Music also has given Nashville some of its best tourist attractions. The Country Music Hall of Fame is a $37 million treasure trove of memorabilia and musical experiences. True fans flock to Music Row, an area of several blocks where many great country songs were born. Music Valley holds performance venues, shops and family amusement parks. The biggest names in show business perform at Ryman Auditorium, Gaylord Entertainment Center and the Opry House.

But Nashville isn't just about sound. It's playing with the big boys now. The Tennessee Titans put this city in the NFL a few years back, and The Coliseum is packed on game Sundays. When the NHL returns to work, the Nashville Predators are ready to take the ice at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. The Frist Center for the Visual Arts hosts nationally acclaimed traveling art exhibitions. And the Tennessee Performing Arts Center is home for the Nashville Symphony and Ballet as well as home away from home for Broadway touring productions.

New and diverse restaurants are popping up everywhere. Neighborhoods are grabbing attention with their distinctive style and attitude. Hillsboro Village, by the Vanderbilt campus downtown, is a neighborhood of tree-lined sidewalks where country music stars and college professors stroll to corner restaurants and quaint shops. Germantown, Nashville's oldest residential neighborhood, hosts festivals like Oktoberfest and Maifest to celebrate its heritage.

An old, sleepy southern town Nashville is not. The party is really just started.

Presidential home — After Washington's Mount Vernon, Jefferson's Monticello and the White House, the Hermitage — the home of former President Andrew Jackson — is the most visited president's home in the nation. Jackson's estate, located 12 miles east of Nashville, draws more than 250,000 visitors annually. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults, $11 for seniors and students (13-18), and $5 for kids 6-12. 4580 Rachel's Ln.; 615-889-2941; www.thehermitage.com.

Step back in time — Historic Travellers Rest Plantation and Museum is a Federalist-style home that once served as the headquarters for the Confederate Army of Tennessee. It is Nashville's oldest historic home museum, focusing on life here between the city's frontier birth and the Civil War. Its owner, John Overton, was once the richest man in Tennessee and a friend of Andrew Jackson. Nestled amid magnolias, elms and ginkgoes, the bead board house was the hub of a 2,300-acre estate that boasted fields of cotton and tobacco as well as groves of peach, apple and pear trees. Visitors can see an autograph book signed by seven Confederate generals. Lately the plantation has taken on a new role, playing host to theater productions, which will start the new year with a performance titled "An Evening With Mark Twain." Aside from special events, the plantation continues to be open for regular tours. It is located about 8 miles southeast of downtown. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, $5 for youths 13-18, $3 for children 6-12. 636 Farrell Parkway; 615-832-8197; www.travellersrestplantation.org.

Art excellence — The former main post office, a magnificent Art Deco structure built in 1934, is the home of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, the center of the city's cultural scene, located downtown. Although the center has a small permanent collection, it specializes in touring exhibitions. Children are the subject of two exhibitions running through Jan. 2, 2005. "Golden Children: Four Centuries of European Portraits" consists of court paintings of young royalty most dating from the 1600s. "The Child in Modern Photography" has 39 modern images by such photographers as Tina Barney, Loretta Lux and Nicholas Nixon. Open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except Thursday (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and Sunday (1 to 5 p.m.). Admission is $8.50 for adults, $7.50 for seniors, $6.50 for college students. 919 Broadway; 615-244-3340; www.fristcenter.org.

Country classics — Located behind Gaylord Entertainment Center off Broadway, the Country Music Hall of Fame houses thousands of items from country stars past and present. Elvis Presley's solid gold Cadillac, Dwight Yoakum's torn jeans, Faith Hill's pink Versace dress, a Harley donated by Alan Jackson and a 100-year-old Gibson guitar are among the items on display at this museum, which was opened in 1999. A special exhibit "Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm and Blues 1945-1970" is on display through December 2005. Black artists from Sam Cooke to Etta James to Jimi Hendrix are all a part of Nashville's musical past. Their work and that of many others are featured in this 5,000-square-foot multimedia exhibition. Tickets to the $37 million Hall of Fame are $15.95 for adults, $13.95 for seniors and the military and $7.95 for kids 6-17. A combination Hall and Studio B tour ticket costs $22.95. Studio B is the legendary recording studio on Music Row where many of Elvis' early hits were produced. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. 222 Fifth Ave. S.; 800-852-6437; www.countrymusichalloffame.com.

