For anyone unfamiliar with Bouchercon, a quick primer. It’s the largest annual crime/mystery fiction event in the U.S., with an average attendance of 1500 people. The location varies each fall based upon any local bids and ultimately a conference member vote. The convention bills itself as a gathering of mystery and detective fiction devotees. It’s truth in advertising. At its core, it’s a fan event where devoted readers can meet their favorite authors–or discover new ones. And it’s also where writer friends bond–often over no small amount of drink. And this August 28 – September 1, Bouchercon is here in Nashville.
At Sleuthsayers last month, I wrote about how the Bouchercon crowd or anyone else can blend in like a Nashville local. Here is a deeper take on what to expect from a local.
THERE IS NO OPRYLAND
The conference location is the Gaylord Opryland, 10 miles east of downtown as the crow flies. The Opryland name comes from, of course, the theme park concept linked to the property. I say linked because in 1997 the owners went and bulldozed the park. What happened was, it proved darn hard to run a profitable theme park in a town known for rough weather and floods. Here’s the fast history on how we got to an Opryland-less Opryland.
By the 1960s, WSM Radio’s Grand Ole Opry program had outgrown the then-janky Ryman Auditorium, aka the Mother Church. Revered location or not, the show had to go on somewhere else. Nashville had just built Briley Parkway as a key connector for Davidson County’s north and east, and now the Cumberland’s Pennington Bend was open for business. WSM snatched up a large riverside tract owned by the Rudy’s Farm Sausage guy. WSM had big plans, a la Houston and the new Astrodome. The new Opryland venue would have the whole shebang. The theme park opened in 1972, the new Opry House in 1974, and the Opryland Hotel in 1977. Fast forward twenty years. The park made money, but it had problems. The place regularly flooded. The riverbend and highway landlocked any expansion. And the biggie: Long winters funneled the revenue potential into a narrow summer window. A shopping center destination was year-round. Cue the demolition, and in came the giant Opry Mills Mall–which regularly floods.
So, the Opryland name lives on at the hotel. The place is massive, capable of holding multiple large conventions at a time. And Gaylord resorts are built as destinations. Restaurants, boat rides, water parks, golf, and helpful for any Bouchercon, plenty of bars. Off-property fun is a time and money investment away, so expect to pay Captive Audience Prices. In all, though, the rambling grounds are a fine place to be captive. There will be much walking given Bouchercon’s all-day programming, so a mystery devotee will need good shoes.
Staying put at Opryland also may help if you’re worried about…
OH MY GOD, THIS HEAT
There is no sugar-coating this. Nashville in summer is hot. The daily heat index will be north of 90°F, perhaps well north, and the humidity can be a pestilence. The combination brings afternoon storms. Consider outdoor activities carefully if you’re heat-sensitive in any way. That said, the conference’s Labor Day weekend slot is right when that first hint of fall might bring relief. In Nashville, you can’t ever rule out lovely weather. You just can’t count on it until October.
OKAY, YOU’RE LEAVING THE PROPERTY ANYWAY
There’s a lot to see and do in Nashville. Little of it is near the conference hotel. The tourist hub, of course, is Lower Broadway downtown. Even if you’re not the honky tonkin’, boot-scootin’ type, Lower Broad’s square mile offers the finest people-watching east of Las Vegas. Here you’ll find cowpokes, bachelorette party swarms, buskers, day drunks, night drunks, and a fleet of tractor-type vehicles refashioned for booze cruises. The old historic warehouses are now just facades, but six-story corporate tonk bars inside bring their own kind of eyeball interest. Lower Broad is lively, and man, is it loud.
If you’re down that way, you’re only a block or two from less raucous points of interest. The Ryman Auditorium–now refurbished–gives tours with demonstrations of its famed acoustics. Grab a pew and take in some music, if you don’t mind the obstructed views. I’m not sure there’s a better place for concert-listening. As a close second, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center is stunningly beautiful. The Frist Center is Nashville main art museum and is itself an Art Deco display. Back on the music, the National Museum of African American Music is top-notch, and the Country Music Hall of Fame (attached to the Omni Hotel) can be good fun.
Deeper downtown is the Hermitage Hotel, ground zero for the Nineteenth Amendment fight in 1919 ultimately granting women universal suffrage. I’m talking cut-and thrust hardball, blackmail, and loads and loads of Jack Daniels. I blogged about this wild story here back in 2021.
Google Maps or Waze will tell you downtown is 15 minutes away by car. This is a dirty lie. Nashville traffic isn’t yet the new Atlanta, but neither are our roads a picnic. I-40’s interchanges through downtown were clearly designed after a three-martini lunch.
BROADER THAN BROAD
If you do have a car, one way a lot of Nashville in one (slow) shot is to head west up Broadway from the river. Just stay on Broadway for two miles, and you’ll see the Arena, Union Station, Midtown, the Vanderbilt campus, and Centennial Park, built to host the 1897 Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition. You can check out the gardens and lakes, but have bread for the swans or be ready to run.
Civil War enthusiasts have dozens of sites to choose from south of downtown. Most have been swallowed by development, but you can find markers in monuments throughout Hillsboro Village, Forest Hills, and nearby neighborhoods. Downtown Franklin in Williamson County still has last remnants of the battlefield, and it’s a fun place to spend an afternoon.
OR ARE YOU A HIPSTER?
I’m not judging. But say you have flare pants or beard tonic or a drawer of ironic-print t-shirts. The Gulch is for you. This gentrification enclave of upscale restaurants and apartment towers is just southwest of downtown. The name comes from when the railroads cut their tracks through there, and the trains still do rumble through. These days, they rumble past craft beer joints and an Urban Outfitters. I haven’t been to Sambuca for a while, but I’ve never had a bad meal or cocktail there.
And why yes, we do have a good Farmer’s Market. It’s on the north side of downtown. If you’re tired, take an Uber or just roll down Capitol Hill. The local food vendors down there are pretty good, and like most public spots in Nashville, you’ll probably catch some great live music.
HEAR ME OUT ABOUT THIS RIVERBOAT THING
The Cumberland River isn’t a mighty river (Opryland execs might disagree), and it runs an unappealing brownish, but it’s been a critical transportation route since forever. It’s why Nashville even got started. Bouchercon members can get in on that right from the Gaylord’s own dock. The General Jackson–a problematic name but the guy lived here–paddle-wheeler has daytime and evening cruises that, you know what, are genuine fun. There’s a show, as you might imagine, a countried-up affair with the right blend of old-time cheese.
This being Nashville, there are Tiki boats and pedal boats and other floating also converted into reasons to justify lots of beer while the sun is up.
ALL IN ALL
I’ll be at Bouchercon much of the conference weekend. My panel is “Mack the Knife: Music and Murder,” Friday 8/31/24 at 12:30pm. I hope to see you all there, and more importantly, I hope that a little local insight helps you have an amazing time here.
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In related Tennessee news, my story “Bet You’re Wrong: appears in the Sisters in Crime Knoxville Chapter’s new anthology Smoking Guns (Wildside Press). My good friend Kaye George spearheaded the collection, and we couldn’t have had a better editor. Lots of other great local writers have contributions, too. Check it out while you’re at Bouchercon or even from the comfort of your own home.