Has anyone been to Nashville, TN?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Catherine_W
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Catherine_W

Guest
Hi!

My husband and I are going to Nashville, TN for a job interview this week. I’m from Texas and have never been to Tennessee before. I was wondering if anyone has any tips for our trip or advice about living in Tennessee.

I was really hoping to get a feel for how the Nashville Catholic diocese is and if you think this is a good place to raise a family. Any tips on the Catholic schools would be nice too.

Also, any sightseeing ideas for the trip, especially outdoors stuff, like nice views or small hikes to see beautiful hills and tall trees. Or Cathedrals and shrines you recommend visiting.

While we are there we will also be looking for possible locations to live. Again, if anyone has tips as to areas of town that are safe and good for families I would love to hear your advice.

Thanks!
 
yeah I lived on the TN/AL line. you can’t CAN’T CAN’T go to nashville and not visit the opry! 😃

I lived in texas too. the BBQ in TN stinks compared to what you’re used to. but the sweet tea and beer are just as good. they don’t have the pride texans do (no offense, I was an import and I still picked it up quick! still find myself with a texas flag on my truck, I just can’t let go of some things…).

The weather is nicer (i think), but I lived an hour or so away so I never went to church there or anything.

the biggest perk I found in TN was that there was no income tax (high sales tax though) and you could literally drive anything with wheels down the road, no inspection or anything. this is good for me and the caliber of vehicles I buy… 😊

HAVE FUN, I’m a touch jealous! 😉
 
Hi there, Catherine!

I live in Nashville, TN and think it’s one of the greatest cities ever! There are multitudes of tourist opportunities here and it’s a very family-friendly city.

There are loads of Country music things (and every other kind of music too) to see and do, the history here is immense with loads of experiences and as we have a countywide government structure, there are bunches of great local neighborhoods to explore with shops and restaurants that at one point or another were incorporated into Davidson County (Nashville).

There are also lots of wonderful churches in our Diocese and we’re very active. Our Cathedral (I may be biased, it’s where I am a member) is incredibly beautiful.

If you want more info, please feel free to PM me … I used to be a tour guide here as well!

Ciao~
Kevin
 
TN is very nice. The Cathedral of Incarnation is a beautiful sight to see. Also made my confirmation there a few years back. The Gaylord Opryland hotel is one of the finest places to stay while visiting; however not everybody has the budget to stay there. In which case there several other nice hotels in the area, but you must visit the Gaylord while here. That place is like huge and the kids will love it. Percy Priest Lake is where you’ll be doing most of your water boating; very nice lake. No income tax here, and we’ve got lotto too so that’s a plus. :cool: We do have our fair share of homeless though they are very nice and talkative(they don’t like to bite the hands that feed them). Many play music for money. I just gave sandwiches to them and got the chance to talk with many today.

Personally I think Williamson County is much more beautiful than Davidson if you like being rural. It’s the county south of Davidson. Nothing wrong with Davidson, but much of it is too developed for some folks. I like my acreage and privacy. Franklin is a nice historic town to walk around too and it isn’t far from Nashville. Consider that to visit. My Parish is there too (St Philip)

Our weather is very mild during the spring and early summer. Average last frost is mid April and first frost is late October/early November. So you do have a long season to grow crops. Mid and late summer is very hot sometimes. 2007 we broke several heat records, though I suppose coming from Texas that won’t bother you much. Only thing is that we can get very humid too. Fall is very mild here. Lots of fall colors to look at. Winter isn’t too harsh here, though coming from Texas it probably will feel very different to you. Worst months of winter are Jan-Feb. We average upper 40’s for highs here in late December-February. It won’t be uncommon to have an artic high come through and bring 30’s for highs and occasionally some 20’s too. Lows will generally be from the teens to 30°F in the winter. Again it isn’t uncommon for a Canadian high to bomb out on us giving single digits for longs. Good news is we usually don’t have pro-long period of cold weather. We do average about 9" a year for snow, but lately we have been in a snow drought. Nashville doesn’t fair well when it comes to snow due to it’s a massive heat island so conditions have to be just right for the city to get caked. It’s easy to find a bit more snow around it. Spring is mild and stormy. We can have a very active storm season, so do keep up to date of the local weather. Don’t watch accuaweather or weather channel, trust the local NWS forecasts and News 2 and Channel 4. They are pretty good at now casting for severe weather. We do have rollercoaster weather so sometimes you’ll sometimes get upper 70’s one day and chilly 30’s-40’s the next, but that usually ends by early April. That’s about all I know.
 
Have only visited there a few times, so cannot say how living there might be, probably better than the humidity of Memphis. Lived for a while in San Antonio, and Nashville ain’t Texas. It is very beautiful country though.
As a tourist, a stop at the Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music museums, Opry-related venues would be hard to pass up, even if you are not a country music fan. There’s a lot of deep-rooted Gospel music therabouts, too, even for Catholics.
 
