Here's How to Travel Nashville Like a Local

Like Tennesse whiskey? Maybe you've already got the Jack Daniel's Tour on your Nashville itinerary. Don't stop there. Experience our Southern hospitality craft brew style by tapping into the new beers on the block. Luckily, NashvilleBreweries did the homework for us and made a walking tour map of four breweries close together in the SoBro/Gulch area of downtown Nashville. So save yourself from all those bachelorette parties on Broadway. Put your phones away since no Uber is required, and put your boots to walking.

Start with the famed Mississippi-founded Yazoo Brewery for a tour and a taste, then check out Tennessee Brew Works, where you can sip to live music on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Want a little local Thursday night trivia? Walk on to the Jackalope Brewery. Don't stop now! Fitbit your way to the fourth and final at Czann's Brewery. Want even more? OK, OK. Pull out your phone and grab a Lyft to Tailgate Brewery, a fun spot that shows movies on the side of its building. Mantra Artisan Ales is killing it with Indian cuisine-inspired brews and Indian-inspired snacks — it also does free beer and yoga on Saturdays (what, what!). Last but never least, grab BBQ at the famed Edley's in East Nashville and then walk across the street to Fat Bottom Brewing. Don't be afraid to take the party to East Nashville's 5 Points neighborhood afterward.

As Nashville has boomed from a small music town into a music metropolis, the list of where to eat is ever expanding. Starting off, we in Nashville love our food trucks. Music venues like Marathon Music Works even have food trucks, like Jamaican-fueled Riddim-n-Spice, inside! East Nashville's truck-to-storefront happy ending, Mas Tacos Por Favor, is delicioso! My personal favorites are its black bean soup with queso fresco, fried avocado tacos, and cilantro-pineapple drink. For new-age Southern comfort food, The Southern Steak and Oyster is quickly turning into a Nashville classic. The chicken fried chicken makes grown men weep. If it's real home Southern cooking you're after, you must do Arnold's. Get the greens. Best greens ever. And the banana pudding. Oh. My. God.

Then, of course, there's the famous Nashville Hot Chicken (yup, we did it before KFC). If Prince's Hot Chicken Shack is too far of a drive, then burn your mouth at Bolton's Spicy Chicken. Cool your taste buds with handcrafted chocolate truffles at the bohemian-infused Tempered Cafe & Chocolate. Thursday through Saturday evenings, Tempered luxuriates in the Belle Époque era of Paris with the "La Fee Verte" (the green fairy) by serving its traditional Absinthe Drip & Craft Cocktails. If your senses are still screaming for more, then head to the speakeasy-themed Skull's Rainbow Room and take pleasure in attending Nashville's only burlesque venue.

Get your vintage on at the Nashville Boogie Vintage Weekender & Car Show, May 18-21, 2017. Nashville Boogie is a massive indoor music festival celebrating the '40s-'50s sound that Nashville was built on. Rockabilly, country, Western swing, and hillbilly boogie! Plus, there will be a huge indoor car show in the main exhibit hall, a vintage fashion show, and a pinup pageant. Want more? Then don't miss Wine on the Rails, June 10, 2017. Wine on the Rails is a day trip by train from downtown Nashville to the Del Monaco Winery in Baxter, TN. Take an excursion in a restored classic 1950s-era American streamlined, stainless steel passenger train! On the way, enjoy live ragtime, Woody Pines-esque music livening up the train. Each ticket includes a wine tasting on board the train, winery tours and activities, live music, and more wine tasting! Dressing up in your finest '50s vintage attire is encouraged but not required.

Rolling Stone named Muddy Roots Music Festival, Sept. 1-4, within a list of top tours and festivals in the world for 2016, alongside events like the Stagecoach Festival. This year's lineup includes Del McCoury, Bonnie Prince Billy, and The Melvins. Can't make it to Nashville over Labor Day? Don't fret! Avoid downtown Nashville's honky-tonk tourist traps and find that root-filled, steeped country music at the Nashville Palace, home to Kitty Wells, Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, and more. There the music plays all day, every day. Parking is free and aplenty. And the beer and burgers won't make your wallet cry.

Go where the real Nashville music lives. And it's not just country music, either! Tickets to shows are affordable, often even free such as at Nashville's Live on the Green concert series. To rock out, head to Exit/In. Or check out what started as a venue for Nashville's punk scene, Foobar. A personal favorite is Marathon Music Works, where bands like Dropkick Murphys, Wolfmother, and CeeLo Green are playing this year — and that's not even looking past March! Craving some good ole country flavor? Head to East Nashville, the Brooklyn of Nashville, for '50s, '60s, and '70s country Mondays at The Crying Wolf Bar or honky tonk Tuesdays at American Legion, Post 82.

Not only known as "Music City," Nashville is also known as "City of the Parks." You may have heard of Centennial Park, which hosts the art museum and full-scale replica of the Athenian Parthenon. But don't miss other great Nashville parks like Shelby Bottoms Park, Percy Warner Park, and Radnor Lake. Grab brunch at East Nashville's favorite French cafe, Marché, and then rent B-Cycle bikes for a coast through Shelby Bottoms Park. Shelby Bottoms Park in East Nashville hosts five miles of paved trails and over five miles of unpaved nature paths for hiking, biking, running, skating, wildlife watching, and exploring nature. Or see the wild turkeys and deer at Radnor Lake, a trail that transports you from city streets to mountain views.

Afterward, head to the stylish and sleek 12 South neighborhood for brunch at Josephine. For those of you seeking to channel your inner Cheryl Strayed, hike through one of the hundreds of waterfalls outside of Nashville. Take your water shoes and swimsuit to Foster Falls and swim the day away. Not really the get-my-shoes-dirty type? Experience nature the Nashville way and go to a concert underground — talk about a speakeasy! Buy your tickets for the Cumberland Caverns Bluegrass Underground, where the world's best acoustics are literally nature made.