Tempered Cafe & Chocolate- Nashville, TN

Our friend who lives in Nashville now insisted that we visit Tempered Café and Chocolate while in town.

Well, we went in, and actually felt a bit out of place.  There was a green light on, and some odd music playing.  There was a very odd vibe going on too.  We would find out that we arrived at the "Green Hour" a later time when Tempered seves absinthe and tries to recreate an earlier time atmosphere, like what you might have experienced in Paris a century ago.  We are not drinkers, but that sounds kinda cool.


Anyway, we were able to score some CRAZY GOOD chocolate truffles, and we devoured them.  They were great, and there were some interesting varieties.  It was later at night, we had had a long day, but I quickly found myself on a sugar high.

Merchant's Restaurant in Nashville, TN

A friend said that Merchant's was a restaurant we had to eat at while in Nashville!

It was a short walk from our hotel, and it is right in the middle of everything on Broadway.

This ended up being a great place for a nice, satisfying lunch, with some healthier options.  AND, though many people come to Nashville to hear music, there are no mediocre cover bands playing loudly during lunch at Merchant's.  You can find them anywhere else though.  The atmosphere here was more relaxing to us.


They bring out a small cup of seasoned popcorn before your meal.  I thought this was odd at first, but it quickly grew on me.

My wife, who eats like a rabbit this days, found some very tasty and satisfying salads available.  Plus, they were able to do some reasonable substitutions for her.

I had what was probably the best French dip sandwiches I have ever had.  Check out the photo.

Whenever we get back to downtown Nashville, we will have to swing by Merchant's again!

Capitol Hotel in Nashville TN

Across the street from the Capitol in Nashville, is the Capitol Hotel.  This hotel occupies some of the same ground where former president James K. Polk used to live.  Polk and his wife were buried here for 2 years, before being reburied at the Capitol.

Oddly, it wasn't the first time Polk's burial site was moved.... and it may not be the last, as there has been talk of moving him to his home in Columbia TN.

Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville

We wanted to add the Tennessee State Capitol to the list of Capitols we have visited, so we stopped by while we were in Nashville.  It was a pleasant walk from our hotel.

There was an event going on on the grounds while we were there, and there were security and others walking around.

This is Tennessee though, and everyone was pleasant and helpful.  I asked a guy in a suite about touring the Capitol.  He very politely pointed to an officer who he said could help me with that.

That officer pointed out an entrance and another officer.  He also advised me to "smack the hat" off of the other officer at the Capitol entrance.  I assured him that I would.  The other officer asked me if the first officer told me to smack his hat off.  I told him that the first officer did suggest that I do that, but I assured the second officer that I would not have dreamed of doing it.  It was great seeing the officers having a good time at their job.

There was a brief security process with a metal detector and all, it took less than a minute.  The officer here was very friendly too.  We actually had a great time talking and joking with the officers and other security at the Capitol.

The Capitol is pretty open and accessible.  There are free self guided tour guide books at a help desk.  It did not seem that a tour would be going out immediately when we arrived, so we did our own tour.  We did piggy back onto a couple of other tours at times to hear a bit more about some of the rooms and history.

I found myself most interested in some busts we saw, all of significant Tennesseans.  BOTH sides of the Civil War were represented here by Naval legend David Farragut and Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. 

The Forrest bust was literally roped off.  I asked a staff person here about this and they told me the rope is for Bedford's own protection; it is there to discourage vandals.

One of the more interesting features of the Capitol, is the fact that James K. Polk, President #11 is buried on the grounds, along with his wife Sarah.

Hatch Show Print, Nashville, TN

Hatch Show Print has moved into the same building as the Country Music Hall of Fame since the last time I was there.

There are still making posters the old way....  and you can watch them as they work!

They sell lots of cool posters and branded items...  they even have a cool $5 poster section!

Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville TN

Here are a few photos I took while we toured the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville!

This was my first time actually taking the tour.  I have walked by here before, and even stopped by the gift shop, but this was my first time ever going through.

I was personally most impressed with a small display on John Prine, and I enjoyed seeing one of Gram Parson's stage outfits.

We did spend a lot of time here, as there is a lot to see, and the place is big.


A couple of very sweet young girls at the help desk took some time drawing us a map and explaining how to get to Third Man Records which was very helpful and appreciated!

Frothy Monkey Nashville TN

We were hoping to stop by the Frothy Monkey in Franklin when we were there a couple years ago, but time got away from us.  We were super excited to see one was within walking distance of our hotel while we were in Nashville!

AND, this place ended up being great and convenient for us, we went for lunch one day, and we went for dinner the next.

It was very busy on the first day we went but they seemed to handle it all well.  We ordered drinks and sandwiches at the counter, then we found a nice table in their upstairs area.  We sat at a table next to a window.  It ended up raining heavily while we were there, and watching the rain as we enjoyed our sandwiches was very pleasant.

We brought books with us too, and we ended up reading after our meal, and just enjoying the calm vibe.

Our sandwiches came with chips and salsa.  My wife is big on bread, and she really liked the bread they used.  We both loved our sandwiches, and we also got a cookie for dessert after we finished our meal.  They were huge.

We really enjoyed our lunch here, so we made a point to come back the next day.

After five, they do a table service type of thing, and they have some different menu options.  I had a really tasty burger this evening.  We also had some great desserts.

We had a super friendly young waitress who was on the ball and took care of us.

Antique Archaeology in Nashville TN

I have to admit that "American Pickers" is one of the few reality shows that I watch.  its a fun show, and the cast seems like a likable crew.

I have read some rumors that the show might not be totally "real" and there might be some staging but who cares.  I could probably watch unedited videos of people going through old garages and attics all day.  As someone who has dabbled in buying and selling collectibles, I love watching Mike and Frank search and haggle.

Oh, and I read an article not long ago about their visit to the old Marx Museum in West Virginia.  I read that fans hung out outside of the museum to meet them, and that they stuck around and signed autographs and took photos for a couple of hours.  That's very cool!

So, stopping by to see their shop in Nashville was mandatory for us on this trip.

There literally was a line to get in when we were there (it moved fast though, we waited maybe 10 minutes to get in, if that).

The shop is not huge, but it is cool.  In some ways, it had a bit of a museum feel to it, as there were some large sized (and large priced) items that were simply very cool.  They were selling a LOT of branded merch, including t-shirts, stickers, patches, etc.

I personally picked up my usual items (patch, pin, sticker, postcard).  I wanted to get something actually old here....  So I found a really nice old b&w family photo for a reasonable $8.

I mentioned to a person working there that I grew up near Windy Hollow, the subject of one of the Picker's episodes.  The friendly sales person talked with me for some time about that particle show, and the items picked there.

There are some other shops in the same building and they were all worth a look.