They Don’t Call it Music City for Nothing!

It’s 6:30 am and I’m probably like many of the revelers in Music City . . . just ending the day.  Ok that’s not really true.  I’m just starting my day but this is a city that’s alive with music.

Got up bright and early on Saturday morning (flights were so much cheaper than Friday night!) and arrived early Saturday morning.  I was coming in for an event hosted by the Nashville Rescue Mission called Music for a Mission.

The best thing about this weekend is that I didn’t come alone.  Whereas last weekend I was working my way through California Wine Country, this weekend I’m in Music City.

This city has earned its name.

It begins in the airline terminal as you’re walking toward the exit. There’s a version of the famous Purple Orchid complete with live music. Every time I walk by the restaurant there’s someone different playing – and it’s not only what I would count as country music.

I have a confession to make.  I’m not a huge country music fan. Frankly I’m not a fan at all.  It goes way back (over 35 years).  I used to be an avid fan but then one fateful day a song came on where the chorus included: “there’s only two things that money can’t buy. That’s true love and home grown tomatoes.”

Really?

Over the years I’ve had folks tell me that country music is different today. I guess it is but I’m not sure with songs over the years like “Do you think my tractor’s sexy?”  Perhaps not so different.

I changed the station at that moment and never went back. That’s a bit unusual since my musical tastes are quite eclectic from classical and opera to rock to heavy metal and back to all forms of Jazz and the blues. No rap. No country.

Until this weekend. Maybe.

But I digress.  Since we weren’t able to check into the hotel early, we went over to an old favorite – Noshville – for a quick breakfast. Noshville is a great New York deli in Nashville. The quality of the food and the choices (great lox and bagel) are reminiscent of the fare you’d find in the Big Apple not Music City.

I picked up a magazine that listed all the best places in Nashville. Since I don’t always plan my trips, it provided a little direction for the day. The only thing on the docket was a dinner reservation at Whitfields with a dear family friend.

So a quick drive out to the community of Franklin. This cute little community on the outskirts of Nashville has a little for everyone. We even got in to see the Franklin Farmer’s Market. And, you guessed it; there was live music to entertain the marketers.

Even though there’s a wine road in Tennessee we decided to try something different – we took the whiskey trail.

From Franklin we headed to Lynchburg, Tennessee for a visit to an American institution. As American as apple pie, mom and Harley Davidson, Jack Daniel’s distillery is a must see.

Now here’s a unique twist – the distillery is in a dry county of Tennessee. Yep. Dry. As in no tastings. No regular purchases. Only commemorative bottles are available at the distillery. But we arrived just in time to take the tour – and a few weeks before their BBQ festival.

I was eager to learn what made the difference between Whiskey and Tennessee whiskey (not to mention bourbon etc.) When we arrived there was just one tour ahead of ours and before our tour began, they were taking reservations for tours seven after ours. 

While we have some photos, there were no photos in the distillery. Here’s what we learned. Tennessee whiskey has a minimum of 80% corn in the mash whereas bourbon has to have more than 55%. What separates Tennessee Whiskey from all the others is the charcoal filtering that takes place just after the distilling.

The tour begins with a short movie and then we load up on a bus and they take us to the Rick Yard. This is where they make the charcoal for the filtering from ricks of sugar maple. From there we get a bit of a lesson on the distilling of whiskey. 

It’s a tour I would suggest you take and the best part of it is that the price is right. Yep. It’s free.

After the tour and our free lemonade we went to Lynchburg for a quick lunch. We stopped at the BBQ Caboose Café for a pulled pork sandwich. Pulled pork was good but our side of red beans and rice was disappointing as the rice was not fully cooked. Still crunchy.

After lunch we wound our way to the George F. Dickel distillery. Just in time, as it turns out, for the last tour of the day. The name itself conjures up all kinds of inappropriate advertising slogans. Very similar to the Jack Daniel’s tour only they don’t do the bottling on site anymore.

Both distilleries are owned by huge conglomerates: Jack Daniel’s by Brown-Forman and Dickel by Diageo. Not necessarily bad but it’s not the same when you can visit with the family/owners like those of the Sonoma County wineries.

After the tour it was back to Nashville for a brief nap and to get ready for dinner. We met my dear friend Sue for dinner at Whitfield’s where her friend, Mark Sorrells and his trio, was playing. Whitfield’s is another gem in Nashville.

Seated in the bar so we could hear the music – again, it’s Music City after all – we began with a bottle of Francis Ford Coppola’s Director’s Cut chardonnay. I’m normally a red wine drinker but the Director’s Cut chardonnay was intriguing. 

After my visit in July to the Coppola winery, I’ve had the opportunity to pick out a couple of his wines to go with various dinners.  This one went with an appetizer of their mussels.

A truly delicious pairing.

This gave us time to just catch up and for Sue to meet Roxanne for the first time. After the first set, Mark joined us for a few minutes on his break. What a great opportunity to meet him. Smooth jazz. Standards. Even a little rock and roll. A very eclectic mix.

This is a place where the hours can drift away over good food and wine with friends. Dinner included a couple of their Saratoga Ribeyes and I had the Crab and Chorizo ravioli. The ribeyes were done to a perfect medium rare and the ravioli was delicious.

Dessert?

Absolutely. The perfect end to the meal was their donuts. Easily shareable and incredibly good. What’s wrong with dough dropped into hot fat and then rolled in sugar?  A perfect ending to day one in Music City.

Check back next week for day 2 and some really fabulous music.