Sunday morning downtown Nashville is the city taking a breath. The same sidewalks that held tens of thousands of people the night before are quiet, slightly damp from cleaning, and nearly empty. It is the most interesting time to see downtown Nashville, specifically because the contrast with Saturday night is so complete.
The Street-Level Reality
By 9 a.m. on a Sunday, Lower Broadway has been cleaned. Hosing and sweeping happens in the early morning hours, and the physical evidence of the night before is largely gone by the time most people wake up. What remains is the architecture: the historic buildings from the 1880s and 1890s, the neon signs dark for the first time in 17 hours, the honky-tonk facades with their hand-painted banners looking different without the crowds and the noise.
The Cumberland River is visible from the east end of Broadway in a way it is not when 10,000 people are blocking the sightline. The pedestrian bridge shows clearly. The scale of the street is legible.
Who Is Out
Service industry workers heading home from late shifts or arriving for opening shifts. Runners who use the flat downtown streets for morning miles. Hotel guests from the convention hotels who need coffee before checkout. The occasional visitor who stayed out until 3 a.m. and is now getting air. Food and supply delivery trucks for the bars and restaurants that will open in a few hours.
The specific Nashville Sunday morning category is the out-of-town group who booked the early checkout flight and is rolling luggage toward a rideshare, still in their cowboy boots and sashes from the night before, navigating a city that is suddenly very quiet compared to what they experienced when they arrived.
Robert’s Gospel Hour
Robert’s Western World opens Sunday morning and hosts a Gospel set, which is one of the few recurring events on Broadway that has nothing to do with the party-destination version of the street. It attracts a crowd that is specifically there for the music, which makes it one of the most genuine experiences available in the entertainment district.
Downtown Beyond Broadway
Sunday morning is also when the rest of downtown Nashville is pleasant to walk through. The Tennessee State Capitol area is empty and quiet. The Ryman Auditorium exterior can be seen without a crowd around it. The Convention Center district, which is not worth visiting when it is busy, has good wide sidewalks for walking. Centennial Park, about 1.5 miles west on Broadway into Midtown, is at its most peaceful on Sunday mornings before the joggers and families arrive.
The Sunday morning version of downtown Nashville is not a tourist experience. It is a city experience, available specifically to the people who are up early enough to catch it before the brunch crowd arrives and the weekend cycle restarts.
Sources
- Notes on Nashville, Complete Broadway Honky Tonk Guide: https://notesonnashville.com/live-music/honky-tonks-broadway-nashville-guide/
- Nashville Pedal Tavern, Beat the Weekend Crowds: https://www.nashvillepedaltavern.com/blog/beat-the-weekend-crowds-why-youll-love-broadway-during-the-week/