Gay Music City - Why Nashville, TN Should Be on the Go-To List for Gay Travelers

Nashville is a big Tennessee city located in the north-central area. Unlike the conservative suburbs surrounding the city, Nashville has a rather relaxed atmosphere with regard to accommodating alternative lifestyles and sexualities. The city is largely associated with country music, and is recognized as the world's country music capital.

You can also enjoy the sounds of soul, blues, classical, jazz, rock, pop and bluegrass. This aspect, as well as a variety of other attractions in the city has made Nashville attractive to thousands of tourists irrespective of their sexual orientation. That said, the following are some of the reasons why Nashville, TN should be on the go-to list for gay travelers.

With music at the heart of the city, Nashville has attracted creative personalities and vibe that have made it a popular gay-friendly destination for many years. In addition, the city has always cherished arts, which has been a significant pulling factor for GLBT community to join its creative industry. As a result, the gay community in Nashville is much stronger than you may expect of a large Southern city.

In fact, there is a GLBT Chamber of Commerce, as well as one of the biggest GLBT bookstores in the Southern area. As the gay music city of choice, there are a variety of places that gay couples can enjoy themselves, ranging from the concentrated huddle of gay nightlife in Hillsboro, East Nashville and Church Street, to other welcoming joints around the entire city in North Nashville, West Nashville and South Nashville.

The gay entertainment borough in Nashville has been expanding over the years and currently features a number of gay restaurants, clubs, dance halls and sex clubs between the 12th and 22nd avenues on Church Street. These chic spots provide classy and lively entertainment. Blue Gene's, for instance, is an attractive bar for mixed crowds due to its laid-back and neighborhood bar feel. This bar draws both men and women especially in the early evenings.

A few doors down Church Street is Tribe, which is among the most popular gay bars in the city. It has a sizeable dance floor, in addition to its open air deck and lounge that has lots of comfy chairs to provide a hip relaxing spot after a long day. Tribe provides a rather casual ambiance compared to other late-night clubs, though the music is loud enough to interrupt conversations. You can also enjoy watching a game of your favorite football team or music video mixes on the flat-screen televisions mounted on the walls. In addition to the full bar, they serve a full menu and even provide private rooms for personal celebrations.

Adjacent to Tribe is Red. This is a full restaurant that is popular for its incredible brunch menu. If you enjoy high-energy atmospheres, Play, a massive dance club is just next door. It draws large crowds especially on the weekends.

In East Nashville, you will find Lipstick Lounge, a lively bar that started as a lesbian haven. Since then, it has grown to accommodate the entire community, providing multiple entertainment features including a dance floor, live music, trivia music, poker competitions, karaoke and an upstairs lounge where you can play darts and video games. The Lipstick Lounge requires casual wear, and also provides a casual ambiance as your enjoy their signature cocktails.

Across the street you will find Mad Donna's restaurant and lounge. Here you can enjoy creative drinks, an eclectic menu and live music. If you are available on Tuesday night, you can attend the drag bingo.

South Nashville has numerous neighborhood bars for a laid-back and casual night where you get to dress as you like. You can visit Trax, a modest dive bar that provides cheap drinks, in addition to the pool table, darts and its great jukebox. You can also go to Stirrup, which is open every day to enjoy its large private deck or game room. Purple Heys' has a casual and relaxed ambiance that provides casual fun and a nightclub scene.

While in Nashville, you should make sure to visit the Dark Horse Theatre, which is an autonomous theatre that has served the alternative and gay-crowd for over 15 years. It manly features drag plays that are produced by one of Nashville's gay theatre companies, Eggplant Faerie Players. They also schedule live music, classical theatre, films, dance, multimedia shows and concerts. You can also catch drag shows and live bands at the Play Dance Bar, which is a popular fun-time club for drinking and dancing that holds several special events in a month. You can also experience the Nashville honky tonks found along Lower Broadway in places like Legends Corner and Tootsie's Orchid Lounge.

You will discover that Nashville is among the most progressive, dynamic and gay-friendly communities in the South, propped by an art and music culture that makes it a unique and genuine gay music city.

To find out more information about Nashville or to book your next vacation to Music City, visit http://www.vacationside.com or call (855) 822-8747

Article Source: Steven_W_Talbott

HOTELS IN NASHVILLE

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Music Festivals: What Do You Need to Know?

There are many factors to be taken into consideration when going to a Music Festival. These can range from which toiletries to take, to where you're going to pitch your tent.

In this Article I'll try to give you a basic run down of what you should take and what perhaps you should avoid. I'll then go on to explain some things in more detail, and will give some advice based on personal experiences of going to Music Festivals for the past five years.

What do I take Camping?

