Nashville for Free

2-4-1 Tuesdays is a weekly feature on Nashville for Free highlighting local happy hours and other drink specials, delivered every Tuesday afternoon. If you hear of any great deals or would like to see your favorite bar covered, let us know in the comments. Drink responsibly!

With the one-two punch of pizza and alcohol, Mafioza’s is definitely one of the most popular spots in Nashville on Tuesday nights. And how can you resist? Located in the heart of 12 South, Mafioza’s has tons of outdoor seating, two bars, delicious pizza and a terribly friendly staff. It’s so popular on Tuesdays, in fact, that I would only recommend showing up before 6pm or after 8pm, unless you feel like waiting for half an hour. But even then, grabbing a couple beers from the bar and hanging out isn’t that bad.

Always open late (3pm), Mafioza’s is a good spot any night of the week, but drop by on Sunday and get 2-4-1 beers without the crowd. Regardless, I’m there just about every week on Tuesday night, and despite my experiments at other two-fers, I’m always drawn back to that Italian powerhouse. If you see me, make sure to say “hello”!

HERE’S THE DEALS:

TUES: 2-4-1 pizza slices, well drinks and wine until 9pm, 2-4-1 beer all night

SUN: 2-4-1 beer all night

And make sure you check out our photographer’s Mafioza’s pics from a couple months back!

- Matt

Walt Whitman is largely hailed as one of America’s greatest poets of all time, largely because, let’s face is, he is. He wasn’t always appreciated in his own time – his critics thought him to be crude and unpolished – but he still managed to influence generations upon generations of poets. Whitman was a humanist and sought to write for the common man, something that was largely unheard of in his time. He even got in a bit of trouble for overtly sexual themes in his writing, especially in Leaves of Grass, one of his collections of poetry.

Tonight would be Whitman’s 192nd birthday and to celebrate it the Scarritt-Bennett Center is hosting an open-mic Whitman poetry reading. The event starts at 6:45, so bring a copy of your favorite Whitman poem simply show up and enjoy some poetry being read out-loud, the way it’s meant to be heard. You are also invited to share your feelings about Walt’s poetry, so please don’t hold back. It’s sure to be a great, friendly night and who knows, there might even be some light refreshments.

Happy birthday, Walt!

-Emily

Cheekwood has a special place in my heart. I moved to Nashville almost four years ago and one of the first places I visited was Cheekwood. It was hotter outside than I was used to, but Cheekwood’s grounds were shady and too beautiful for me to care. I met some great people there, and even today when I think about the move to Nashville I think about the afternoon I spent at Cheekwood.

Today Cheekwood is celebrating Memorial Day by hosting a free day thanks to HCA/Tristar! It’ll be a scorcher today, but it’s certainly beautiful outside. It’ll be a great opportunity to see not only Cheekwood’s famous gardens, but some of it’s temporary art exhibits as well, including William Edmondson: The Hand and the Spirit, The Matilda Gray Collection of Fabergé, Mondern Masters from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Trains! Tennessee in G and more.

Cheekwood will be open until 4pm today.

-Emily

Monday

Free Day at Cheekwood – all day
Cheekwood’s Memorial Day gift to you is a free day at their wonderful establishment. Great for a family outing.

8 off 8th at the Mercy Lounge – 9pm, 21+
This week’s 8 off 8th will feature performances by Shotgun Lovers, Modoc, Korean is Asian,Harrison Hudson,Cassino,The Gills, Michael Drury Peek, and Fires.

Hike Savage Day Loop at South Cumberland State Park – 8:30am
Meet Seasonal Ranger Aaron at Savage Gulf Ranger Station for a moderate 5-mile hike on the Savage Day Loop. Along the way you’ll see Savage Falls and the beautiful Rattlesnake Point overlook. Bring water/snack, and wear sturdy shoes. Don’t forget your camera! Yeah, it’s far away, but you have the day off!

(more…)

I don’t know what I didn’t write about this event sooner. I see the sign for it almost every day and yet I still haven’t gotten out a blog post about it. In my defense, I haven’t had internet for a few days…

But I digress. I don’t know much about Dragon Music Sundays as they have virtually no web presence other than a terribly bare Facebook page, but then again, I guess the poster gives you all the information you need.

Two Dragon Park Sundays have already, well, occurred, but there are four left, including this Sunday, which will feature Elle Macho (Butterfly Boucher and David Mead’s band). They will undoubtedly rock your ever-loving soul, so don’t miss them. Things get started at about 4pm. As for whether or not there will be other things will be there I do not know. Like I said, not a lot of info on the Facebook page, but it’s near Hillsboro Village, and there’s always some great stuff down there.

In case the poster picture is too small for you here’s the schedule for the rest of the year:

• 5/29 – Elle Macho
• 6/5 – Sweetwater Rose
• 6/12 – Justin Kalk Orchestra
• 6/19 – Jimmy Church Band

Happy Sundays

-Emily

In case you haven’t heard, Jimmy Buffett is playing the Bridgestone on Saturday night. I don’t know about Nashville, but I know that in Cincinnati is is nearly impossible to get tickets to one of his shows. Needless to say, Parrotheads will likely be swimming and pre-gaming on lower Broadway.

