You need to know who Ms. Cheap is! Ms. Cheap writes for the Tennessean and has made a living helping the people of Nashville take advantage of what our amazing city has to offer without going broke! Follow her guide to the week's events and you'll leave feeling satisfied with your experience and the extra cash in your wallet.
To find the free music around town click HERE
According to Ms. Cheap....
Best free music downtown:
You can’t go wrong with either Robert’s Western World or Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, both of which are in the 400 block of Broadway. Tootsie’s has live music from
9 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. and Robert’s has live music from
11 a.m. to 2:30 a.m., and there is no cover charge at either place.
Best cheap beer downtown: Layla’s Bluegrass Inn at 418 Broadway has $1 Pabst Blue Ribbon cans until 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday. The PBR cans are $2.50 each at other times.
• Best cheap full-service lunch downtown: I picked two of these: Robert’s Western World, at 416 Broadway, offers a hamburger with chips for $5.25 or, even better, a fried bologna sandwich with chips for $3.75. Bring on the mustard!
And then there is Demos’ at 300 Commerce St., where on weekdays there are two lunch specials, one for $4.25 (it’s lasagna this week) and one for $5.99. Even at night and on weekends, there are some great $7 and $8 options on Demos’ menu.
• Best pickup lunch downtown: I like Manny’s House of Pizza in The Arcade, where you can get a generous slice of New York-style pizza for as little as $2.35. And I do love San Antonio Taco Co. at the corner of Third Avenue and Commerce Street. You can order yummy tacos a la carte for as little as $1.49 each.
» Best free parking downtown: You can park free in the state employee parking lots on the north and west side of the Tennessee State Capitol on nights and weekends and walk just about anywhere in downtown in less than
15 minutes. You also can park free at parking meters downtown after
6 p.m. every day and all day on Sundays and holidays.
» Favorite cheap downtown snack: Grab a $1 bag of roasted peanuts in the shell at The Peanut Shop at 225 Fourth Ave. N. in The Arcade. It is a 4-ounce bag. Or, if you want to share, you could spring for a 1-pound bag of the delicious nuts for $3.50, including tax.
• Favorite place to find a bargain downtown: At Simply the Best $10 Boutique, at 176 Second Ave. N., you can find scarves, hats, sunglasses, necklaces, earrings, watches, leather goods, gadgets, handbags, Nashville clothing and more, all at the $10 price point. Hours are 11 a.m.-
6:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday,
11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sunday.
• Best places downtown to take a Nashville tourist photo: Lots of people get their photos taken with the Elvis statues on lower Broadway, and even more get shot with the giant guitar on the northeast corner of Fifth and Broadway, in front of Legends Corner. I can think of two other — and maybe better — choices. The stage in the Bridgestone Arena Visitor Center has a Nashville Music City backdrop and guitar prop. The center staff will even shoot the picture for you if you ask.
Another cool photo setting would be for you to play guitar with Chet Atkins. His statue at the corner of Fifth and Union features an empty stool so you can “air guitar” with the master for your keepsake photo.
» Best free downtown attractions:
I have several favorites, including Hatch Show Print at 316 Broadway, where you can get a 130-year look at posters that have sold millions of tickets for thousands of artists. These days, you also can see graphic artists creating vintage-looking posters for contemporary musicians.
My other pick is the Tennessee State Museum, which is free all the time and has a wonderful collection of Tennessee history. Its current exhibit is “Discovering the Civil War.” The downtown art galleries, such as The Arts Company, also are great places to see interesting art for free.
• Best place to get a free map and other information: The Visitors Centers in the glass tower at Bridgestone Arena and on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Commerce Street both have free maps. And you can look on most lampposts in the downtown area for a round map of the immediate area.
Whether you're headed downtown for business or pleasure during this week's festivities, you'll want to be aware of the following road closures:
