CMA Music Festival in Nashville, TN (2024 edition)

You probably are sick of hearing/reading about Nashville's CMA Festival on this space. I don't blame you; I've written many posts on the event. But ... this year is different. 

Nashville has grown leaps and bounds over the last decade. It recently went upscale, and has gotten rather expensive. Our friend Joyce who is a die-hard country fan gave up going to the Fan Fair/CMA Festival for this and other reasons.

Nashville skyline on a beautiful sunny day

Is your favorite country singer on this mural?

Our day in Nashville started out with a frustrating parking situation. All the parking lots in downtown Nashville have resorted to QR-based parking. We reluctantly scanned in the code and registered, complete with our email address and credit card info. We waited and waited, and waited. After 15 minutes, we left and tried another lot. This time, no problem. We paid $30 for 4 hours; just last year, we paid $25 for the entire day! No sooner than we left the parking lot we got a call from our bank. Did we make a certain transaction? We did not. They suspected fraud, and promptly canceled our card. The scammer got our information and now they tried to use the card. We can't stop progress, but is this new parking system a good thing? While the city and/or company sit back and make the money, we the people have to deal with the inconveniences.

There was no time to dwell on the disappointment. We had free concerts waiting. As we walked towards the main drag, music wafted in the air, and quickly took our anxiety away. 

Only in the South do we see signs like that (click to see the fine print)

CMA Festival attire

This time, we skipped the riverfront stage completely. We ambled up the pedestrian bridge and got a glimpse of the stage from there. The Cumberland River was buzzing with boats and paddlers.

Riverfront stage (left) on the Cumberland River

Honky Tonk on Broadway

Since we discovered Assembly Food Hall (opened in 2021), we haven't been to our old favorite place - The Wildhorse Saloon on 2nd Avenue. Come to find out, it closed in January! No wonder there was no line dancing lessons this year. The food hall features hip restaurants, trendy and traditional eateries, with spaces for live entertainment. With only four hours to kill this particular Saturday, we had no time to line up for a meal, even if it's the ever popular Hattie B's.

famous local fried chicken joint

Saffron beckoned; the samosas (potato curry puffs) were excellent, the rice bowl with lamb and korma curry was ok. The curry was too sweet and creamy for us.

I speak the Hakka dialect, but never heard of Hakka noodles

QR-based parking has been installed in most cities in Florida too, including the beach parking lots. Imagine the elderly trying to navigate the system just to get some sun or exercise on the beach. What were the cities thinking? Are you a fan?

We still love Music City but we're also in no hurry to return - anytime soon.

This post is shared on Random-osity, Skywatch Friday and GMa's Photo.

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