How to Spend a Grownup Girls’ Weekend in Nashville

Who says Girls’ Weekends in Nashville are only for young brides-to-be or college breakers? Nashville offers all kinds of fun things for grownup gals to do, and the good news is that none of it requires wearing sparkly cowboy boots or pink cowboy hats (unless of course you want to do both, because hey, you ARE the boss of you!) Here’s a 3-night itinerary for a grownup girls’ weekend that will give you a taste of some of the best that Nashville has to offer, both on AND off Broadway!

Day One of Your Girls’ Weekend in Nashville

Check out Broadway

Once you’ve settled into your place for the weekend (more on where that might be later), chances are you will want to check out Broadway, the main drag in downtown Nashville. What gambling is to Vegas, music is to Nashville, and Broadway is where a lot of that music happens, especially for up-and-coming artists who aren’t well-known enough (yet!) to headline at the Grand Ole Opry. If you are at all into country music, but more importantly even if you are NOT, every venue here offers live music pretty much morning, noon and night, and there’s sure to be something that will appeal to you.

Unlike Vegas, however, Broadway is a relatively short strip in downtown Nashville so you can easily walk it and pop into some of the many country celebrity-owned bars and restaurants that line its sidewalks.

The best thing of all is that there aren’t any cover charges at most of these honky tonks, so it’s easy to hit up several places without breaking the bank. (the same may not be said for the drinks, however, which can vary in price from very affordable to very pricey depending on where you go.)

Sunset Drinks at Tootsies Rooftop Bar

Speaking of drinks, Tootsies is practically a honky tonk institution on Broadway, and with 3 floors of music (different bands on each stage) and a pretty amazing rooftop bar, it’s no wonder. Tootsies also has a lot of history in this town, with country stars like Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline being early customers at what was then called Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, after its founder Tootsie Bess.

Come for the music, come for the drinks, or come for the vantage point overlooking the street, but if you can, come at sunset when all of the above just seems a little bit better with a colourful Nashville sky above and the lights of Broadway below.

Pre-Dinner Margaritas at Pushing Daisies

The range of music is almost as broad as the types of bars you’ll find in Nashville, and there are new ones opening up all the time. One of these is Pushing Daisies, an upscale underground lounge on Broadway where you can enjoy exquisitely crafted tequila-based cocktails with an ultra-cool speakeasy vibe, especially chill in the early evening before the party really gets going.

Why ‘pushing daisies’ you may ask? (Don’t worry: it’s not because a couple of their tequila or mezcal drinks will put you in the ground!) It turns out the inspiration for the name came from the English translation of margarita as “daisy”, so whether you go for a classic “daisy” or something a little more creative, you and your friends are sure to love it.

TIP: If anyone in your group is not a tequila lover, don’t worry: Pushing Daisies does have a few other options that are not tequila-based.

Dinner at Blanco Cocina + Cantina

Back upstairs at ground level just two steps away from Pushing Daisies is Blanco Cocina, a modern Mexican restaurant owned by the same award-winning restaurateur who came up with the idea for the margarita lounge. Blanco’s is very popular, so reserve ahead, or if you’re lucky like we were, walkins may find a spot at the bar. Definitely order the nachos which are anything BUT your typical pub-style variety, with some of the most delicious queso I’ve ever tasted. And no it wasn’t the margarita talking!

Rippy’s Honky Tonk is a Definite Must

It’s hard to miss Rippy’s, since it is right in the centre of Broadway opposite the Bridgestone Arena, which is why many visitors who are coming downtown for a concert or hockey game make Rippy’s their pre-party stop first. Rippy’s BBQ items draw a lot of fans for dinner, but we were lured in by the music we heard spilling out from their open floor-to-ceiling windows which are always open in nice weather. With 2 floors and 3 stages, we found our happy place upstairs where we caught a small rock group called Running for Congress that kept all of us up singing and dancing to popular covers from the minute we walked in until our feet decided to call it a night.

TIP: Since there are no cover charges for guests, bands rely on their ‘request buckets’ to help top up their musician’s wages. So be generous when you are requesting a song (going rate seemed to be $20 for a song, but that’s a small price to pay for you and your girls to sing along to an excellent cover version of Pearl Jam’s Even Flow!)

