It’s Memorial Day weekend in Nashville. It’s the official unofficial kickoff to summer time. I hope you’ve all made plans to get the season started right with a screening of 2010’s Grown Ups at some point this weekend. We all know that film (yes, it’s qualified to be called a ‘film’) perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the summer. Personally, I love this holiday. I mean, I don’t ever do shit to celebrate it. There’s no Memorial Day cookout going on Monday. I just feel like it’s one of those gateway points on the calendar. St. Patrick’s Day signifies the onset of spring. Memorial Day, the summer. Labor Day, the fall. Halloween, the holidays. That’s it. Maybe I’ve just invented this calendar in my own head, but I try to take time to reset and refocus at each of these changing of the seasons, and Memorial Day is no different.
The beginning of summer marks the return of peak golden hour season. I don’t know about you guys, but there’s nothing I love more this time of year than just hopping in the car and cruising around town at golden hour. There are some great sunset spots out here in Mount Juliet, east of Nashville for those who aren’t familiar – the bridge on McCrary Road that goes over 840 in Gladeville, the hilltop on Central Pike next to Gailynn Marie Drive, and the bleachers at Mundy Park (if they’re still there – been a minute since I’ve been) to name a few. I’m a sucker for it. So, when I realized how excited I was to have those lazy golden hour drives back, I got to thinking about my favorite places to watch the sunset.
I didn’t want to limit myself to Mount Juliet. For one, I’d have to go do some actual photo journalism because I don’t have any photos of these places. I’m always behind the wheel of my 2006 Nissan Altima…definitely NOT snapping photos while driving. For another, my wife tells me I’m weird all the time because I like staying in hotels and say things like “oh, I’d like to stay in this hotel and check it out” about hotels that open up half a mile down the road from our own home. What can I say? I’m easy to please. It doesn’t take much for me to feel like I’m on vacation. My point is that I could drop a thousand words on watching the sunset in Gladeville, Tennnessee and inevitably, someone would drive out to check it out and be like “what the fuck is this? who gets so excited about the sunset over 840 in Gladeville?”
So, I broadened my scope. I looked through the photos in my phone, I chatted with my wife and some of our friends, and I reached a pretty easy conclusion – let’s widen this up to look at the state as a whole…because there are at least three spots that I’d say are Hall of Fame sunset spots that are appointment viewing any time my wife and I hit the road. What follows is my own personal Mount Rushmore of sunset spots in Tennessee with some SoBros team picks afterwards. If you have a personal favorite spot to watch the sunset in Tennessee, feel free to drop it in the comments. Or, if you email a photo of a spot with a couple of sentences as to why you like it so much to thesobrosnetwork@gmail, I’ll even throw it in this piece. Here’s to the return of peak golden hour season!
Clingman’s Dome
There’s really no comparing in my book. It’s a bit of a haul to get out to Clingman’s Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and you have to time your exit from Gatlinburg just right in order to make it before the sun goes down. I recommend consulting the internet for the time of average sunset, and account for traffic along with difficulty parking – there’s only one way to the spot from Gatlinburg, and it’s crowded during the peak seasons. Also, even if it’s still warm in Gatlinburg, take a hoodie. I went last September, when it was still warm enough outside that we were walking around in shorts and flip-flops, but that changed dramatically by the time we got up to Clingman’s Dome. I was freezing my nuts off in a t-shirt.
Of course, you can make the trek up to the actual dome, and I’m sure you’re going to get a breathtaking view. But, again…it’s hard to time when exactly you’ll be able to get up there unless you arrive super early to account for the hike from the parking lot up the mountain to the dome. What my wife and I have found is that the views from the parking lot are good enough for us. You can see for miles and miles of that classic Smoky Mountain action. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen it. It still moves me to the point of a single tear streaking down my face.
Point Park on Lookout Mountain
Who knew watching the sunset from a mountaintop would be awesome? That’s sarcasm for those who can’t tell or might be new here on SoBros Network. Point Park sits atop Lookout Mountain just outside of Chattanooga, so it’s a much more manageable haul than heading to the Smokies from Nashville. My wife and I have even made day trips to Chattanooga just to eat at one of our favorite spots (Brewhaus, Urban Stack, Community Pie) and venture up to Point Park to watch the sunset, only to drive home after dark.
While you can face the sunset on one side of Lookout Mountain, I always catch myself looking back. There’s something about the way the sunlight scatters across the rooftops in Chattanooga that makes the city look particularly picturesque at sunset.
Arrington Vineyards
Arrington Vineyards might not provide you with as breathtaking a view as the Smoky Mountains or Lookout Mountain, but the little you sacrifice in terms of quality, it more than makes up for it in terms of the experience. I’ll tell you this – you can’t crash through four bottles of wine and light up a cigar at Clingman’s Dome!
This is a wonderful way to spend an evening. My wife and I have made a nice little tradition of visiting Arrington Vineyards in the early summer, preferably May, when the onset of the brutal Tennessee summer heat is still meager, and the temperatures are still relatively enjoyable. We haven’t done it this year because of the cicadas, so we might end up switching our annual visit to the fall to keep up the tradition. We typically show up mid-afternoon, buy a couple bottles of wine, picnic either with items we brought in a cooler or with a selection of snacks from Arrington’s shop. Sometimes, they even have food trucks parked at the venue. It’s the perfect spot to lay a blanket down, enjoy some good wine and snacks, some good company, and slow the passing of time. You have to make the extra effort to climb up that hill, and sometimes, it can be rather difficult after a few bottles, but to me, it’s well worth the trouble to enjoy the best sunset spot in the mid-state.
The Pool Club at the Virgin Hotel
Nashville is littered with rooftop bars, and I’m sure there are a number of them that are fantastic spots to watch the sunset from. But, so far, all of the rooftops I’ve been on down on Broadway obscure the actual sunset from all the nearby buildings. That wasn’t the case a couple of summers ago when we discovered The Pool Club that sits atop the Virgin Hotel offer off of Music Square. It’s a little way’s out of the downtown madness, so there’s a little more room to breathe, and so far, there haven’t been any construction projects that have eliminated the view of the actual sunset (yet – give it time, I’m sure). So, it was a neat spot to get the best of both worlds – a good view of the city lights and a good view of nature doing its thing. Oh, and the margaritas helped, for sure.
Honorable mentions and SoBros team picks:
- “Suggs Creek Market” -Brandon
- “The family farm” -Ryan
- “Backside of Capitol Hill facing Bicentennial State Park” -Sean
- “Love Circle in Nashville” -my wife
- And, I would also add my driveway while admiring the beauty of the 2006 Nissan Altima:
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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