A Very Nashville 4th of July

I finally got to spend the 4th in Nashville this summer for the first time and it was everything I expected it to be- full of music, energy, fireworks, and lots and lots of sweat! As soon as I saw Lady Antebellum was headlining the evening, I knew I would be staying downtown for the night.  The only thing better than a Lady A concert is a FREE Lady A concert!

My brother and sister-in-law came down to visit, so it was great to be able to spend the holiday with them. (I guess they didn't get the memo that July/August are the WORST times to visit Tennessee).

My friends and I made it to Broadway around 6PM, though the festivities started around noon.  There was live music and a DJ playing all afternoon on 5th avenue and Broadway.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the security they had set up to get into the area.  All the roads around the "event" were blocked off, and you had to go through metal detectors and be wanded (is that a word??) prior to entering Broadway and the surrounding area.

All the honky tonks were jam-packed full of people, natives and tourists alike.  I was already having a good time, but then I found the best taco truck I have found thus far in Nash. I will fully admit when I am being dramatic, but this time I am not.  Seriously, it is two days later and I am still thinking about these Cap N Crunch tilapia tacos from Muay Thai Tacos.

The only artists we were downtown to see perform were Chris Janson and Lady A.  Chris was fun as always- he even played a few cover songs from LOCASH!  Lady A put on an awesome show as well.

But the real show started at 9:30 PM- the largest firework show in the US of A!  If I were to rate it, I would say it was a solid 9/10.  To be front row to the show you have to walk down to Riverfront Park, which is much easier said than done considering that over 250,000 people attended.  However, you can easily see the show if you choose to stay and hangout on Broadway (or anywhere downtown really).  I walked with Sam and Sarah down to the river.  They shot off fireworks for a good half hour, no breaks.  It was like it was a grand finale of fireworks all 30 minutes! The downside was that the river isn't that wide and the crowd was continuously being showered in firework debris.  I couldn't look directly up or it would get into my eyes.  One firework even landed about 20 feet from us and exploded!

When the fireworks were over, we met back up with my friends for some pizza at the Mello Mushroom. Y'all, those slices were the size of my face and were just what we needed.  I was shocked to see how empty all of the bars got once the fireworks were over.  I was sure there would be way more people staying out, but I guess people had to go back to work on Thursday (what's that like??).  The people we did meet out were all from outside of Tennessee and just visiting on vacation.

I definitely had a blast at my first Nashville 4th of July and I definitely plan on returning to the celebration next year!!