Day Two of your Girls’ Weekend in Nashville

Every Good Girls’ Weekend Deserves Brunch

I always recommend talking to locals wherever you travel, and it was by doing just this that we got a recommendation for the Buttermilk Ranch Cafe for brunch. A local small-batch bakery known for its mouth-watering croissants and baked goods, the Buttermilk Ranch also serves up some pretty phenomenal breakfasts, including their signature ‘Cube Benny’ Eggs Benedict. Not only does this come with delicious choices of proteins, the perfectly poached eggs come served on top of a layered ‘cube’ of croissant pastry instead of a boring old English muffin.

It’s no wonder this place is packed, so make a reservation or be prepared to wait. Fortunately, the restaurant is located right on 12th Avenue, an excellent shopping street if you do have to wait for a table.

Shopping (d’uh!) on 12 South

It sounds cliche but shopping is likely to be a part of any girls’ weekend in Nashville. Whether you are looking for cowboy boots and hats (and there are plenty of stores for these), upscale clothing, or even custom lipstick you make yourself, Nashville has plenty of options where you can indulge in a little retail therapy.

The Gulch is a good neighbourhood for shoppers, but our money was on 12 South, a funky street conveniently located right where the Buttermilk Ranch Cafe is, too. On 12th we found cool vintage, discounted designer brands, eclectic local decor and jewellery, and even a few more famous names (Reese Witherspoon’s Draper James store is a popular draw here).

And while the Gulch has a set of painted graffiti wings that are so popular you have to line up to take a photo with them (!), we found our own way to fly on 12 South with no waiting required.

Custom-Crafted Cocktails at East Nashville’s Attaboy

If a speakeasy and a creative cocktail incubator had a baby, it would be Attaboy in East Nashville. Not only is this place cool because it’s the part of town where locals like to hang out, this tiny little cocktail lounge is a first-come, first-served, hole-in-the-wall kind of place that doesn’t cater to any group of more than 6 people. Known by locals, it opens precisely at 5pm (which is when you should be there, too, if you want to ensure you get in).

Once inside, there’s no cocktail menu. Period. Instead, the hosts come to your table to ‘interview you’ and ask you what you each like in a cocktail from a more sensory perspective: salty, sour, rich, creamy, bold, heady, floral, etc. Then their mixologists concoct something behind the bar that suits your cocktail profile. The results are delicious, the experience is very personal, and the venue feels very intimate and unique. For me that qualifies for a 5 star rating overall. Attaboy.

Dinner in 5 Points

Since you’re already in East Nashville, check out the 5 Points intersection for a bunch of local dining options. It’s within walking distance of Attaboy and there’s everything here from an I Dream of Weenie foodtruck to a high-end French restaurant, the Margot Cafe & Bar. More casual but tasty and affordable options include 5 Points Pizza, plus there are a few BBQ places and some creative asian at Bad Idea.

Head Downtown to Kick Up Your Heels at the Wild Horse Saloon

Is line dancing still a thing? In Nashville, you bet your cowboy boots it is, and there’s no better place to do that than at the Wild Horse Saloon on 2nd avenue. This place is HUGE and has the biggest dance floor in all of Nashville. Live bands play on stage while a few ‘hired hands’ lead the crowd by showing them how to master a few line dancing moves, and before you know it, you will be kicking up your heels in imperfect unison with young and old alike. A girls’ night out doesn’t get more fun than this. Giddyup, grownups!

The Listening Room for Serious Music Lovers

One of the few venues that actually charges admission in Nashville is the Listening Room, and there’s good reason for that. On the stepladder to fame, the Listening Room is definitely a rung up from the bars on Broadway, and visitors are guaranteed to recognize the music played here because many of the artists who take the stage are hit songwriters or popular national acts. Because of this, reservations are a must, so if a night out of ‘serious’ music listening is what you are looking for, the Listening Room is a great venue. It’s also MUCH easier to secure tickets here than trying to book one of only 20 tables at the Bluebird Cafe, another well-known incubator for talent.

IMPORTANT TIP: When you are booking your tickets, make sure you book the main Listening Room auditorium, not the ‘Late Night’ venue in the front bar area – this is NOT the same experience at all and the acoustics are not great in the bar. We made this mistake but didn’t realize it until afterwards.

