Nashville for Free

I’m sad to say that I didn’t get myself out to do very many of those free events that I had written about. Bad weather and the offer to grill with some good friends kept me from going downtown in the afternoon and evening, but this morning I dragged myself and a few of my roommates down to East Park to eat some of that hot chicken.

My roommates (Dan and Alex) and I got to East Park around 11am when things were starting, and it was already clear that we were NOT going to score any of that free chicken. The line stretched from the entrance to the festival all the way to the park center.

Not happening

After about five minutes in that line we walked into the festival and got into another long line, this one for Prince’s Hot Chicken. While we waited we wandered around and found some free goods, such as fresh watermelon from the farmers market…

Free, fresh, and delicious

(more…)

Tonight I hit up Movies in the Park with a friend of mine. I’d never actually been to one, and it was a lot of fun, though there were lots of noisy pre-teens.

I was really impressed with the number of vendors there. They had Dog of Nashville, Ben & Jerry’s, and Cici’s Pizza, but I had to roll with Mas Tacos, which aren’t exactly cheap, but are totally awesome. It took a couple of minutes to get mine because they had to MAKE the tortillas. It doesn’t get fresher than that.

I found that while the festivities all started at or before 7pm, the actual movie didn’t start until 8. During that hour there were little crafts for kids, food to be eaten, and prizes to be given out. Things you could have won: Harry Potter midnight screening tickets, Frist tickets, the Jonas Brothers 3D DVD, and tickets to the Bluegrass Underground’s 4th of July concert. Alas, I did not win a thing.

My View

All said and done, I had a pretty good time tonight. I was impressed that I could actually see AND hear the movie, and it seems like the people running it have it down to an art form. There’s only one movie left: Mean Girls, which is showing next week. I love that movie, so I might have to go back for more…

So, this is my first blog post for Nashville for Free, even though I’ve been doing newsletters for the facebook group for over a year now. This can’t be any different, right?

We have a pretty big holiday coming up, and I thought I’d do my best to get all of you wonderful people aquainted with some of the cool free things you can do. It’s America’s birthday, and like any birthday party we’re expecting some party favors. Let’s start with a cool event on Friday before we get down to business with the hottest festival in Nashville…

Poolapalooza
Friday nights at Gaylord Opryland Resort have become everyone’s favorite weekly pool party. Each week features a different band, and this week Autovaughn is going to teach us how to rock. The fun is free, and so is the parking (in selected lots). All ages are welcome!

DATE: July 3rd
TIME: Party starts at 6pm, show starts at 7pm
WHERE: Cascades pool at Gaylord Opryland
Poolapalooza Website

2009 Music City Hot Chicken Festival.
I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never gotten around to trying hot chicken, but my best friend did, and I got to hear allll about it. Let’s just say he went to Prince’s and decided to try hot on his first try and leave it at that.

This festival might get me to try hot chicken, though, because it starts at 11am, and the first 5oo (yes, 500) people there get a sampler plate from places like Prince’s, Bolton’s, and the Chicken Shack.  If you’re not one of the first 500 that’s okay, because you can hang out, listen to some live music, and buy some Yazoo beer and hot chicken until 3pm. God bless the USA.

DATE: July 4th
TIME: 11am-3pm
WHERE: East Park (700 Woodland Street)
Music City Hot Chicken Festival Website

(more…)