Top theater — At the prestigious Pollster Concert Industry Awards in Hollywood, the historic Ryman Auditorium, known as the "The Carnegie of the South," was named 2004 national "Theater of The Year" — and with good reason. Originally built as the Union Gospel Tabernacle in 1892, the Ryman has played host to an incredible range of international performers (as well as hosting the Grand Ole Opry from November through February). Check the Web site for a list of concerts. The Ryman is located on Fifth Street just north of Broadway. Tours of the music hall are available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (though times might change depending on show times). Tours cost $8.50 for adults and $4.25 for children. The Ryman also has begun special backstage tours for $11.25, $7 for children 4-11. 116 Fifth Ave. N.; 615-889-3060; www.ryman.com.

Artistic gem — A gift of 101 Modernist art works from the collection of photographer Alfred Stieglitz laid the foundation of Fisk University's exceptional art collection. Artist Georgia O'Keeffe, Stieglitz's wife, donated these paintings, photographs and sculptures after his death in 1946, in an effort to build a significant collection at this historically black university. Fisk University Galleries include works by 29 prominent artists, including Picasso, Cezanne, Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec. With this auspicious beginning, the Fisk collection grew and now has works by William Henry Johnson, Henry O. Tanner, Clementine Hunter, Marc Chagall, Joan Miro, Jasper Johns and Alexander Calder. Most of the collection is in the Carl Van Vechten Gallery, housed in a neo-Romanesque structure originally built as a church in 1888, and in the Aaron Douglas Gallery in the University Library. Douglas' freshly restored murals in Cravath Hall are well worth the walk across the small campus. The Aaron Douglas Gallery is open 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Sunday. The Carl Van Vechten Gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Fisk University is located on the near northwest side of town. Donations for all galleries are accepted at the door. 1000 17th Ave. N.; 615-329-8720; www.fisk.edu.

Hop into the Hatch — The Hatch Show Print shop is one of those quirky little places down on Broadway in the downtown entertainment district that really gives you a sense of Nashville's personality. The Hatch has been producing show posters since 1879. Old concert posters line the walls; a clean-shaven Willie Nelson and a young Johnny Cash peer down on visitors. There is no admission charge and plenty of souvenirs for sale. Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 316 Broadway; 615-256-2805.

Urban oasis — The Bicentennial Mall, just behind the state Capitol, is a great place for a lunchtime walk. Thirty-one water fountains, a 95-bell carillon and numerous war memorials offer great conversation pieces. James Robertson Parkway; 615-741-5800; www.tnstateparks.com.

The Mall can get active on Saturdays when the downtown Farmers Market next door is at its busiest. The market is open daily and area farmers sell all types of vegetables, fruits, herbs, baked good, hams and sweets. The fish market here is one of Nashville's best. 900 Eighth Ave. N.; www.nashvillefarmersmarket.org.

Celebrity search — Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, housed in the former Cheek mansion, once home of Maxwell House Coffee investor Leslie Cheek. The neo-Georgian residence constructed in 1929 holds a permanent collection of 19th- and 20th-century art. The gardens are a masterpiece in themselves. Built on 55 acres, 8 ½ miles southwest of downtown, they have been judged among the top five in the South by Southern Living magazine. They feature the remarkable, 40-foot-long "Glass Bridge" on Cheekwood's Carell Woodland Sculpture Trail. Artist Siah Armajani's creation of 35,000 pounds of glistening glass spans a stream in a secluded grove. Through Jan. 2, you can see "The Art of Celebrity: Glamour Photography 1930-1960," featuring photographs of Hollywood starlets. Open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 adults, $8 seniors, $5 age 6-17. 1200 Forrest Park Dr.; 615-356-8000; www.cheekwood.org.

Tennessee history — The Tennessee State Museum, in the heart of downtown, is one of the largest state museums in the nation, with more than 60,000 square feet of permanent exhibition space and a 10,000-square-foot exhibition hall. The museum's interpretive exhibits begin 15,000 years ago, from the Prehistoric, Frontier, Age of Jackson, Antebellum, Civil War and Reconstruction periods through the early 1900s. These sections include special displays of furniture, silver, weapons, quilts and paintings produced by Tennesseans. The Tennessee State Museum's holdings of Civil War uniforms, battle flags and weapons are among the finest in the nation. The museum also has many one-of-a-kind items associated with Andrew Jackson, Daniel Boone, James K. Polk, Andrew Johnson, David Crockett, Sam Houston and Alvin York. Open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Free. Fifth and Deaderick streets; 800-407-4324; www.tnmuseum.org.

By Linda Lange