Nashville Music City is a thriving entertainment mecca with a twist.….laid back neighborhoods, family friendly houses, gardens and the most perfect porches and “porch life” atmosphere !A rented writer’s bungalow in East Nashville (from Air BnB) gave us a chance to see what the Nashville pace is like in the neighborhoods rather than in a hotel downtown. We enjoyed our rocking chairs at night by porch light while our son played guitar for us.

We watched a neighbor paint his garage door. We heard the neighbor across the street talk about “moonshining” while we listened to his wind chimes.

On our morning walks, we were surprised to see so many people enjoying their porches and interacting with each other. Many houses had baby swings, kiddie pools, big veggie gardens and other family friendly items.There were so many diverse styles of architecture….bungalows, Victorian houses, craftsman, southwestern….

colorful exteriors…

fun furniture and pleasant landscaping…

When we wondered why so many people were still at home enjoying their porches in the morning , we asked a barista who confirmed my theory. A big percentage of Nashville residents have art related jobs; musicians, artists, chefs, etc….and they work a lot at night. There were many joggers in the hipster neighborhood where we stayed. Every morning, we saw them in the neighborhood coffee shops. I also observed that Nashville is home to many, many tattoos! Large tattoos decorated the bodies of many males and females.Every porch was unique….Staying in a neighborhood rather than a hotel allowed us to see this artistic expression of the various residents. In a city that features Broadway street, Gulch district and Music Row, the neighborhoods of Nashville were a pleasant surprise!We found out that approximately 100 people (on average) per day are moving to Nashville for retirement purposes and other reasons. The latter makes sense because of the entertainment industry and other attractive reasons. Nashville represents America and Americana very well….and it’s no wonder Justin Timberlake (a Tennessee native) is so grounded and cool. Go to Nashville…..slow down….chill out….listen to the guitar by porchlight and the wind chimes by day. And enjoy those perfect porches!