Things To Do Around Nashville

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Things to do around Nashville, Franklin, Leiper’s Fork, Fox & Locke, Loveless Cafe, and more! 

Hello beautiful friends!

I hope you don’t mind this little excursion away from the regular home DIY, furniture makeovers, and redos! I wanted to share with you in hopes of helping you out if you ever make your way to Nashville and the surrounding areas. There is so much to do and see.

If you want to, just skip on past this and I’ll be back to regular programming soon. ;)

But for those of you who might be interested in seeing more, follow along! Today, I’m sharing all about the “outskirts” of Nashville (downtown Nashville, that is)
Now, keep in mind we only had a few days here and didn’t get to do many other things we wanted to. But we managed to squeeze a lot in anyway!

If you missed Part 1, Pigeon Forge (things to do and see), you can see it here.

Things To Do Around Nashville

Our first stop when heading to our downtown Nashville hotel was Franklin. I loved Franklin!

Franklin TN sign

There’s a little roundabout right in town.

small town buildings circle roundabout

So cute! Looks like something out of a movie.

So much charm.

old wood and glass door with glass stained glass transom over top

street pole with Franklin flag

We went to eat lunch at 55 South. Loved it! Highly recommend.

looking out window at 55 South sign

I had one of the absolute best salads I think I’ve ever had there. Yum.

salad with shrimp and avocado

And my husband’s shrimp and grits and son’s tacos were also a hit.

shrimp and grits

tacos

But that salad…I’m telling ya, it was amazing.

After we left there, we walked around the town a bit.
We saw this place… Gray’s on Main

gray's electric light on side of building

…and decided to go in to check it out.

It apparently has been a pharmacy for forever…until now.

old wood door old building pharmacy

See the dates on the glass of who (and when) the pharmacists were over time?
So cool!

We went up the stairs to the bar area.

long row of wood stairs looking up

Which was a beautiful bar.

antique wood looking bar

They have a raised stage at the other end for music and tables for eating up here.
The food looked amazing. We hope to come back and have dinner someday!

We went to a few small shops and saw these things…

Dolly Parton items

How fun is this??

funny chartueterie board

And this one!! lol

funny deviled eggs plate

While we were at Gray’s the bartender there told us to check out Kimbro’s.
They have music (and different types, like pickin’ on the porch, for example) in each room. So neat!
It’s in an old house, check it out below.

old house bar top drinks

old room with guitars

There was just so much to see in every room.

old juke box

We almost came back that evening to check out the lineup but didn’t end up making it back from Nashville that evening.
Next time!

You know I had to get my sweet hubby to drive all around Franklin so I could see all the pretty houses, don’t you? Haha
He sweetly obliged. (he enjoyed seeing it all too)

large yard fenced with house with columns

So pretty out here. Lots of land all around still but lots of new growth too.

large white house

large painted brick house with black trim

So pretty.

large white house with columns and double balconies on front

large white painted brick home

And check out this one!

huge home with columns and large double porches

And same one from the side. Wow.

side view of huge home

Oh my, that was a big one.

After that, we headed to check into our hotel. We stayed in downtown Nashville for the evening. I’ll be sharing that later this week.

The next day, we got up and ventured out again. This time we decided to go to Leiper’s Fork.
A cute little (and I do mean little) town.

creekside trading store in leiper's fork tn

Not much to it but we walked around and shopped in this little shop here. (it’s across the street from the Fox & Locke restaurant)

One of the shops had a big porch and this huge swing. Nothing better!

my husband and i on porch swing

The Fox & Locke

front of the fox & locke restaurant

We wanted to visit this place someone referred us to. Apparently, it is old and very famous.
It’s known for recording artists doing surprise visits, hopping up on the stage, and singing. So of course we had to check that out!
Wait till you hear more about that…read on!

live music sign at the fox & locke

Over at the bar, we saw this sign.

sign over bar with bottles

Here’s the inside looking out (and looking at the stage). We were just to the left of those tables at the bar.

old different style tables and chairs with stage and american flag on window

It was only about 3 or so, so not very busy then. It started to get busier about the time we left.

