Music, parties and cuisine attract crowds to booming Nashville
Florence, Ala., offers Nashville’s soul and flavor, without the hassle
The city has also broadened its appeal with the new National Museum of African American Music, along with Woolworth on 5th, a restaurant that preserves the site of an early civil rights sit-in.
Other eateries include Rolf and Daughters, whose chef was named a 2022 James Beard finalist, and classics such as Loveless Cafe, known for its biscuits, country ham and red-eye gravy, and Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, where the spicy Nashville craze started.
You’ll need to book ahead for a room at spots such as 21C Museum Hotel, part of an artsy hotel group with curated exhibits on display. And there’s always the elegantly updated Hermitage Hotel, which first opened in 1910.
Location: Nashville is in north-central Tennessee, with direct flights from many major airports.
Musical icons found Florence decades ago, and travelers still follow
There’s an alternative only two hours or so away. Florence, Ala., and three other neighboring cities, collectively called the Shoals, have much of Music City’s appeal without the traffic or crowds. In fact, many studio musicians choose to live here and commute to Nashville for gigs.
Centered on the Tennessee River in northwest Alabama, the area is best known for its recording studios, Muscle Shoals Sound in the city of Sheffield and Fame in the adjacent city of Muscle Shoals, where icons such as the Rolling Stones, Paul Simon and Aretha Franklin have made music.
Both studios offer tours, and it can get emotional at Muscle Shoals Sound. “I’ve seen grown men cry when they step into the studio,” says Judy Hood, wife of bassist David Hood, one of the legendary Swampers, a group of studio musicians heard on many of the songs recorded there.
You’ll often find a band onstage at places such as the FloBama in Florence or the Rattlesnake Saloon, a restaurant-bar tucked under an overhanging cliff in Tuscumbia.
Tuscumbia is also home to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, honoring stars such as Hank Williams Sr., and featuring exhibits such as the walk-through tour bus belonging to the band Alabama.
Like Nashville, the Shoals has appeal beyond music. Florence is a college town with an artsy vibe. Fashion designers Billy Reid and Natalie Chanin both live and have stores here, with the latter offering multiday design-your-own-garment workshops. It’s also home to the Rosenbaum House, a cozy Frank Lloyd Wright building open for tours.
Just outside town, you’ll find Tom’s Wall, an astonishing piece of environmental art. Created over 30 years by the late Tom Hendrix, this approximately mile-long stone fence winds through a pine forest. It honors his great-great-grandmother, a Native American who was forced to leave Alabama on the Trail of Tears, but so missed her home that she walked back from Oklahoma.
In Tuscumbia, you can tour Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller, and see the pump where teacher Anne Sullivan spelled out the letters w-a-t-e-r on the hand of her deaf and blind student, who would go on to international fame as a disabilities advocate.
The local menu features more than barbecue, although that’s available, too. Celebrity chef John Currence from Oxford, Miss., runs an outpost of his Big Bad Breakfast cafe, which more than lives up to its name. Odette serves produce and meats sourced from surrounding farms and serves pours from an acclaimed and extensive list of bourbons.
To call it a night, check in to one of Florence’s boutique hotels. The GunRunner has a large open lounge and 10 themed suites. Or try the Stricklin Hotel, a converted retail building with a vintage-style bowling alley in the basement.
Location: Florence is in northwest Alabama, about 130 miles southwest of Nashville or 70 miles west of Huntsville, Ala.
Bleiberg is a writer based in Charlottesville. Find him on Instagram: @lbleiberg.
PLEASE NOTE
Potential travelers should take local and national public health directives regarding the pandemic into consideration before planning any trips. Travel health notice information can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s interactive map showing travel recommendations by destination and the CDC’s travel health notice webpage.
Source: WP
