Carolinas, Georgia & South Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Alex Leviton [145]
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“We love watching the Doyle and Debbie Show, Tuesday night at the Station Inn. It’s kinda like hee-haw meets This is Spinal Tap. Also, having a big ol’ Southern country breakfast on Saturday, and Monell’s in Germantown, and getting ice cream at the Pied Piper in East Nashville. There’s Banana Fanna Fo Fudding, Minty Python and its top-seller, Trailer Trash.”
Sheri Lynn & Brenda Kay (the “Jugg Sisters”), NashTrash (www.nashtrash.com) tour guides, Nashville
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Drive the hickory shaded Parkway for 15 miles or so before swinging northeast through the rural community of Leiper’s Fork, where you can see live bluegrass on Friday night at Puckett’s Grocery. This restaurant and venue is no rural country store; hip types from Nashville and beyond come down to munch sweet-potato fries and watch frequently sold-out shows. Head on into the town of Franklin, which cultivates its lost-in-time vibe with restored plantation homes and antebellum B&Bs.
From there, it’s about an hour to Shelbyville, home of the handsome, high-stepping Tennessee Walking Horse. A festival in honor of the breed has been held here every September since 1939. Clearview Horse Farm offers trail rides through the patchwork pastureland and oak forests of Middle Tennessee.
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Betamax cassettes, vintage crystal ashtrays, stuffed armadillos. One man’s trash is another’s treasure at the annual World’s Longest Yard Sale (www.127sale.com), stretching 630 miles and five states, from Gadsden, Alabama to Defiance, Ohio. The four-day sale spans the 127 Corridor, with vendors hawking their wares from blankets and picnic tables for a slow-moving herd of festive-spirited buyers. Headquarters is in Jamestown, Tennessee, about two hours east of Nashville.
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Then on to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in tiny Lynchburg. Here, an hour-long tour shows you how the iconic whiskey, made from local cave water, is filtered through layers of charcoal and aged in oak barrels, the same way it’s been done since 1866. Tour guides - one of the favorites goes by the name of “Goose” - are slow-drawling Southerners with arsenals of country-fried anecdotes. Local laws ban liquor sales in the county, so no free samples of Old No 7. Is that not the very definition of irony?
Emily Matchar
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TRIP INFORMATION
GETTING THERE
From Memphis, take I-40 East for about 200 miles, exiting at 86b onto I-24 E towards Chattanooga. Take exit 48 towards State Capital and merge onto Interstate Dr.
DO
Basement, The
Check out local indie shows in a subterranean space beneath Grimey’s records. 615-254-8006; www.thebasementnashville.com; 1604 8th Ave S, Nashville; times & prices vary
Clearview Horse Farm
Take a trail ride or a private lesson at this farm in the middle of Tennessee’s horse country. 931-684-8822; www.clearviewhorsefarme.com; 2291 Hwy 231 S, Shelbyville; trail rides from $35
Exit/In
This loveably beat-up venue has been an alternative to downtown’s big-hair country since 1971, with rock, punk, metal and more. 615-321-3340; www.exitin.com; 2208 Elliston Pl, Nashville; tickets $5-15; most shows start 8pm
Grimey’s
Buy the latest Kings of Leon on vinyl at this well-worn independent record shop. 615-254-4801; www.grimeys.com; 1604 8th Ave S, Nashville; 11am-8pm Mon-Sat, 1pm-6pm Sun
Jack Daniel’s Distillery
Tour the bucolic campus of America’s oldest registered distillery. 931-759-6180; www.jackdaniels.com; 182 Lynchburg Hwy, Lynchburg; admission free; 9am-4:30pm
Katy K’s Ranch Dressing
This boutique specializes in vintage glitter with a country accent. 615-297-4242; www.katyk.com; 2407 12th Ave S, Nashville; 11am-6pm Mon-Fri, from noon Sat, 1pm-5pm Sun
Puckett’s Grocery
This old country market and restaurant has live music most Fridays and Saturdays; some shows by reservation only. 615-794-1308; www.puckettsgrocery.com; 4142 Old Hillsboro Rd, Leiper’s Fork; shows