Which took us just down the road about a mile to Leiper’s Fork Distillery.

leiper's fork distillery sign

Very neat, historic place.

front porch of distillery

front view of cabin distillery

My husband and son did a tasting… (I don’t like bourbon or whiskey so I was out!)

small tasting glasses

… in the tasting room.

tables, ceiling and stone fireplace inside tasting room

Very cool old house. Original house built in 1820ish. (You can read more about this place and see more photos here)

That bar top was made from old reclaimed wood. Union troops burned down a tavern…the wood came from that old tavern. Some of the pieces had burn marks from the fire – so cool – but that bar top was one of the prettiest pieces of wood I’ve seen! (if you look to the right of the bar top you can see one of the burn marks)

bar with chairs and wood walls in tasting room

And this is so cool, the original owner of the small cabin here carved his last name into the wood. This section of the cabin used to be outside. It’s now inside because of bathroom additions and such. They put a small frame around it to preserve it. Love this!

daniel carved into wood with frame

I have to tell you, one of my VERY favorite things about traveling is meeting all the people.
We met amazing people, with amazing stories, every single place we went. The man we met here was from Scotland and had an amazing story as well. (and a fabulous accent that I just loved!)

As we went to leave, our truck decided to act up. Of course, right?! On vacation, it has to happen. lol

I shared all of this as it was happening in my stories over on Instagram, so you might have seen this already. ;)

black truck going onto tow truck

Boo!

Can I just tell you how hard it is to get an Uber to pick you up this far out?? Haha, very!! I tried for over an hour with no luck.
And can I tell you how hot and humid it was this day? Very!! lol
So, with not much luck of a ride back to our hotel, I was honestly wondering if we’d be sleeping on that porch that evening. But our sweet Scottish friend came to our rescue. He offered to drive us back to town as they were closing up and thought we might be able to get a ride to come there to pick us up.

So back to the Fox & Locke we went!

fox & locke menu

We sat back up at the bar and decided to have dinner. (we had planned to go to the Loveless Cafe that afternoon when we left the distillery but had to scrap that for now)
It was now evening time and we didn’t have reservations at the Fox & Locke but they thankfully felt bad for us and let us stay. (they do reservations in the evening for music)

musicians on stage with flag in background

So we enjoyed some dinner and music while we waited for an Uber.
Which we finally got to come get us on a “scheduled” pickup 3 hours later. Whew!

It was kind of a bummer to be stranded so long but we figured this is where we are supposed to be tonight.
Maybe some famous recording artist will pop in and sing tonight, right? You never know! They really do apparently.
Nope! ha! It wasn’t in the cards for us that night but we had a great time anyway.

And we wouldn’t have met our lovely Uber driver had we not got stranded. We loved talking with her and all about Memphis where she was from on the way back.
We met so many nice people.

the front of fox & locke at night with old gas pumps

Outside waiting on her to arrive.

I do have to share this with ya’ll though! hahaha

small black car

We decided to get a rental for the day while our truck was being repaired. I mean I had more adventures for us yet!
And the only car and I do mean only, (I called them all!) left in downtown Nashville was this one. (that’s my handsome son crawling out of it)
It was a little small but it did the trick…and was super easy to park!! haha
My husband said it’s the “clown car”, you know, like the tiny one that stops and 50 clowns somehow roll out of!! Haha!! He’s so funny.

And hey, that little car got us to the Loveless Cafe the next day so I was a happy girl!

loveless cafe sign

white building restaurant

wall of autographed pictures at loveless cafe

They know how to do biscuits. It’s true!

biscuit sign at loveless

Best biscuits, oh my, so good!

biscuits on plates with jelly and jam

The food was good too. I got Chicken and Dumplings. Yummy.

We went next door to the little gift shop. I had to have one of these adorable shot glasses! (even though I don’t do shots! lol)

small heart shaped aqua white and red shot glasses from loveless cafe

Now let me tell you the fun part.

Guess who was in the Fox & Locke with friends and popped up onto the stage to sing 3 nights later?!! Just guess!!

CARRIE UNDERWOOD!

What?! Yep, she sure did. But not the night we were there, dang! Oh well, but wow, too funny.

Here’s >>> a link to the news article about it. If you scroll down, you can watch the little video someone took and see the same areas I photo’d above and the bar where we sat.

