I have never been to the state of Tennessee or the city of Nashville before, so this adventure was packed with a lot of sightseeing, civil war history learning, some ghost hunting, and lots of eating!
If it wasn’t for some dear friends of mine moving out to Tennessee, then this trip may not have happened, or at least, not in the way it unfolded.
Just about every bar on the Nashville strip had live country music playing all day and all night long. The Nashville strip, which is referred to as the other Vegas strip, is a much smaller version.
Honestly, Nashville is its own thing. It can’t be compared to Vegas or Reno or any other gambling town. Nashville is unique in every sense of the word. And it has no casinos.
My friend’s house, about 40 minutes outside of Nashville, is a 20 acre property with an amazing custom home. Lush green scenery all around the town. Even better, the property was once part of the civil war landscape. Remnants of the war can still be seen on his land.
That makes it ripe for you know what? Yep, ghost hunting! But, as always, my story begins with food…
Sixty Vines Restaurant
Downtown Nashville, TN
Centerpiece Old Fashioned drink was definitely the center of our attention. There was enough in the decanter for 3 people to share. It was a great way to kick off my week in Tennessee!
The photo of this roasted pork sandwich doesn’t do justice to what I actually ate, which was really two meals disguised as one. Slow roasted pork, Worcestershire mayo, and arugula all on a nice light airy bun! It went down nicely with a chase of Old Fashioned .
The Nashville Strip on Broadway
(Honky Tonk Highway)
When you get to be my age, it’s all about the day drinking! We wasted no time making our rounds at various bars and music stages drinking reasonably priced drinks and listening to awesome country music. Most of these bands are unknowns trying to make their mark on the country music scene.
Legends Corner is a classic Nashville honky tonk bar with live stage music going day and night. Legends also played host in 2010 to American Idol auditions.
Tootsies Orchid Lounge
Tootsies Orchid Lounge has 3 floors with music stages on all 3 levels. It’s another bar with round the clock music, beer flowing, and 2-step stomping going on!
Skull's Rainbow Room on Printers Alley, Nashville
Skull’s had amazing food and wonderful service. This carnivore delight was heaven! From the pork chops, lamb lollypops, to a big ass prime rib…there was not much vegetation on this landscape!
Skull’s opened in 1948 and is Nashville’s only downtown jazz lounge. Their music, food, and craft cocktails makes them one of the best restaurants in downtown.
Red Phone Booth Speakeasy Cigar Lounge & Bar
If you know…you know! If you don’t, you will walk passed it without ever knowing what’s beyond the phone booth.
Red Booth is a chain speakeasy throughout the U.S. It’s a very simple concept. If you are a member, then you know how to get in using the phone booth. But, if you are a millennial, you might not know how to use the rotary phone or even recognize that it’s a phone.
Once you are in, you are seated for a nice drinking and smoking experience. Of course, you don’t have to smoke to enjoy your time. You can second hand smoke for free!
Breakfast at Loveless Cafe, Nashville
I had the southern fried chicken and grits with a Moonshine Bloody Mary! I can’t even begin to tell you how amazingly good the southern fried chicken and grits tasted to me. Genuine southern fried chicken and grits!
And then there were those dang southern house made biscuits!! I could have eaten the biscuits all day long as its own meal. In fact, I couldn’t stop eating them. I felt like I was Joey Chestnut at a Nathan’s hot dog eating contest!
If you visit Nashville, Loveless Cafe is a must do on your agenda!
Jim 'N Nick's Community Bar-B-Q
Murfreesboro, TN
If you are going to travel through the south you have to find a place to eat BBQ. In the town of Murfreesboro we had some good BBQ at Jim ‘N Nick’s. It’s a chain restaurant in the south. It was everything and more that I expected from a BBQ restaurant.
Jack Daniel's Distillery
Even if your not a connoisseur of whiskey, the tour is a great way to learn about the art of making whiskey, the town of Lynchburg, and its people. Although, I don’t drink much Jack Daniels anymore, it was a fun learning tour for me.
Carmen's Taqueria
Murfreesboro, TN
There is one thing Tennessee needs to work on…Mexican cuisine! The food was okay at best. Not terrible, but I have had better! But, I mention Carmen’s only because they do one thing that is unique to Tennessee that I have not seen anywhere else yet…a country music duet playing country music in a Mexican restaurant! I was impressed.
Civil War Haunts
I conducted a paranormal investigation, along with Victoria, who is the owner of the 20-acre property in Tennessee we investigated. Large parts of Tennessee were the battle grounds for some of the bloodiest and devastating battles of the civil war. Just a few miles from Victoria’s home was The Battle of Liberty Gap, June 1863. There are remnants from the civil war era left on the property.
The land has layers of paranormal activity. I was able to sense and see the activity occurring. The visions came to me in waves. The first being a young woman dressed in tribal period clothing with both her knees on the ground by the tree.
The second wave of visions were Confederate and Union soldiers walking about aimlessly on the property, as if they were in shock or state of confusion, like they didn’t know they were dead.
The last vision I had was a large cryptid creature (like the shape of a big foot, but not exactly a big foot) standing on the other side of the civil war era stone wall from us. The question is: Am I seeing a cryptid that is dead or am I seeing one that is alive that can somehow cross dimensional lines. It is widely believed (in the cryptid community) that cryptids can move about through dimensional travel (a time traveler for a lack of a better term). So, was my vision of a cryptid from the past, as in deceased, or one that is alive crossing a dimensional field? Either way, it was there showing itself to me.
This all happened to me before I set up any equipment. And we were both drawn to a tree (pictured above) where I saw the young woman and natural pond. When I finally set up the Rem Pod near the tree, it activated!
In the above video was the tree that both Victoria and I were drawn to before we started our investigation. Trees give off a type of energy to me that is similar to a spirit’s energy, but it’s more of a mood type energy. The way I was taught was either the tree was smiling or it was not (thanks Ken R. for the lesson way back when)! That type of mood thing. In this case, the tree’s mood was subdued, lazy like.
I set up a digital recorder while the Rem Pod was running, which is why you hear me asking questions as the camera was rolling. We did not pick up any EVPs during this session. The Rem Pod never reactivated after the initial tone went off.
Victoria’s property is worthy of more investigations, especially during night time hours. More in-depth historical fact finding is needed as well. I will be returning soon.
Until next time on Haunted Foodie Traveler…
Nashville will never be the same. Leave the zombies be 😂😂
Hahaha 😂
I love the food down there, and of course the music.
Sounds as though it was a good trip for you all the way around.
Thanks Dave!