WordCamp US – In Nashville!
In less than one week, WordPress enthusiasts from all over the globe will converge on Nashville, TN for WordCamp US – the annual pilgrimage to celebrate, learn about, and meet others interested in WordPress.
Nashville’s been my home for over 10 years now, and has a very strong WordPress community here. I’ve been very privileged to work for an organization that celebrates WordPress’ role on the web – Vanderbilt has over 2,600 WordPress sites and that number is ever expanding!
But this isn’t about WordPress. This is about Nashville, and the things you absolutely have to do when you get here, if you’re coming in.
Food
- Hot chicken absolutely has to be first on the list. Go to Hatti B’s or Prince’s. I prefer Hatti B’s myself, but if you want to avoid the 30minute + lines, there’s a new location on 8th street that may prove closer.
- The Pancake Pantry is great, but if you can get further out of the city go to Loveless Cafe – it’s west of town on Highway 100. Take enough people, and you can get the all-you-can-eat breakfast and just shovel in as much food as you can handle. The biscuits are top. notch.
- Cracker Barrel has a new concept called Holler and Dash that has phenomenal biscuits, too. Worth a look because it’s just so unique. Also down on 8th street. I’m not joking when I call it “hipster cracker barrel”.
- Otaku Ramen is down in the Gulch area – just a stones throw from downtown. Fantastic food, and just down the street from the Yazoo Brewery – which, by the way, has the best local beer in town.
Stuff to Do
- We have a life-size replica of the parthenon in Centennial Park. Go see it – it’s free, and it’s pretty cool to look at. It was featured in the Percy Jackson – Lightning Thief movie.
- The Opryland Hotel is lit up for the holidays. It’s gorgeous. A bit outside the city, but it’s adjacent to the Opry Mills Mall which has a LOT of shopping opportunities.
- Nearby is ICE! – 2 million pounds of ice carved into sculptures and 4 two-story ice slides. Super cool – pun completely intended.
- Downtown is pretty fun to just wander around. There’s a ton of restaurants, honky-tonks, live music, and people to watch.
- The Nashville Predators play two games during the weekend of WordCamp – one against the Hurricanes on Thursday and another against the Ducks on Saturday. ESPN voted Nashville’s fans as the #1 fans IN ALL OF SPORTSDOM. You should check out a game to see why – Bridgestone Arena is across the street from the conference venue!
- Vanderbilt is a working Arboretum, and is an open campus to walk around. Come explore the campus and see all the beautiful trees and buildings!
- If you like country music – or even if you’re just curious about it – the Johnny Cash museum and the Country Music Hall of Fame are in a good spot downtown to walk to – nearby to the convention center.
This is just a small, small list of my favorite things to do in Nashville. And we haven’t even touched on Franklin (south of town – if you’re a Civil War buff, there’s a LOT of history here, and it’s the number 1 town square in the country). If you’re coming in, leave a message below and let’s connect.
Welcome to our beautiful city. It’s definitely quirky and unique, but we hope you’ll find it as much a home as I do!