Nashville is a sprawling city renowned the world over for its music history and culture. America’s home of country and bluegrass music also has a lot to offer when it comes to authentic Southern dining, spicy chicken, and street art. This vibrant metropolis owes its contemporary appeals to its slew of enticing neighborhoods. Hidden among its streets are memorable experiences, like Nashville’s oldest winery situated on a historic site and the Dolly Parton bar that’s a picture-perfect pink paradise.
Another neighborhood that’s earned its place among Nashville’s best is Madison. This buzzing area, which is about 9 miles northeast of downtown, offers old-school Nashville living at its finest. It’s home to a beloved local institution called Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, situated along East Palestine Avenue. Part live music venue, part country saloon, and part trailer-park living room, it has a distinctly laid-back vibe that makes it one of the city’s best dive bars. It’s a self-proclaimed “incubator of live music,” which can’t be denied when you check out its line-up of local acts, from beer-toting banjo players to Western swing nights and dulcet country singer-songwriters.
But that’s not all the Madison neighborhood of Nashville has to offer. Located over by Cumberland River, O’ Rendezvous Bar & Grill is a proper dive bar where the beer is cold, the hamburgers are juicy, and the pool tables only cost $0.50. This is not gourmet eating and the place only serves bottles and cans of beer, but it’s cheap and full of friendly locals. You might even luck out and visit during one of their karaoke nights.
Must-do entertainment and shopping in Madison
Located near the center of Madison, the Nashville Nightmare Haunted House is one of the city’s more intense experiences, to say the least. You can choose from multiple themed haunted houses, which all have a unique horror story to immerse yourself in, such as aliens, the underworld, or a high school for ghouls. There are also mini escape games, secret bars, and haunted mazes to check out. Unfortunately, Nashville Nightmare is only open during the haunting season, usually between September and November…