• Tent:

This is obviously quite an obvious essential to take when camping - especially at a Music Festival! What you should do is confirm how many people are going to be in one tent, and then take both personal space and storage space into consideration. Often three of us go together so we normally take three single/small tents and then a fourth to put our storage in. This is a good method as it is cheap and light. Another is to take a huge five-man tent, allowing room for all three of you plus two more, which you can use for clothes or food and drink.

• Sleeping Bags:

Sleeping bags are once again quite an obvious item to take with you. There are however several different types of sleeping bags out there. If your Music Festival is in the Summer like most are, you'll need to take a very thin lightweight bag so you don't cook during the night and in the mornings.

• Air Bed/Sleeping Mats:

Some people love to take Air Beds with them when they go to a Music Festival. Others don't bother as they think they take up too much room and time. A cheaper and much preferred way to get extra comfort is to take a simple Sleeping Mat. They're incredibly cheap and serve the purpose perfectly (inflatable mats are available too). This isn't an essential of course, but is highly recommended, especially if you're fussy about being comfortable when you sleep.

• A Cool Box:

Cool Boxes are very helpful to take with you on any camping trip. You'll find that at a Music Festival however you'll be spending the majority of your day in the arena and therefore as a result, you'll probably be buying lots of food from Vendors and Stalls. Only take a Cool Box if you're planning on cooking any food. (Some cool boxes are collapsible).

• A Torch:

It will get dark at Festivals, especially in your tent. Take a torch just so you can find your way. Maybe also take something that will light the inside of the tent sufficiently.

• Medicine/First Aid Kit:

Even though there will be First Aid and Medical Personnel around at the event, it's always a good idea to take some Aspirin in case you get a headache and plasters/bandages in case you hurt yourself in a mosh-pit for example.

• Fold Out Chairs:

These can be a pain to carry but will be a god-send once you've finished setting up your tent. It's always nice to be able to have a sit down, so I recommend you take one of these!

• Clothes:

DO NOT TAKE YOUR FAVOURITE CLOTHES!

Everyone makes this mistake. It's common for people to always want to look their best and to show off what clothes they've got whilst at a Festival. Please don't take anything expensive though - it will get muddy, it will get ruined and in some rare cases, it will get stolen.

You should only take clothes you're happy to get dirty and possibly ruined. Make sure you take a jumper in case it rains or gets cold. The majority of the time though, you'll need light clothing as it can get incredibly hot!

• Thick Socks/Wellies:

Festivals tend to get extremely muddy. There are thousands of people all walking across the same paths and this creates a horrible muddy slush. I advise you to take some wellies and make sure you wear thick socks with them so you don't cause blisters on your feet or ankles. Thick socks can be football socks or rugby socks.

• A bag for dirty clothes:

There is nothing worse than rummaging through your tent trying to find a clean shirt or clean underwear. Keep dirty clothes in a separate bag so you don't get clean/dirty mixed up (try a lightweight cotton stuff bag). This will also keep your clean clothes fresh!

• Toilet Roll:

This is an essential. There is NO TOILET ROLL AT FESTIVALS! You'll need to bring your own - and make sure you constantly have some folded up in a pocket. There is nothing worse than needing the toilet and having to ask a stranger for toilet roll. What's worse is buying it for a stupid price from a Vendor.

• Baby Wipes:

I know this is particularly disgusting but there are lots of people who don't shower at Festivals.

Not very many Festivals provide lots of showers - and this means that queuing can take hours.

Take Baby Wipes so that you can keep yourself clean.

• Bottles Of Water/Towel: It's always a good idea to take water with you to a Festival. It's incredibly important to keep yourself hydrated at all times. Drinking Fizzy Drinks and Alcohol all the time will definitely not hydrate you.

If you're not comfortable with not showering for a few days, an idea is to take lots of water.

I've seen several people do this at Festivals: someone pours water over their friend and it acts as a shower. Don't forget to take a towel so you can dry yourself!

• Toothbrush/Toothpaste/Deodorant/Sunscreen:

Just as if you were going anywhere, bringing bathroom supplies are essential. Don't forget to pack up your toothbrush and toothpaste. Sun cream is also important to keep you safe from sunstroke and sun burn.

Where do I pitch my tent?

This question gets asked quite a lot and it's a difficult one to answer. All Music Festivals are different so it's impossible to recommend a good location unless you know it inside out. What I can tell you however is what you should avoid and what you should look out for. To start with, you're going to want to pitch near a toilet. Do not pitch too close to one though, because the smell will become unbearable. If possible, avoid pitching right beside a path or walkway. People will fall into your tent and throws things beside it. Not to mention the fact that rain will accumulate here and no doubt flood your tent. This is something you definitely do not want to happen.

