Tag: Nashville

Nearly a century ago, brothers John and Oscar Noel decided to build the tallest building in Nashville on their family’s downtown lot, introducing a 12-story luxury hotel—fittingly dubbed the Noel Hotel—to the rapidly growing area. For more than 40 years it thrived, hosting the likes of Eleanor Roosevelt and Babe Ruth. After being purchased by a bank in 1972, its doors were closed to overnight guests—that is, until 2017, when it reopened with a refreshed name and look. Enter: Noelle.

Brian Griffith grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he says Chinese food in the 1990s meant sweet and sour pork or shrimp fried rice that came in waxy takeout boxes. Now, after years of cooking in cities from Copenhagen to San Francisco, the chef has returned to his home state to open Choy, a chic Chinese-American eatery in Nashville designed to evoke mid-20th century Shanghai.

The first Gibson instruments, mandolins designed as an after-work hobby by company namesake Orville Gibson, date back to 1894. Headquartered in Nashville since 1984, Gibson Guitars, now one of America’s oldest musical instrument manufacturers, has produced an extensive collection of electric and acoustic models.

When I was 19, I spent the summer in Nashville working in a show for Opryland theme park. I grew up in a tiny town called Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, so getting the chance to sing and dance for months with live musicians in front of a lot of people was my heaven.

In Nashville, country music is religion, and while famed concert halls like the Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Ole Opry may draw more disciples than this historic house of worship, the city’s Downtown Presbyterian Church—just a two-minute walk from the Ryman—is an icon in its own right.

Break free of the city’s rowdiest thoroughfare and get to know greater Nashville, in every sense of the word.

Tennessee and North Carolina have always offered fun, drivable getaways for Atlantans. For design enthusiasts, Nashville and High Point now offer new reasons to visit.

Travel is multisensory by definition, and after months at home living in a two-dimensional world of screens, a visit to the Joseph in downtown Nashville is a welcome jolt.

When Atlanta architectural and interior designer Mark Williams headed to see Dolly Parton perform at the Fox Theatre 12 years ago, he had no idea that a chance meeting with Dolly’s creative director, Steve Summers, would change his life.

The historical heft of Thistletop Inn strikes me right at the door. Seemingly every bit of this building has a backstory.