RV parks are kind of lame

Nashville is a big city and there weren't many options for camping close enough to Uber downtown. On Music Valley Drive, you basically have three choices: Nashville KOA, Nashville RV Resort, and Two Rivers Campground. There's also Trinity RV Park in East Nashville, but the reviews online said they have security issues (unregistered guests i.e. homeless wandering through the campground). It was easy not to pick that one. Essentially though, they're all parking lot with hookups. I stayed at Two Rivers Campground. It was pretty OK.

Dives are cooler

I wanted to check out a show at the Grand Ole Opry on Christmas Eve and then live music down on Broadway for Christmas, so for the first couple nights I checked out breweries and restaurants in East Nashville. That's apparently where the locals tend to go because downtown is too busy. I found a burger joint called Dino's. They're known for serving up their burgers and fries in a cool retro 70s basement diner atmosphere. It was featured on Bourdain's TV Show Parts Unknown, so I knew it'd be worth a visit. They have Dolly Parton memorabilia throughout.

After Dino's, I walked down the block to Smoker's Abbey and had a cigar and a beer, then stopped in at the Red Door Saloon East for one more before getting a ride home.

The following night, I checked out Music City Bar & Grill where a country band was playing. I got a sandwich, had some beer and enjoyed the show. That's when the temperature dropped - it went from 45 degrees to 22 in an hour, started snowing, and the temperature continued to drop as the wind picked up. It got down to -1 by morning.

I came down with a cold on Christmas eve, and I ended up staying in the camper playing video games and drinking tea until Tuesday when I finally started feeling human again. I wasn't able to make it out to a show at the opry or downtown, so I decided to stay an extra couple nights to let the snow melt and at least check out what I came here for.

On a Tuesday night, the streets and bars were packed. Live bands in every bar, and lots of partying all around. I walked in and out of about six different bars looking for either a good band or a good scene, most were just a drunken shit show. I got into Robert's and stayed there for a few hours, they actually had good bluegrass country music and I was alright to hang out for a while. They served up the finest cans of PBR and Busch Light and had some "good" specials on the menu.

Room for seconds

There's definitely more to see in Nashville, but after staying in the cold weather, with a cold, and not getting out as much as I'd like in the time I had, I was itching to leave. For the night I was downtown, I think I get it what it's about. Next time I'll be looking for more hole in the wall dives off the beaten path for a better experience.