S'mon in Tennessee - anyone in the Nashville, Lawrenceburg or Knoxville areas?

[S'mon]

Hi all - I'm leaving London and heading over the Atlantic on Monday 18th for three weeks with the in-laws in beautiful Tennessee! I'll be mostly in Lawrenceburg, with a bit of time in Nashville and probably Knoxville too. I was thinking about maybe getting some gaming, or even just gaming-related chat, in while I'm there, and wondered if any EN Worlders are in the area and would like to meet up?

 

[Oryan77]

I grew up in Nashville and all of my family lives there. So I know the area really well. Although I haven't lived there for the past 12 years (but I visit every year). I just bought plane tickets to spend 2 weeks there at the end of May & beginning of June.

If you have any questions about the area, let me know. I can give you some ideas for some sight seeing (make sure to visit the Parthenon). Be aware though that the area was hit by some really bad flooding last year. I heard a lot of the touristy sites are no longer accessible.

As for RPG related stuff in the area, I'm not sure where the gaming hotspots are these days.

 

[Twowolves]

Most if not all of the toursity sites are open for business. For example, Opryland Hotel was open for the Christmas lights this past year, and I saw a band at the Ryman in January. LP Field had all it's scheduled football games (that's REAL football, btw) and the Nashville Predators will be hosting their first Stanley Cup playoff home game at the Bridgestone Arena this weekend. All of these were literally underwater last May.

If you go to the Knoxville area, I STRONGLY suggest taking a trip to the Smokey Mountains. Go to Cade's Cove, go see hiking trails and waterfalls, and if you are lucky, the synchronized fireflies of the Elkmont campground will be early enough this year for you to catch them.

 

[Oryan77]

Most if not all of the toursity sites are open for business. For example, Opryland Hotel was open for the Christmas lights this past year

I thought that whole area was still messed up. Opry hotel is still ok? What about Opry Mills? I was told that it's been closed ever since the floods and may never open back up. I just assumed if Opry Mills was that bad then the hotel must be also.

 

[Scott DeWar]

S'mone, I have family in Nashville. Do me a favor and give a general toast to all of Nashville for me will you?

 

[S'mon]

S'mone, I have family in Nashville. Do me a favor and give a general toast to all of Nashville for me will you?

Sure. If the Grand Ole Opry is at the Ryman Auditorium while we're there we should definitely go - we went once before and it was fantastic. The Opryland Hotel is pretty cool too.

We went to Cades Cove in the Smokies the year we met, when we were young and (relatively) attractive - it was quite romantic.

 

[Mark CMG]

We went to Cades Cove in the Smokies the year we met, when we were young and (relatively) attractive - it was quite romantic.

Isn't one of the benefits of growing old together staying relatively attractive?

 

[S'mon]

Isn't one of the benefits of growing old together staying relatively attractive?

Compared to each other, yes!

 

[Twowolves]

I thought that whole area was still messed up. Opry hotel is still ok? What about Opry Mills? I was told that it's been closed ever since the floods and may never open back up. I just assumed if Opry Mills was that bad then the hotel must be also.

The hotel was open for the tourists, with the lights and open areas and riverboats (which I thought was ironic) and everything, but parts of the hotel were still under repair. They worked around the clock to get it ready for the Christmas season.

That said, the mall is still closed, except for Bass Pro Shops, and I think maybe some other mostly autonomous shops. But then again, it's a mall, so no loss, right? Unless S'mon really needs some shoes, he's not missing anything.

As for gaming, The Game Keep in Lebanon is still the best all-around roleplaying source, while Murfreesboro has Roll the Dice (newish, smaller, and mainly focused on board gaming) and Grand Adventures (almost entirely miniature wargaming focused, with a dash of RPGs and CCgs). There is a place in Rivergate where the Hobbytown USA used to be (next to Chucky Cheese's) that does almost CCGs and 4th ed exclusively (don't expect to see any Pathfinder or other RPGs there), but I don't remember the name. Knoxville has Organized Play downtown (really good RPG source, some tabletop games, lots of space) and Sci-Fi City in West Towne Mall (pretty good overall minis/tabletop/rpg store, but they seem to have a vendetta against Paizo products).

That's about all I can personally remember about these two towns as far as gaming goes. Sorry I can't be more specific or helpful.

TwoWolves

PS: eat some barbecue! Both Nashvegas and K-town have multiple Calhoun's restaurants, so eat some ribs and drink some micro-brewed beer! Nashville also has a Blackstone Brewery and several other micro-breweries are to be found in both cities, so tilt one back for me!

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

The Yankee Peddler is a gaming club in Knoxville. It's typically open on Saturdays. I play down there some myself (7th Sea and some SWSE which has just started up). If you drop me a PM with the dates you'll be in town, I'm sure you'd be welcomed in for a session or two

There is also a comic/gaming store downtown called Organized Play. I don't get down there often so I can't tell you what to expect other then a friendly owner and a shop with some charm.