I live in Nashville, TN. I would suggest visiting the Cathedral of the Incarnation and St. Mary Seven Sorrows Church. As far as schools we have Father Ryan, John Paul II, and St. Cecilia. Downtown seems to have more Catholics than outside areas.
 
stringbeanduck,
I love St Philips! (I have to attend Holy Family normally b/c of my location, for a traditionalist like myself it truly is a penance 😦 ) I try to get to the Cathedral or St. Mary’s most Sundays.
 
Thanks you all!

All this information is very helpful! I am really excited about our trip.

🙂
 
Hi!

I live in southern Alabama, but have often visited Nashville, and driven through there many, many times. While you’ve received much better advice from the other posters, I just want to reiterate that it is a lovely area, with great restaurants, shopping, outdoor activities.

Have a wonderful trip!
 
As an historian, I should point out that one of Nashville’s top historical attractions is the Hermitage, the home of President Andrew Jackson, which is absolutely fascinating and wonderfully restored. Also nearby, albeit less famous, is the home of President James K. Polk. Another interesting sight is directly across the street from Vanderbilt University in a park. About a hundred years ago, they built the world’s only full-scale reproduction of the Parthenon in Greece. Today it houses Nashville’s art museum, but it is a beautiful place to visit, walk around, and have pictures taken.
 
I know this is a little late for your visit, but as some of your questions were relatively unanswered I thought I’d contribute.

I’ve lived in Nashville for going on two years now, lived in the rural South all my life and my wife is from Houston. We both like Nashville because, even though it’s a decently sized city, it doesn’t feel too big or hectic.

As far as the diocese goes, I think Nashville is pretty solid. Our bishop seems like a really good guy, and all the parishes I’ve visited seem to be thriving. The parishes closer to downtown are generally older, more beautiful, and more traditional, while the parishes out in the suburbs tend to be more modern-looking and progressive.

Areas to live: south first, west second. Other areas are cheaper but not as nice. If you like rural, there are a few hidden spots that are relatively close and relatively rural. If you like being close to the city, there are some areas being renovated and are becoming hot spots (Sylvan Park seems to be popular among young families, I’ve also heard positive things about Germantown). The primary mall in the area is Cool Springs on the south side, there is also Green Hills closer to town but it’s more moneyed, and Opry Mills on the northeast side.

I don’t have any kids in school yet, but from what I’ve heard the public schools are fairly below par. Those who can afford it seem to send their kids to private schools in droves. There are a number of Catholic schools for younger kids along with some fairly high quality high schools (St Cecilia’s is great but girls-only, JP II has made a name for itself as well).

Sites to see: again, maybe too late, but if you come back for another visit the Natchez Trace is a nice drive; there are some particular roads which go through beautiful hilly country if you don’t mind driving a bit out of the way (head west on Moore’s Lane from I-65 or take 840 east from I-65). The Warner Parks have some good hiking trails and stuff for kids if you’re interested. The Parthenon is worth taking a walk around, along with Bicentennial Park around the Parthenon. The Cathedral is beautiful, as are most of the churches close to downtown, there aren’t really any shrines that I’m aware of but the Domincans have a motherhouse near the river that has attracted a lot of merited attention.

I know that was long-winded but if you do end up moving to Nashville I know it’s good to have good info. Good luck!
 
I’ve never been to Nashville – may be going in October so I’m paying attention to the responses as well.

One of the responses mentioned Franklin. There’s a book called “The Widow of the South” that’s about a lady that lived there at the time of the Civil War. It’s a true story. It’s an interesting story, but I’ll warn you it’s a little weird. Might be good to read that book and then go visit the house on Franklin.
 
Thank you Kellen,

I have already returned from my trip, but this information is still useful because Nashville could be our new home town, depending on if the interview turns into a job offer. Nashville was beautiful! I loved the hills and the pine trees; I think it would be a wonderful place to live. Thanks to everyone for your advice, it really helped our trip and it is also helpful in evaluating our next move.

Thanks and God bless!
 
I know this is late but i wanted to add my two cents anyway.

i only know one thing about Nashville: The Nashville Dominicans!👍 I’ve been blessed to be around them at my highschool in MD for the past 4 years, and they have to be the most amazing people i know. i give them 80% of the credit for my being the Catholic i am today. if you do move to Nashville, i highly recommend their schools 😃
 
Abby_Fletcher said:
I know this is late but i wanted to add my two cents anyway.

i only know one thing about Nashville: The Nashville Dominicans!👍 I’ve been blessed to be around them at my highschool in MD for the past 4 years, and they have to be the most amazing people i know. i give them 80% of the credit for my being the Catholic i am today. if you do move to Nashville, i highly recommend their schools 😃
Click to expand...
The sisters are awesome! They are having a lot of vocations as well when most other folks have none. I second that recommendation! 👍
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top