Urban Meets Rural
Just to the northeast of Nashville proper, Sumner County is home to a collection of smaller communities and wide-open farmland. The area is famous as the longtime home of Johnny and June Carter Cash, and offers travelers a mix of music experiences and small-town history.
“We’re basically where urban meets rural,” said Barry Young, executive director of the Tourism Bureau of Sumner County. “There’s all sorts of music in the country. One of the things we have recently discovered is a place in our smallest community, Westmorland, called Grandpa’s Opry. It’s old-time country music and hymns in a small, authentic setting. We took a couple of tour groups there a few weeks ago, and they absolutely loved it.”
The homespun experience features a handful of performers singing two or three songs each. Regular performances take place the third Saturday night of each month, but the tourism bureau can arrange exclusive performances for tour groups on any day of the week.
Another fascinating stop for groups is All Access Coach Leasing, a company that refurbishes and outfits tour buses with top-of-the-line amenities and fixtures for musicians and traveling celebrities. The company offers free group tours.
“During tours, they show you a bus that has been totally gutted and one that is about halfway finished,” Young said. “Then you get to go on one that has been completely finished. A group there last week got to go on Eric Church’s bus.”
Other Sumner County tour options include visits to the Reese Brothers Mule Farm and the opportunity to attend a taping of “Mike Huckabee Today” at TBN Studios.
Moonshine and Apple Pie
South of Sumner County, Rutherford County is known for Stones River National Battlefield, which was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. But in addition to learning about the area’s history, visitors can enjoy some memorable visits to places preserving local traditions.
In Woodbury, Short Mountain Distillery was established several years ago to bring the area’s native spirits to visitors.
“It’s a true slice of Tennessee rural life,” said Donna Klempnow, director of sales for the Rutherford County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “They have old moonshiners out there to tell the stories of their jaded pasts, and they’re pretty entertaining. They talk about how moonshine was made using the local stone mill grain. They take you down to the spring where they create the moonshine mash. And they have a brand-new, working distillery where they make things like apple pie moonshine.”
Groups can enjoy spending a leisurely afternoon tasting moonshine and enjoying the scenery from the distillery’s front porch. The company also has an on-site restaurant that features food cooked with moonshine and can offer mixology classes for tour groups.
For another taste of authentic Tennessee culture, Klempnow loves taking groups to have a meal at Miller’s Grocery in the town of Christiana.
“At one time, it was a working grocery store,” she said. “Now, it’s a stretch back to the ’50s, with shabby-chic decor. They have some fabulous food, and the greatest thing is that they bake different desserts every day just like your grandmother would and put them out on little plates on a big table. As soon as you order, you’ll want to go pick up your dessert so that the person next to you doesn’t get your favorite.”
For more information contact one of these Nashville area CVBs:
Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.
Rutherford County Convention & Visitors Bureau
Tourism Board of Sumner County
