's Casa Rosa first, because she's iconic and we also saw so many cute videos on tiktok hyping up the bar. We ordered drinks and made our way to the corner of the stage to listen to the band performing there. As the band continued to play, we both felt like we didn't connect to the music they were playing and didn't jive well with the performers in general. Also, no one was dancing except for four really sloshed girls in the middle of the floor, so we both felt a bit awkward and had no desire to dance there. However, because it was Miranda Lambert's bar and we had expected so much from it, we stayed longer than we honestly should have.

Although, eventually we left and walked the street until we heard a band through an open window that we really liked. We stayed at that bar, The Second Fiddle, for at least an hour dancing to their music and laughing at their comical interactions with the crowd.

Moral of the story, don't feel obligated in any way to stay in a bar if you don't vibe with the musicians. You should be as cut throat as possible, because there are at least three or four levels to every bar and there is a band performing on each level. You have a lot of selections to choose from when bar hopping. So no matter if you ordered a drink or people from your group like the band, if you don't, find a new bar to go to. You'll find a band you jive with eventually, believe me.  

Jason Aldean's Bar

This bar had a really cool scene, and we would have stayed there longer if it wasn't for the rooftop being shut down. I don't know exactly why it was shut down, but we had waited in a stagnant line for at least 30-40 minutes trying to get up to the roof. Then it was announced that they weren't letting anyone else up and actually were kicking out everyone who was already up there. At that point, we got tired of the bar and even though we went back down to listen to the band perform we decided to be more cut throat that night and searched for another bar.

Chase Rice's Bassist

Hudson Valley Band performing at the Ole Red, TN; picture by Anieka Travels

The next bar we went to, Ole Red's, had an amazing band performing called Hudson Valley. They were probably my second favorite that I listened to that weekend. What I didn't know was that they had a special guest covering for their bass guitarist. Practically the whole time they were performing, this dude was getting so much excessive attention from the ladies, who were blowing him kisses, dancing for his attention, and asking to strum notes on his guitar. The guy was attractive, but I didn't understand the hype or why he was getting so much attention over the other band members. Then right before we decided to leave and find another bar, the lead singer announced that their friend, Marcelo Bakos from Chase Rice's band, was covering for their bassist. After knowing that, it all made sense.

I saw Marcelo at another bar the following day having drinks with a few of his friends and wanted to talk to him for a bit. Although, he got ambushed by a bunch of girls and I didn't want to be part of it, or be caught waiting around. This is one of the super cool advantages of being on Broadway. Musicians are all around you wherever you go whether you know it or not. I appreciate that, because so many times they are treated like gods and are so terribly worshiped by the masses, but when they're off the stage walking along Broadway they're just people. 

My Mistake

Kid Rock Honky Tonk on Broadway Nashville, TN; picture by Anieka Travels

The musicians that perform on Broadway typically only play covers of well known songs and mostly choose what to perform based on song requests from their audience. At any bar we went to, the band had their name and a QR Code to their venmo displayed on the projector behind their set. This was for audience members to stay connected with their favorite bands in the future, and also send them tips and song requests through venmo. Another way people were tipping the performers was through cash.

During our third day on Broadway, we stumbled across a rock band who was performing songs from Ozzy Osborne, Van Halen, ACDC, etc., and I was in awe of them. At one point during the performance, one of the band members came walking through the crowd with a bucket full of cash and I mistook that bucket as a giant tip jar. I was so thrilled by their performance and thought they were absolutely amazing, so I gathered a few bills and made my way over to him. He was having a conversation with someone in the crowd so I just quickly tapped him on the shoulder, said "here you go!", and dropped 5 $1 bills into the bucket before walking back to my friend.

Later during the performance, the lead singer announced that if anyone wanted to request a song they needed to put money in the bucket, or venmo them with the minimum rate being $20. He then proceeded to play an Ozzy song that someone gave them $260 to perform. So, not only did I drop $15 below the asking price into the bucket, but I then proceeded to walk away without making a request of any kind, while genuinely thinking I was contributing to their efforts. Now I laugh at the mistake, but at the moment I was extremely embarrassed.

Learn from my mistake and give them at least $20 with a favorite song in mind. 

Shaq's Afterparty

Shaquille O'Neil's afterparty at Barstool Nashville, TN; picture by Anieka Travels

When you're exploring Nashville, interact with the locals as much as possible. Ask for recommendations, ask for advice, and they will provide sometimes in the most unexpected ways. Our second day in Nashville, my friend and I took the bus to Centennial Park to visit the Tennessean Parthenon there. Afterwards, we wanted to go to 12 South, a really cute aesthetic neighborhood with a bunch of boutiques, restaurants, and cafes. After walking for 20 minutes to get to the right bus stop, we ended up missing the bus and the next one wasn't going to arrive for another 45 minutes. At that point, we decided to book an uber from a medical center nearby to get to 12 South.

Our Uber driver, shout out to Hunter, was the most chatty and helpful driver I've ever had when traveling to a new city. At one point during the drive, I asked him for food recommendations in 12 South and he recommended a taco place, which we did eventually eat at. He then continued to recommend a bunch of other stuff to us, including inviting us to an after party that Shaquille O'Neil was throwing. Apparently, Shaq is also a DJ on the side and he was having a performance that night. We would have had to pay to watch his performance, but the afterparty was free and he said it started at 1 am at Barstool, a bar only a side street away from Broadway.

After we got out of his car, I turned to my friend and said we absolutely had to go. I had felt like the universe sent him as our Uber driver to tell us this and we were fated to go to this afterparty, as silly as that sounds. So after another night of bar hopping, we ended it by going to Shaquille O'Neil's afterparty. We made an appearance only for about 30 minutes, because it wasn't our scene, and then walked back to our hotel. We unfortunately did not get to see the Shaq, which I had thought we would, but I'm still happy we went and had that interaction with our driver.

Food & Drinks on Broadway

Statewide Restaurant at Dream by Hyatt Nashville, TN; picture by Anieka Travels

You will have no problem finding food or drinks along Broadway. Every single bar has staple American foods like fries, deep fried meat, etc., for when you get hungry along your musical escapade. There are also restaurants and fine dining all around Broadway; you might even find yourself a little overwhelmed by your options, I know I was. Back in Seattle, I'm a pretty strict vegetarian, but in Nashville, I loosened my restrictions in order to experiment a little more with the local cuisines. I still didn't eat land animals, but I really wanted to try fried catfish. I could have 100% been vegetarian on that trip with no struggle at all finding places to accommodate me, it was just a personal decision to not be. There are also so many vegan restaurants that turn traditional meaty Tennessean cuisine into plant based alternatives. I'll list a few of these places in a future blog dedicated to the food culture in Nashville, but just know if you're vegan, you don't need to worry about finding accommodations. I will say though, you might need to travel a little ways outside of Broadway to other neighborhoods. 

What I loved about the crowds in every bar was that workers could not keep track of who was ordering drinks and who wasn't. My friend and I had decided we were going to be mostly sober for this trip mainly for safety reasons, because it was just the two of us, but also because we wanted to fully remember our experience. The crowds made it really easy to go into establishments and not order anything, so for many of the bars we went to, we didn't and just stayed for the music. Also, a lot of the bars sell Liquid Death, which if you don't know what that is, it's a sparkling water brand, not poison. This was really nice for those sunny hot humid days where we just wanted a refreshing cold water to drink while relaxing on the rooftops. That being said if you're not having a sober Nashville experience bring tons of money, cause those drinks are extremely overpriced.

Safety on Broadway

View of Broadway & Luke's 32 Bridge from Kid Rock Honky Tonk Nashville, TN; picture by Anieka Travels

My safety analysis of Broadway may be slightly different to that of someone who was in a larger group of friends, or to that of someone who is/identifies with a different gender. Being two women not traveling in a larger group, my friend and I had certain safety precautions that we followed at all times while bar hopping. We stayed together at all times and neither of us ever left the other in huge crowds to talk to someone else, order drinks, or simply go to the bathroom. We decided to control our alcohol intake, so we were mostly sober and were totally aware of our surroundings and our actions at all times. We held onto our drinks at all times or one of us watched over our drinks, especially if the drinks didn't have a lid on them. We followed the instructions of security or police personnel without question, because there is a reason certain rules and protocols are set in place. With that being said, there is security everywhere in every bar you go to, there is police presence at every corner of the street (this may not make everyone feel safe), there are firemen/women driving around in transports similar to gokarts pretty much everywhere, and there are also security cameras all along Broadway. 

Even with all of this security, things can still happen, because it is the largest party city in the United States and one of the biggest in the world. Everyone is drinking all day and by the night everyone is pretty sloshed to put it nicely. The only way to ensure your safety is to be self-aware of your actions. Broadway is a very safe street to be on and considering its atmosphere I felt very comfortable being there, but the only way to truly ensure one's safety is to be aware of one's own actions. Be smart, take precautions, be self-aware, and have the best time rocking on Broadway.

Candid picture of me on Broadway Nashville, TN; picture by friend

I will absolutely be back in Nashville in the future for another weekend of music and fun. I think a weekend on Broadway is the perfect amount of time to visit, because by the end of our trip we had gotten a bit tired of the crowds. I think staying two nights is enough to go into the majority of the bars and get a feel for the city. If you're intending to also explore Nashville outside of Broadway, I would recommend staying one extra night. My next article will be about exactly that; the various tourist attractions in Nashville. 

Thanks for reading and I hope you collected some inspiration for your trip to Broadway and got insight into this massive party street of America. 

Now go out and explore!

Love,

Anieka ♡