Day Three of your Girls’ Weekend in Nashville

A Museum for All Music-Lovers

A visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is a must-do for die-hard country fans who come to Nashville, but even if country music isn’t your thing, the Museum is guaranteed to have something here that will appeal to anyone who likes music at all.

You may not know who Jason Aldean is, but you will probably find Elvis’ custom gold-plated 1960 Cadillac worth a second look. The paint gets its sheen from 40 coats of a translucent mixture of crushed diamonds and fish scales and the interior has a gold-plated television, too.

Or how about a country singer’s long-lost embroidered suit found by Elton John and worn on his Rocket Man record sleeve?

Shania Twain’s hot pink outfit from the 1999 Country Music Awards is pretty iconic, and even today’s Swifties will love seeing Taylor’s rhinestone-studded guitar from when she was still doing her country thang.

Sing Your Lungs out on a Pedal Tavern Tour

One of THE most fun experiences on our girls’ weekend in Nashville was the 2 hours spent on the Nashville Pedal Tavern. Like the name suggests, this is a modified bicycle-for-12 that doubles as a bar, powered by the guests riding it and ‘driven’ by a driver/host who doesn’t just get the party started with a playlist that rocks, but keeps it going by taking requests and playing bartender in between songs.

These pedal parties may look silly when you’re on the sidewalk and they drive past you, but once you’re on those pedals belting out Sweet Caroline at the top of your lungs, it’s the most fun you can have drinking on 4 wheels. And it’s safe and legal of course, because you’re not the one behind the wheel. The Pedal Tavern even makes a stop or two at other downtown bars where you can top up your own BYOB drinks on the pedal tavern with a signature shooter or two from the bar.

Seriously, this is some serious fun for not-so-serious people of every age.

Have a Ball at Pinewood Social

Another way to have a ball in Nashville – literally – is at Pinewood Social, a combination retro bowling alley, outdoor patio bar, lounge and funky restaurant in a former industrial area of municipal garages mistakenly called the Trolley Barns (streetcars were never actually parked here.)

Misnomer aside, the space here is predictably cool, made more so by the turquoise bowling balls, retro lanes and equipment. The decor is funky here too, with some interesting and creative touches that riff off of bowling trophies and the like. Bowl a game or two with your besties, then head into the dining room for crafted cocktails and delicious modern menu offerings.

Last Act of the Night: Ole Red’s

If you still have some gas in the tank and are up for a final honky tonk to top off your weekend, Ole Red is a great option. This is a big venue on multiple floors owned by Blake Shelton (c’mon, you’ve all heard of him!) and so you know the acts booked here are well-curated and really good. And they were. Tim Coty was country-rocking when we first arrived, and the next band to close the night out was a contemporary country group called the Scotty Mac Band. With music this good and free for the listening, there was no better way to top off our girls’ weekend, even if by the end of it, our spirits were willing but the feet were weak!

PRACTICAL INFO FOR YOUR GIRLS’ WEEKEND IN NASHVILLE

Where to Stay in Nashville

Broadway is definitely THE Strip in Nashville when it comes to music venues, but that may not be the place you want to lay your head down at night. Because while there’s absolutely nothing more fun that cruising that strip on a pedal-pub, singing along to Bon Jovi at the top of your lungs, when it comes time to hit the hay, you may want a quieter neighbourhood where more of the locals actually live: East Nashville.

East Nashville is only a short drive from downtown, and offers a much quieter place to return to when the partying is over. We rented a VRBO apartment here that was huge and within walking distance of 5 Points. Because we like to hang as a group, not in separate hotel rooms, an apartment rental like this one was the perfect option.

How to Get Around Nashville

The Uber ride-sharing app was our go-to when it came to transportation to and from our accommodations. Broadway and downtown Nashville itself is a very walkable area, but if you are heading to places like 12South, or the Pinewood Social, you’ll want to hop into a car, whether that’s an Uber or a conventional taxi. Both are great options that ensure you always have a designated driver.

Tip for Cost-Sharing Made Easy

When you are trying to keep track of who-owes-who-what on a group trip of any kind, there’s a great free smartphone app that helps with logging those costs, splitting bills and balancing out the amounts at the end of the trip. It’s called Splitwise and you can set it up in different currencies, depending on where you are and for however many people are in the group. The app does all the calculations for you, and at the end of the trip, it will even automatically follow up with all of the group members, ‘reminding’ each how much they owe to whom, without you having to do it.