Basic Disclaimer: Again, this high-speed rail network does not currently exist beyond my imagination. If you would like to see it, talk to your representatives and business leaders. You may see real events and locations who I don’t have any affiliation with and who don’t have affiliation with me unless stated otherwise. On to the post.
So we are going to start with an Indy to Nashville Saturday night concert exploration of my imaginary high-speed rail network. Basic premise: you want to attend a concert at 10pm on a Saturday night in Nashville and you live near Indy but you don’t want to take time off. Currently, if you drive there, it will take you about 4.2 hours. Assuming you leave at 8 AM on Saturday, you would arrive around 11:20am (getting an hour back due to the time zones). Meanwhile, flying would take around $449 and take 3.7 hours or $259 at 3.75 hours with no nonstop flights, again ignoring any time going through security. Both of these options would have you arrive just before lunchtime (11-11:30). Whether you choose to check in to your hotel or get lunch would be up to you, but what about the rail network?
The rail network at ACELA speeds would take 2 hours and the bullet train speed of this network would be just under an hour and a half at 1.4 hours. So with the same start time on the bullet train, you would arrive at 8:30 local time, again getting an hour back with the time zone change. With this, you have much more time to check in and enjoy more of the city. So what would you do? For this we are going to just make up an itinerary with some real and some imaginary locations as I would like to believe that my high speed rail network would be near transit that does not currently exist in Nashville. Here I give three different options to look at. Please note that I have not visited most of these locations. I have primarily grabbed them based on recommendations I have heard from others (mostly XPLR.Nash/Nashville Daily Podcast) or things that sound interesting to me.
Option 1
Morning:
Check in at Hotel and get settled in
Walking around green spaces like Shelby Park or Go window shopping
Lunch:
Grab lunch (real location examples include Five Points Pizza and Rosepepper Cantina)
Afternoon:
Get a massage, go shopping, or read a book
Take a nap
Evening:
Get Dinner (real location examples include Nashville Farmers Market and Shake Shack)
Go to the Concert
Option 2
Morning:
Check in at Hotel and get settled in
Go to Musicians Hall of Fame, Tennessee State Museum, or Frist Art Museum
Lunch:
Get Lunch (real examples include Assembly Food Hall or a hot chicken place)
Afternoon:
Visit Belmont Mansion or Printers Alley
Evening:
Get Dinner (examples include a rooftop bar, Husk, Hawkers Asian Street Food)
Go to the Concert
Option 3
Morning:
Check in at Hotel and get settled in
Tour the Ryman or the Country Music Hall of Fame
Lunch:
Get Lunch (real examples include Rolf and Daughters, Milk and Honey Gulch)
Afternoon:
Play an Escape Room downtown or Drive Go Karts at K1 Speed
Evening:
Get Dinner (real examples include Chef and I, an imaginary option is similar to what Luchow’s used to be in New York at its height)
Go to the Concert
So here are three possible options for someone to spend on a Saturday after arriving in Nashville. Each of these options would be cut in half with either the car or airplane option. You may be able to enjoy some of the activities in the afternoon if you feel up to it after driving for four hours or dealing with airport security. Regardless, you can enjoy a lot more of Nashville on the Saturday before your concert. In addition, the options above only cover the Saturday. If you bring a backpack or something light for your luggage, you may be able to take one of the other options for a Sunday experience as you could enjoy the afternoon.
Let’s presume that you want to arrive by 6pm local time back in Indy on Sunday, if you drive the 4.2 hours back, you have to leave around 12:30pm Nashville time. Airline, again not including security and presuming that the return flight is the same length of time, you would leave around 1:15pm. Of course, with security added in, you would probably want to leave much earlier. With high-speed rail however, you could wait until 3:30pm Nashville time, giving you time to enjoy some of the afternoon in the city. This is just a quick overview of a possible concert weekend in Nashville. There is much more to explore in the city and I may go over other possible weekend itineraries in the city at some point. I hope that this gives you an idea of what may be possible with high speed rail in this network. What did you think so far? Would such a trip be appealing to you? Please let me know down in the comments below.
unknownclimate 