Buckle up Nashville, because this funky, full weekend highlights the pinnacle of southern food, Napa wine and Latin bargains – all mingled together with perfectly tuned sides of pop, funk and Salsa beat syncopation. We even have a drag race inside of Gaylord Opry House! Whaaatt?
We kick off Friday, October 6th in the breathtaking Union Station Grand Lobby with the Caymus Wine Dinner. Simply imagining what chef Brian Kersey is dreaming up would have us front and center, but his culinary magic paired with the Wagner family’s wine list almost boggles our pallets. Then onto the Grand Ole Opry for RuPaul’s 14th season of “Drag Race” featuring Lady Camden. From what I hear it will have dozens of country music legends turning over in their graves. Then, we scurry across the street to Music City Bar and Grill for a quick nightcap in preparation for some tumultuous dreams.
How will we ever drag ourselves out of bed after our 2 a.m. Friday? We ruled out defibrillating each other, and will instead opt for a huge caffeine slug and a crepe from The Perch on our way to the Brentwood Beer and Wine Festival for unlimited tastings, ax throwing, high-end cars and all of the big screen college football we can handle. Feels like the perfect recipe for excitement to me.
Even though there will be awesome food trucks there, we’ll save our appetites for the Nashville Mac and Cheese and Wing a Ding Ding Festival at First Horizon Park. It’s two, two, two festivals in one! Some of the city’s top chefs will be serving up 30 versions of America’s favorite combo, mac & cheese and fried chicken, of course, with more beer and wine.
We do have to muster some restraint, however, because a funky good time still awaits us at the Five Spot, where sixteenth consecutive years of all vinyl R&B, funk, soul and disco mandates that we show up with our groove alive. Then, just as sure as Papa was a Rolling Stone, we will be back in our bungalow of recovery for a few hours, until…
Saturday’s “Bottomless Brunch” at the Almost Friday Sporting Club. WARNING: Bottomless refers to the all-you-can-eat brunchilada and chopped skillet hash – and the all-you-can-drink-bubbly, beer and bloody Marys. I wish someone had told ME that before I went there for the first time! So embarrassing!
With our tank full again, we will have a gap before our evening plans to see Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin at the Ryman, so we have decided to take the Ryman tour along with backstage access to prepare us for Carpenter’s “Passionate Kisses” and Colvin’s “The Dirt And The Stars”.
By the time that’s a wrap, it will be witching hour, when Broadway really kicks into high gear, making one of our favorite Nashville speakeasies, Pushing Daisies the perfect pre-bed hot toddy spot before merciful zzzs.
Sunday morning the 8th feels like a perfect time for warm conchas, iced Mexican coffee and hot bargains at the Plaza Mariachi flea market. Set y our sensory overload button to “off.” The plaza is always bustling with chatty crowds and Latin music blasting from the central food court. It feels just like small-town Mexico, perfedt for a full afternoon of flea market and handicraft bargain shopping.
When it’s supper time on this side of town, King Tut’s, a diminutive food truck with a great patio, always tops our list. Evidently Guy Fieri loved this place as much as we do. Their falafel is literally the best I’ve ever had anywhere in the world!
Now, with the weekend’s conclusion materializing in our rearview, some serious relaxation is warranted before packing it in. Rudy’s Jazz Room will more than fill that bill, leaving us calm, satiated and fulfilled, ready to snuggle into our dreams of next weekend in the greatest city in America, Nashville, Tennessee.
AUTHOR
Brad Blankenship is a retired integrative medicine doctor who has resided in Nashville for over 50 years. He, along with his wife Lulu Burns-Keller travel the US in search of new flavors. Together, they write, photograph and review for Beyondish in the Nashville area and beyond.
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