Girls Just Want to Have Fun

And now, I want to tell you about Abby.

We meet her by chance as we set out on the lengthy walk back to the hotel in the heat. She is dropping off a passenger and we are at the right place at the right time. I am a little reluctant at first because I would hate to be carting me off on the back of a bike, but she assures me that she has a secret weapon that will kick in if it is needed, and so, I climb into the back of Abby’s pedicab and have the best ever ride back to the hotel. With music blaring in the open vehicle and a dynamic and energetic (and extremely fit) rider/driver, pedestrians and motorists stare at us before laughing or, even better, joining in, as we sing along with Abby’s boom box. Abby reassures me that she has a small motor that kicks in, but that motor is silent, and it looks as though Abby is doing all the work without even raising a sweat. The fifteen-minute ride back to the hotel along Broadway, Third Avenue, Demonbreun Street, over the freeway, and to our lobby door is Nashville loud, Nashville fun, and just pure Nashville!

But that’s not the end of the story. We had intended buying tickets for the Hop-on-Hop-off bus for our last day in Nashville but decide to take a private pedicab tour with Abby, and the hour plus tour we take is sublime.

You see, pedicabs can go places large buses or even small cars cannot go. And within a few minutes, between loud music with pedestrian participation, we find out that Abby is an excellent tour guide who has carefully plotted our bespoke tour to include sites we probably would never have otherwise seen, along with an overview of Nashville’s political and civil war/civil rights history. Abby loves her city, and what she shows us is better than the best of what Nashville can offer the tourist. We are collected from our hotel lobby on the dot of 11am and Abby beefs up the boom box as we glide across the bridge on Demonbreun Street to the Country Music Association Hall of Fame. But we don’t stop there.

Our first stop is the magnificent Schermerhorn Symphony Center and home to the Nashville Symphony Orchestra since 2006. It is located directly opposite the CMA Hall of Fame. Here, I now understand why Nashville is the mecca for all things musical as it holds all genres of music in high esteem. It’s beautiful and it’s all related. As we face the front of the building, Abby points out features of the Greek Revival architecture that pay homage to the history, culture, and people of Middle-Tennessee through its motifs and design elements. Abby rides us through the courtyard to Third Avenue and the beginning of the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, which joins the suburbs of East Nashville to Downtown. The forty-eight span bridge had been open to cars until 1998 when it was restored for pedestrian-only use. Abby urges us to visit the bridge at night when it is covered in lights and the views of the skyline are spectacular.

From there, we glide up Third Avenue, past the Johnny Cash Museum, music blaring and Abby singing, turn into Broadway, then turn this way and that, through a carpark and stop in a laneway, not unlike ones we are familiar with in Melbourne. This one is Printers Alley, which was once the centre of Nashville’s nightlife. At the turn of the 20th century, in this tiny area, were thirteen publishers and ten printers. It had also been filled with hotels, restaurants, and saloons; the drinking houses became Speakeasies during Prohibition. When nightclubs opened in the 1940s, it became the notorious centre of illegal activities and corruption. Today, there is little traffic, and it is hard to believe that this had once been the hub of Nashville’s entertainment industry.

I have been on pedicabs before. Tom and I have ridden on the streets of Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City, and Delhi, and to be honest, each time I have questioned our sanity as we wove through traffic of dizzying proportions and sat beside huge tyres of buses and trucks, all belching black emissions that are presumably filled with deadly toxins, and had wondered whether we could survive without being killed in such a flimsy contraption. My initial trepidation in taking this tour of Nashville, apart from questioning Abby about her ability to haul a dead weight around town, is in regard to the traffic. But I should not have worried because in Nashville, motorists are generally very courteous and there is not a huge amount of traffic, and the air is so much cleaner here. Oh, and I did not hear one word of abuse thrown at us like we would at home. I think I can relax.

Standing outside the Woolworth building, now a registered historic place and restaurant. It had played an important role in the civil rights movement when, on 13 February 1960, students had challenged the segregation laws and refused to move from the lunch counter to make way for white diners. The following sit-in at the Woolworths lunch counter along with many others throughout Nashville, a bomb attack, and a silent protest eventually led to desegregation. The 1960s style lunch counter display in the front window of the old Woolworths store located at 223 Rep. John Lewis Way North, is a constant reminder of the actions of the students, which paved the way for change in Nashville and beyond.

On the way to the Capitol building, we stop at the historic Beaux Arts style Hermitage Hotel, named after President Andrew Jackson’s home. Completed in 1910, it was used a decade later as the headquarters for both the suffragette and anti-suffragette groups. Andrew Jackson’s approval allowed women to move towards getting the vote. Apparently, this hotel now serves an excellent high tea. Without time to partake during this trip, it is on the top of my bucket list for next time.

Abby stops the pedicab at the best vantage point to view the Capitol. It is only one of a few Capitol buildings in the United States that does not feature a large dome. Designed by renowned Philadelphia architect, William Strickland, it is modelled on a Greek ionic temple. We continue to the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, an urban linear park that highlights the state’s history, geography, culture, and musical heritage, and incorporates classical Greek, Baroque, and Beaux Arts influences. There is so much here that it would be impossible to describe it adequately, but in my opinion, the best view is that of the Capitol building from the end of the park.

With all the history and geography of Nashville out of the way, Abby wants to lighten the mood to show us some of Nashville’s street art. I think it is important to say that Nashville is a very clean city and the Nashvillians (yes, that is a word) are extremely proud of their home place. Without a word of a lie, I have not seen one public place or building vandalised by unsightly graffiti tags. Whilst I am sure that they do exist somewhere, they are not in the tourist zones, and I must admit that the lack of dirty-looking tags helps provide Nashville with a bright, clean, and safe atmosphere. I only wish our leaders in Melbourne could rid our city of the scourge of graffiti.

Leaving the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, we pass panels of street art completed by different artists. I’m thrilled to see some Australian influence here, with the inclusion of our very special icon, Bluey. We pass beneath the Musicians Tunnel, an entire arch painted in 2023, which features the best and most recognisable music stars. Our last stop on our tour is at the Kelsey Montague ‘What Lifts You’ mural; angel wings with a space for people to stand for photos.

The pedicab tour of Nashville with Abby is an unforgettable experience. Meant to be one hour, but lasting for more than 90 minutes, Abby has brought Nashville to life through loud music, eye contact with strangers, and an array of extra-special sights that we could not have seen on a bus or if we were walking, and we got all of this for about the same price as a Hop-on-Hop-off bus ticket.