Aw, well, maybe next visit because we will surely return to Fox & Locke on our next visit.

Have you been to any of these places? What did you think? See anyone famous??

Things to do around Nashville, Franklin, Leiper's Fork, Fox & Locke, Loveless Cafe and more! artsychicksrule.com

I hope you enjoyed seeing more about our trip! I’ll be sharing the “Nashville”/part 3 later this week. Stay tuned!

xoxo

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18 Comments

  1. I grew up on a farm just outside of Franklin 50-60 years ago. It was just a little slow moving country town where the farmers came to town on Saturday to the hardware store and Gray’s Drug Store. 😀 I still have relatives there so I visit and am always amazed at the changes.

  2. Love reading about your adventure and the neat places you went. We are staying near Pigeon Forge next April for the month and you’ve given me lots of ideas. Sounds like you had a great time even with a few “hiccups” along the way.

    1. So glad you are enjoying the posts, Ellie! Oh fun, a whole month!! Lucky!! That will be so nice, lots of time to explore. xoxo

  3. I enjoyed reading about your trip Nancy! it certainly was a fun trip! We were in Nashville but it was a long time ago. I do remember some of interesting things about it.

    Aunt Jo
    xoxo

    1. So glad you enjoyed, Aunt Jo! Yes, I think I remember when you guys went. It was fun, would love to go back! :) Love you! xoxoxo

  4. Love it! Part of why I follow you is your personality….I don’t ever plan to redo furniture 🤪but your creativity feeds my creativity! Kate/The Whimsical Winer

  5. What perfect timing! I’m heading to Nashville next week and we will be visiting former neighbors who now live in Liepers Fork! I’m definitley going to try to make it to some of your suggested “stops” and I need one of those little shot glasses after a biscuit lunch! Thanks for all of the photos and sharing your travel adventures!

    1. OH, that’s awesome, Christy!! You are going to have a wonderful time! I loved Leiper’s Fork! And yes, you so need the shot glass and biscuit lunch, for sure! Have a great time!!! xoxo

  6. I live in Franklin and I am so happy that you enjoyed your visit to our little town. It truly is a piece of heaven. If you ever find your way back here I would love to show you around. There is so much to see and do!! Have a great day!!

    1. Oh, I loved Franklin. What a beautiful place to live. I would love to have a little place there to visit as often as I liked! Maybe one day! :) And yes, that would be awesome, Susan!! Will do! I have a friend that moved there from VA a few years ago. She and her husband (and pups!) love it. They were back our way when we visited though. xoxo

      1. It really is a great place. The thrift shopping is wonderful. I hate that you missed your friend while you were here but it just gives you a reason to come back. If you ever decided to purchase a piece of heaven here in Franklin I am a real estate agent and would love to help.

        Have a great day!! xoxo

        1. OH my!! I didn’t get a chance to do any of that. (I don’t think my husband and son would’ve gone for that, darn it! lol) But I’d LOVE to go thrift shopping there. Oh, that’s great, my friend that lives there (Nashville area) is in the mortgage industry, so I’m covered then! :) xo

  7. We love that area! We’ve been talking about moving to Franklin for literally years. It still may happen. We’re letting our child finish out high school here in Austin since she’s a senior now. But I’ve been to many of the places you should… but not all! So I’ve added those to my list of places to check out next time we get out there. Thank you for your post(s)!

    1. My husband and I would LOVE to have a little place there to visit and live part-time. (once we are both able to be mobile) I can’t wait to go back and explore more, so much to see and I am sure we missed a lot! xoxo

  8. I enjoyed seeing your pics of those two small towns. I can’t wait to see your Nashville post. We were there for the very first time this past March for a week. We flew there from Sioux Falls SD. We stayed at the Opryland Resort. Went to a show at the Ryman and 2 Opry shows and every other day downtown. We rode that bus that took you around the sites of Nashville. We like it so much that we are flying down with the kids for a long weekend in Nov. Our youngest will then be 21. Thanks for sharing your vacation!

    1. Oh fun!! That is awesome you all are going back again so soon. I think we need to ride the touring bus next time to learn more about the city. We saw a lot but missed so much. Hoping we can go back soon. And hope you have a wonderful time with your family…I know you will! :) xoxo

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