If you’ve been thinking about taking the kids on a trip to Nashville – take the trip. I was hesitant at first because I thought we needed something “quasi-educational” and by that I mean something involving geology and wonder. (It’s hard to top our trip to the Grand Canyon). I’ll admit, I even asked Chat GPT to give me an educational reason to visit Nashville and even Chat GPT was caught off-guard by my request and threw out the usual suggestions of the city zoo and the science center.
Now, don’t get me wrong, when the kids were little, we LOVE zoos and science centers – but this year I was looking for something more and different. Maybe it’s because the kids are getting older now (16, 12, and 10) and college tours are not too far into our distant future. Now we are thinking of their future careers! 🤯
So, what surprised me the most was son’s excitement about flying on a 737 airplane. As luck would have it, he’s friends with a United Pilot at church, so he got to sit in the pilot seat before taking off on our trip. We may have a future pilot on our hands!
Now, I like to think that science is just one jumping-off-point for our future trips and we decided to take the kids to Music City to explore the science of sound!
Once we arrived and got settled, we stopped by this Legends Mural located in downtown on Broadway to educate the kids on country music of today and yesteryear. Matt and I both love country but I don’t listen to a ton of it with kids riding around in the car. So this mural was a good overview (even though the artist recently replaced Taylor Swift with Brad Paisley – boo!)
As we walked on Broadway, I was pleasantly surprised that we heard live cover band music around every corner inside the honky-tonks. At one point Allie said, “There is no silence in Nashville.” which I wholeheartedly agree. I guess that’s the reason it’s called Music City!
As we walked on, Allie spotted the Goo Goo Shop so we decided to head inside and make our own goo goo cluster. Did you know that the goo goo cluster was invented in 1912?
We watched an assembly line make a GIANT custom Goo Goo cluster for you after selecting from an assortment of marshmallow, milk chocolate, and raspberry filling – delicious!
Across the street from Goo Goo Shop was the Johnny Cash Museum which was lovely and nostalgic and beautifully sad all at the same time. Here was a bit of science information for the kids! Johnny Cash is one of the few artist whose music is on all formats – shellac records, vinyl records, 12-inch records, cassette tapes, 8 tracks, CD, DVD, MP3, and digital audio!
The next morning (right when it opened) we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The first stop – of course – was the Taylor Swift Education Center. What is the science of Taylor Swift, you say? I wish I knew.
But now after visiting Nashville, I’m convinced the science behind Taylor Swift is because she is super smart, super talented, writes incredible songs, and knows how to be successful in business.
We even took a side trip later in the week to The Bluebird Cafe where Taylor Swift was “discovered” but it turns out she and her parents did a lot of planning that went into her discovery. 
Back at the Hall of Fame and back to science – you’ll learn about the inner workings of a guitar.
And be pleasantly surprised how these sound bowls amplify music and exhibit information.
I loved a quote I saw that said, “Some days you write a song and some days the song write you.” I get that.
A few days later, we visited the Ryman Auditorium. We went on a self-guided tour and enjoyed learning that the Ryman was once a church, then auditorium, until it became the first place for the Grand Ol’ Opry. This happened once transmission lines were laid between it and the radio station nearby. I loved how one artist described the wooden ‘pews’ and how the Ryman itself sounded like the inside of a guitar. If we ever return to Nashville – seeing a show here is on the top of our list.
While we walked downtown throughout the week, we went over the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge that is famous for its architectural concrete arched trusses. You can get an amazing view of the Nashville skyline here too.
I couldn’t resist taking the kids to the Tennessee State Museum and although only 1 out of 3 of the kids liked it, be prepared to walk through this one for over 2 hours if you want to see it all. It’s A LOT of history and information. It is also across the street from the Nashville’s Farmer’s Market which is a great place to grab a coffee.
And what is Nashville without the cheesy spring break family pictures in front of murals?
We never made it to the famous angel wings mural – but we did a tour around Vanderbilt and Allie spotted these. which were hilarious. (Which by the way, how are we getting close to having to tour around college campuses for our oldest? Time flies.)
Did you know that there is a replica of the Parthenon in Nashville? Super random but super cool. The inside of the Parthenon was closed to the public, but inside is an art museum that we hear is worth the visit.
I would love to give you all the details of our trip with the places that we visited and the the restaurants we loved like: Martin’s Barbeque Joint, The Hampton Social, The Pancake Pantry. Contact or DM me and I’ll send you all the details.
I hope you decide to head to Nashville with your family where music is everywhere and you too can explore the science of sound (and country music!)🎶
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