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Nashville is the promised land for country music fans

Spotlight

Nashville

Hillsboro Village

If you’re itching to get out of your car and stroll, head three miles south of Downtown to Hillsboro Village, where great cafés, coffee shops, and boutiques abound. Start your jaunt at the reliably long line in front of Pancake Pantry (1796 21st Ave. S.; entrées from $6; 615/383-9333). Serving the best breakfast in town for more than 40 years, the Pantry is a favorite for both its food—stacks of featherlight buckwheat pancakes, warm maple syrup, and Tennessee country ham—and its friendly servers, many of whom have been there for decades. Just across the street, browse the quirky collection of shops: several emporiums with antiques and vintage goods, a fabulously funky shoe store, a mazelike used bookstore, and a family-run cookware store.

Prime people-watching happens at Fido (1812 21st Ave. S.; entrées from $7; 615/777-3436, bongojava.com/fido.php), a pet shop turned coffee shop (the original Jones Pet Shop sign still hangs outside) where, in warmer months, the coveted sidewalk tables fill with songwriters—dogs and guitars in tow. Walk down Belcourt Avenue past the historic Belcourt Theatre (check the schedule for art-house flicks and concerts) (2102 Belcourt Ave.; 615/383-9140, belcourt.org) to Fannie Mae Dees Park, aka Dragon Park, (2400 Blakemore Ave.; nashville.gov) nicknamed for its whimsical mosaic dragon sculpture. A short drive away is model Karen Elson’s clothing store Venus and Mars The Showroom (2009 Belmont Blvd.; 615/915-4846, venusandmarsvintage.com), which offers vintage duds for men and women.