Nashville, Tennessee
By Andrew Collins

The most progressive city in the so-called Bible Belt, Nashville has developed into one of the South's gay-friendliest destinations over the past decade. The country music industry, with which the city is famously identified, does have a fairly conservative reputation, but in fact the city's legendary music business and fast-growing theater and visual-arts scenes have compelled quite a few gays and lesbians to move here. Nashville now buzzes with offbeat retail and entertainment districts, several energetic gay nightspots, and a wealth of attractions related to music and the arts.

Downtown Nashville is set around the courtly Greek Revival-style Capitol, which is perched atop the highest hill in the city. Behind it, the dignified Bicentennial Mall State Park contains elegant fountains and a 200-foot granite map of the state. You can learn a thing or two about the state's history at the nearby Tennessee State Museum. History buffs should also note the Beaux Arts-style Hermitage Hotel, where, in 1920, suffragists from around the country and their opponents encamped while debating the ratification of the 19th Amendment (which granted women the right to vote).

A block over, 5th Avenue was the site throughout the '60s of Civil Rights demonstrations, the success of which inspired similar protests throughout the South. These days, 5th Avenue has become rather artsy - it's the site of several excellent galleries and the nearby Frist Center for the Visual Arts, which occupies a handsomely restored, art deco post office building and hosts world-class art exhibitions and traveling shows.

A few blocks east, toward the Cumberland River, you'll come to Nashville's old Market Street, now 2nd Avenue, where a long row of redbrick Victorian warehouses was rescued from neglect in the 1980s and converted into restaurants, music clubs, brew pubs, and specialty shops. First Avenue runs along Riverfront Park, a long brick promenade with views across the river. Here you can tour a reproduction of the settlement's first outpost, Fort Nashborough.

Downtown's most impressive attraction is the Country Music Hall of Fame, a handsome and huge modern structure whose exhibits not only honor dozens of legendary musicians (Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and Dolly Parton among them) but also give an impressive overview of folk, bluegrass, rockabilly, and many other genres with close ties to Nashville. The nearby Ryman Auditorium is one of the grand music icons of downtown, often hosting Grand Ole Opry shows. Seating is in old wooden pews, and behind-the-scenes tours are given during the day.

It's a short drive from downtown to reach the hub of the city's recording industry, Music Row. You can tour Studio B, where everyone from Elvis to Dolly Parton has recorded, as well as a few other music-related museums. Follow Broadway beyond Music Row to reach Midtown and its main drag, West End Avenue - you'll pass several of the city's schools and medical facilities, including Vanderbilt University, as well as an art-filled, full-scale replica of the Parthenon.
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