If you're looking for a quiet place to be able to relax after seeing all the bands, you're going to want to pitch up as far away from the arena(s) as you can get. This means you'll have much further to walk, but you will be in a nice quiet area which no-one tends to travel to. This is often the case for families with young children.

Do I need Sun Cream?

Lots of people don't bother with Sun Cream because it takes time and effort. I've seen men in particular not wearing it because they think it's 'girly'! Please make sure you cover yourself in Sun Cream. You'll be spending the majority of your day walking around in the heat and no doubt wearing little-to-no clothes because it's just so hot. The last thing you want to do at a Festival is make yourself incredibly uncomfortable by burning yourself, or worse, fainting from the heat and developing Sun Stroke.

Should I take my mobile phone?

If you can, take an old mobile phone. I normally take my old Nokia 3310 when going to a Festival as I'm only going to be using it to ring or text friends when I get lost. You'll find that these phones also have a much better battery life and therefore won't die on you. There are normally charging points, but these are quite costly to use.

How do I find my friends if I get lost?

The first thing you should all do on arrival is decide on a meet-up point. Festivals normally provide giant poles with multi coloured flags attached to them for such emergencies. I would strongly recommend that you and your friends all decide where to meet if you get lost. Another great location to meet is always at your tent (if you know where it is of course)!

Have an open mind!

Not everything will go to according to plan. You will forget something. The good news is that you're at a Music Festival, you're surrounded by thousands and thousands of people who just want to have a good time and who will be more than happy to help you in any way they can. Get separated from your group? Not actually a huge deal at all. All you have to do is one simple thing: talk to people. Some of the most interesting people any of us have ever met were those encountered at music festivals. These will be people who are totally different from you in pretty much every way except for the fact that you are both there to have a good time. That one common bond is all you need when you're at a Music Festival. Remember, fun with others is much better than fun alone.

There we have it. I hope you can take most of this on board and have a good time at your next Music Festival.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment and I shall answer them as soon as possible.

If you're looking for a tent, I happen to run my own business and sell all types of Camping Equipment.

Pukka Tents - http://www.pukkatents.co.uk really is a one stop shop for camping supplies, accessories and spares. Whether you want canvas tents, bell tents, spare poles, tent pegs or groundsheets, our business has the experience, support and customer care to ensure that you get exactly what you are looking for. We are a family business which has been trading online from our Suffolk UK base for a little over 12 months now. We pride ourselves on the quality of our products, the attention to detail and the fact that we want our website to give you more than just an online shop. We are an online resource and we want to be able to assist in answering questions about camping, festivals, tent erection, and maintenance and much more. Please get in touch, we'd love to hear from you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debbie_Martindale

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Choosing Your Traveling Music

When you go traveling, you bring your iPod or mp3 player to accompany you during your trip. You may have a special playlist that you created specifically for your adventure. What's contained in this list depends on what type of music you're partial to and what mood you are in. Whether you want something relaxing or something lively is up to you.

Traveling can be very boring, especially if you don't have any company. During a long trip, you usually eat, sleep, read a good book, or surf the Internet just to kill the time. To make the journey more fun and exciting, most people turn to music. Listening to music makes the dreary hours between destinations pass by more quickly.

Music is all around us. It's also very significant in everyday life. Songs after often inspired by life experiences. How many times have you heard a song and thought, "This sounds exactly like what I've been through!"? This is one reason why you can actually relate to the lyrics of the song. You can feel a certain connection between you and the song or the songwriter's experiences.

Music is both fun and healthy! An everyday dose of music is highly recommended by medical practitioners. It should be part of anyone's lifestyle. Everybody loves music. Life would be pretty dry without any kind of music to appreciate. Even if you dared to live a life without music, you're bound to come across it just by living. Street performers, the sounds of construction, and babies cooing can all be considered forms of music. Although everybody loves music, taste in music differs from person to person. This is where music genres stem from.

There are a lot of music genres to choose from. There are a number of great songs for traveling. Create your own travel playlist. If you want relaxing music during a long drive, you can listen to Classical, Jazz or Bossa Nova types of songs. If you find that too relaxing and you want to liven things up so you don't fall asleep, you can listen to Rock, House, and Party music. If you want to just chill out, listen to R&B. If you prefer actually feeling the lyrics of the song, listen to love songs or Blues music. In your travel playlist, you can mix up music genres so your playlist doesn't get boring. At least you won't have to listen to just one genre in a playlist and your trip will be much better for it!

So if you're planning a long trip in the near future and you don't have to bring a friend to accompany you, make your special list of great songs for traveling and you're definitely good to go.

Jesse Branch is an expert on creating fun music playlists for traveling. She invites you to learn more about great traveling music to plan for your next trip.

Article Source: Jesse_Branch