Three Hours in Nashville?

: The walls at Hatch Show Print are covered with history and art

I had three hours in Nashville all to myself recently and tried to make the most of it. If you are short on time, but want to see more than the honky tonk bars or stars’ homes, here’s what I did. Noon: the taxi drops me off in front of Hatch Show Print, which is best known for its iconic block print lettering that was used on posters advertising all the concerts and appearances of Nashville’s greatest stars. Part of the Country Music Hall of Fame, it is still a working printing business. If you are lucky, someone will be using one of the presses and give you a little talk about what they are doing. The walls are filled with fabulous artwork and they continue to make lots of great posters for sale. Best buy? $1 postcards cut from test posters. They reuse the test posters a number of times, so the resulting found art is quirky and beautiful. Right next door was a great candy and ice cream soda fountain that sells the popular Tennessee chocolates Olive and Sinclair. I picked up some smoked cocoa nib bark for my husband and a chocolate shake to fortify me. 12:45–a bit of walking and poking around on Broadway, enjoying the flashing neon, the sound of country music blaring from busy bars and the sudden hush as you turn the corner and see the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, which looks more like a church than a performance hall. See the funky windows? 1:15 Caught a cab to an up and coming neighborhood–12th Avenue South. Lots of funky shops in bungalows converted to stores and a super place for lunch Burger Up, with locally sourced meat and produce and astonishing sweet potato fries. Right next door, Las Paletas, a tiny shop that sells beautiful Mexican popsicles. Chili and cucumber, strawberry and blueberry, pineapple and more. And you can even have your treat dipped in Olive and Sinclair chocolate. Alas, I didn’t get to explore the vintage stores and other fun places because the hotel shuttle was coming down the street. And the driver, a former tour guide, told me where the stars homes were, to boot!