It makes sense then that one of the newest bar/restaurants in Nashville, Margaritaville, obviously named after the Jimmy Buffett song, would party it up before the show, but I never figured they’d close down part of Broadway. Turns out, that’s exactly what they’re doing. All freaking day.

From 11am-8pm Broadway from 3rd ave to 4th ave will be run by the Parrotheads. There will be Jimmy Buffett ticket giveaways, food, margaritas and cold beer, and live music. I would imagine that this is the sort of thing Jimmy Buffett fans dream about, so even if you don’t have tickets to the show you should come on down! Hey, you might even get lucky and win tickets.

For some inspiration and to feed your hunger I’d like to share this gem of a video:

-Emily

I’ll admit that I don’t know a lot about Granville, TN. I know that it’s a small town on the Cumberland River. I also know that it’s about 1.5 hours away, this Saturday they’re having a festival that’s totally worth mentioning.

Heritage Day is a big festival for Granville (it’s the only one I hear about all year). It’s on the scenic banks of the river and will feature an antique car show, an anqitue tractor and engine show, food court, children’ rides, a petting zoo, and a Confederate Civil War living history memorial service. I’m not 100% sure what that last one means, but it looks to be a great family-friendly event. It runs from 10am-4pm.

Heritage Day is also partnered with the Uncle Jimmy Thompson Bluegrass Festival, which attracted 8,000 people last year. 650-WSM host Eddie Stubbs will be there as your guide through the competition ($3 to register) that starts at 11am through the live music of One Way Out and Stoney Lonesome starting at 6pm. Any event that can get 8,000 people to attend is worth checking out. The Bluegrass Festival will be held at Sutton General Store.

Happy pickin’!

-Emily

If we seem a little bike happy as of late it’s because it’s pretty much summer, and what says summer like bikes and ice cream trucks? Well, apparently it says cicadas this year, but forget about that for a blissful moment. Summer, in my humble opinion, is about biking.

This Saturday Smoopy’s Vintage Bicycles in Murfreesboro is hosting a bike swap! Buy, sell, trade, it’s like a less scary flea market for bikes. It’s free to set up, it’s free to attend, and there will even be free hot dogs being grilled by the folks at Smoopy’s.

Smoopy’s is located at 2602 E. Main St. in Mufreesboro. If you want to set up shop there instead of just browsing you should call them at 615-410-3928 because space is limited. The event will run from 10am-4pm and folks of all levels of bicycle enthusiasm are allowed.

Ride safely, my friends.

-Emily

2-4-1 Tuesdays is a weekly feature on Nashville for Free highlighting local happy hours and other drink specials, delivered every Tuesday afternoon. If you hear of any great deals or would like to see your favorite bar covered, let us know in the comments. Drink responsibly!

Red Rooster has cleverly marked itself on Demonbreun with two extra large rooster statues (aren’t they green now?). They’re almost as hard to miss as the naked people statue, and the combo really nails the personality from that strip of Nashville. And, I always use those roosters to direct people to Otter’s Chicken Tenders, but don’t tell Red Rooster I said that.

Red Rooster is a pretty hopping bar/dance hall, and like most places, is always packed on Friday and Saturday nights (so much so, dudes get charged a cover). It’s a very spacious place, with a decent-sized dance floor and a stage for bands, DJs or just elevated dancing. They feature some kind of live music just about every night, as has come to be expected in Nashville, but there’s plenty of room to escape the noise and actually have a conversation, if that’s your kind of thing.

And, of course, they bring out the drink specials!

HERE’S THE DEALS:

MON: 4pm – 8pm, happy hour! 2-4-1 well drinks, wine and drafts, $2 off appetizers

TUES: 7pm – close,  2-4-1 well drinks, wine and drafts

WED: 7pm – 11pm, $2 domestics, $3 well drinks, 1/2-priced pizza

THUR: 7pm – close, $12 64oz rooster bowls, $10 refills

FRI: 4pm – 8pm, happy hour! 2-4-1 well drinks, wine and drafts, $2 off appetizers

Oh, and try to resist jumping on top of the roosters out front. They frown upon it…

- Matt

Happy 70th birthday to Mr. Bob Dylan. That’s right, the folk/rock/gospel troubadour is entering a new decade of his life and wouldn’t you know it, Grimey’s wants to have a party for him!

Obviously, Dylan won’t be there, but the Record Wranglers will! They’ll be spinning some “rare and interesting” Dylan tracks, including some sweet covers. 11 in total, I think, but who knows, there might be more.

But wait, there’s more! One lucky attendee will walk away with a Dylan prize pack at the end of the night. Lots and lots of Dylan vinyl for free, and it might be yours, all you have to do is show up. Another thing you’ll get for just showing up? Free beer, but only if you’re 21+, of course.

Everything gets started at Grimey’s at 6pm tonight.

-Emily