This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Nashville, TN, otherwise known as “Music City.” The city certainly lived up to its name. Around every corner could be seen a group of street performers either singing or playing a variety of instruments. One stroll down the street and you would hear every genre of music pouring from the doors of various restaurants and venues.

My first night there, I got to have dinner at the iconic Hard Rock Café. As usual, I got an order or chicken tenders and fries. While the food was delicious, that is not what sets this restaurant apart from the rest. Along the walls of the Hard Rock are various guitars and outfits that one would at first think are just décor to set the vibe for the restaurant. However, a closer look would reveal that the guitars and outfits are those of legends such as Jimi Hendrix and Keith Urban.

That same evening I took a stroll down the famous Honky Tonk Highway. The street is lined with Honky Tonks, or music venues that double as restaurants/bars (don’t worry though, those underage can enter the Honky Tonks until 9 p.m.). Between these various locales are the typical tourist shops, and a few record stores.

We got an early start the next morning, our first stop being The Hermitage, or the home of President Andrew Jackson. From there we visited the Parthenon in Centennial Park. This replica of the well-known Parthenon of Athens. After taking some cliché pictures of the structure, we ventured beneath it to a museum full of beautiful paintings that not only captured the history of Greece, but gave an insight to the history of Nashville.

After a quick lunch at a delicious restaurant called The Cookout, we headed to the Tennessee Performance Arts Center to view Newsies, a Broadway musical. Needless to say, the show was phenomenal. The vocals were certainly exceptional, and the choreography was outstanding. I could not have asked for a better performance.

We then made our way through several construction zones and arrived at the Tennessee State Capitol Building. It certainly encapsulated the history of the state and Nashville itself. We went from there to the Grand Ole Opry, located just 20 minutes outside of Downtown Nashville. I will be honest and say that I’ve never been much of a country music fan, but this building was structurally beautiful and captured the essence of country music. We then did a little shopping at Opry Mills (a mall located on the same grounds as the Opry), and grabbed a quick bite at the food court.

That evening brought my trip in Nashville to a close. The sights and sounds that I got to experience there are ones that I could never forget.