• The 12 South Carriage House
    • About The Space
    • During Your Stay
    • A Little About Us
  • The 12 South Neighborhood
    • Neighborhood Noshes >
      • Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
      • Drinks & Treats
      • Belmont Blvd.
    • Shop Til You Drop
    • Hit The Gym
    • Must See & Do >
      • Attractions & Activities
      • 12 South Murals "Public Art Crawl"
      • Events & Happenings
    • Necessities
  • Nashville
    • Nashville Noshes >
      • For The Foodie
      • Local Favorites
      • A Taste of Nashville
      • Cocktails & Speakeasies
    • Getting Around Town
    • Must See & Do >
      • Nashville Highlights
      • Music in Music City
      • Family Fun
      • Parks & Outdoor Fun
      • Day Tripping
      • Events & Happenings
  • Contact Us
    • Links
    • Construction Update
    • In The Press
    • Get Perks
    • Stay With Our Friends
  • Emergency Info
  • Blog
12 South Carriage House
  • The 12 South Carriage House
    • About The Space
    • During Your Stay
    • A Little About Us
  • The 12 South Neighborhood
    • Neighborhood Noshes >
      • Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
      • Drinks & Treats
      • Belmont Blvd.
    • Shop Til You Drop
    • Hit The Gym
    • Must See & Do >
      • Attractions & Activities
      • 12 South Murals "Public Art Crawl"
      • Events & Happenings
    • Necessities
  • Nashville
    • Nashville Noshes >
      • For The Foodie
      • Local Favorites
      • A Taste of Nashville
      • Cocktails & Speakeasies
    • Getting Around Town
    • Must See & Do >
      • Nashville Highlights
      • Music in Music City
      • Family Fun
      • Parks & Outdoor Fun
      • Day Tripping
      • Events & Happenings
  • Contact Us
    • Links
    • Construction Update
    • In The Press
    • Get Perks
    • Stay With Our Friends
  • Emergency Info
  • Blog

Blog

CARRIAGE HOUSE NEWS & TALES FROM THE ROAD

A Visit To the Downtown (Main) Library Branch Story Time & Children's Wing

3/6/2019

0 Comments

 
The Children's wing & Storytime at the Downtown (Main Branch) Library are a fairytale in and of themself.  We've heard their praises sung for years and I truly don't know what took me so long to get there, but we're now hooked. The photo below doesn't even begin to do justice to how awesome the show was, but it's hard to capture the space, and also I found out after I took it that I wasn't supposed to have my phone out, (oops!) so I gave up on getting a better photo.
Picture
Way more than a storytime, this is an all-out production.  Two actors/librarians/storytellers/lovely humans wove together hilarious dialogue with big-kid vocabulary words, puppets, songs and stories.  The whole thing was masterfully orchestrated in such a way that I couldn't tell if it was brilliant off-the cuff improv, or the result of hours of meticulous memorization. They closed out the show with a song and moment that I found so touching I actually teared up.  
As awesome as the storytime was, I'd be remiss if I didn't give a full report on the rest of the children's wing.
Picture
Everything in the entire place is so well thought out like the mini-library shaped book drop (see photo to the left) and a strategically placed bucket of board-books that my daughter loved pulling out one-by-one to read.  There's also a pretty epic indoor jungle-gym/playground thing that looks like the Nashville skyline (see photo below) that is worth the trip there by itself. (See photo below)
Picture
Picture
I waited for a quiet moment so I wouldn't invade the privacy of any families, but just a few minutes prior to this photo, this play-center was crawling with kiddos.  There's also a mini rock-climbing wall (!!!) for the older kiddos, and a Ryman Auditorium shaped puppet show theater across the room in the toddler section. All in all, you need to get this on your calendar, whether you can make it for storytime, or if you're going anytime the library is open to enjoy the space and oh yeah, check out some books!  In fact, you might find us there almost every afternoon from now on that it's too rainy/cold/hot to be outside.  
Check out the know-before-you-go box below with helpful tips, and we'll see you there!
Downtown (Main Branch) Library Children's Wing & Storytime
Address: 615 Church Street - Nashville, TN 37219

​Cost: The Library & Storytime are Free!

Parking: We recommend you park in the "Library" Parking Garage.  Bring your parking ticket in with you to the main desk downstairs and get a validation stamp and the first 1.5 hours are free!  IMPORTANT NOTE: Keep your parking ticket safe - the lost ticket fee is $20. See the "tips" section in the next column for more parking info.  ------>

Story Times: Tuesdays & Wednesdays, 9:30 AM, 10:30 AM, and 11:30 AM. 

​Library Hours: Monday - Friday: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
                            Saturday: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
                            Sunday: 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Our Opinion: We truly can't think of a better way to spend time than this amazing kids library space!  The storytellers used puppets, songs, fabulous book selections and hilarious dialogue to keep every single kid in the room amazed and engaged.  I give it all the thumbs up.

Tips: A friend gave us a heads up that it's easiest to find parking for the 9:30 showing and we were glad we took her advice!  We still had a little trouble finding a space but by the time we left there were hardly any to be found.  I'd recommend allotting 15 minutes to walk from your car into the library, get upstairs and find a seat (more if your kiddos are prone to wandering or if you're wrangling a stroller, less if you've got older kids).
The entrance to the library is on the 4th floor of the parking garage.  Once you are inside the main lobby, take the grand staircase up to the second floor.  Kids wing is on the left, storytime theater is all the way at the back of the wing.
0 Comments

A Visit to the TN State Museum Children's Gallery

3/5/2019

2 Comments

 
It's been chilly in Nashville so I've been on the hunt for indoor activities to keep our [super energetic] 14 month old occupied.  This afternoon we hopped in the car and headed just a couple miles to the TN State Museum in Downtown Nashville to check out their Children's Gallery!
Picture
Picture
Picture
The Children's Gallery is a huge room decorated with amazing murals of Nashville, Tennessee wildlife, song lyrics, factoids or things to look for (like the one our racoon friend is sharing below.)  The floor is an incredible mural as well; a giant map of the state of Tennessee with cities and landmarks.  At one end of the room is a set of bookshelves with favorite children's stories plus some blocks and a few toys for smaller kiddos.  At the other end is a table with crayons and colored pencils with coloring pages featuring current museum exhibits so you can " #ColorOurCollections " (see photo below).
Picture
Picture
Picture
Curator Matt was on hand the entire time if we had questions and very graciously let Clare carry around a clipboard featuring a scavenger hunt of objects and locations to find hidden among the murals and activities to do when you found them. The website recommends the children's gallery for ages 3-8 and I definitely think that we were a little young to get the full experience of reading the facts, doing the scavenger hunt and coloring the printouts.  However, Clare absolutely LOVED running around the map and stopping to point out various rivers and places and brightly colored animals.  We also colored and read several books that were new to her (and Mama!). The bluegrass music they had playing was also a hit, and she frequently stopped what she was doing for a dance break. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
All in all it was definitely a fun way to blow off some steam indoors on a chilly afternoon!  We didn't venture into the rest of the museum today, but it's absolutely worth visiting as well.  
Be sure to check out the "Know Before You Go" box below for info - we hope you enjoy your visit!
TN State Museum - Children's Gallery 
Address: 1000 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208

​
Cost: Admission to the museum & parking are both free!!!

Hours: Mon- Closed
              Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
              Thurs - 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
              Sun - 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The museum is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day & Easter
Our Opinion: Kids age 3-8 will love the scavenger hunt & coloring activities.  Kids under 3 will love the bookshelf, blocks, and running around the map/pointing to murals on the walls.  Free admission and parking are always a win, and the fact that it's indoors makes it a primo rainy/hot/cold activity.  
If you're hoping for lots of exhibits or interactive activities, know that this is mostly a make-your-own-fun type space.  Depending on the age of your kids, we'd recommend allotting 15 minutes - 1 hour to enjoy the space, although if you coupled it with exploring the entire museum, you could easily spend several hours.
2 Comments

    bETHANY, YOUR HOST

    AirBnB Superhost Bethany has lived in Nashville since 2006 and loves finding fun things to do at home and on the road!

    Archives

    February 2023
    August 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2020
    April 2019
    March 2019

    topics

    All
    12 South Neighborhood
    Arts
    Eats
    Free
    Hosting Tips
    Indoor Activities
    In The Press
    Kids
    Nashville TN
    On The Road
    Shopping

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • The 12 South Carriage House
    • About The Space
    • During Your Stay
    • A Little About Us
  • The 12 South Neighborhood
    • Neighborhood Noshes >
      • Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
      • Drinks & Treats
      • Belmont Blvd.
    • Shop Til You Drop
    • Hit The Gym
    • Must See & Do >
      • Attractions & Activities
      • 12 South Murals "Public Art Crawl"
      • Events & Happenings
    • Necessities
  • Nashville
    • Nashville Noshes >
      • For The Foodie
      • Local Favorites
      • A Taste of Nashville
      • Cocktails & Speakeasies
    • Getting Around Town
    • Must See & Do >
      • Nashville Highlights
      • Music in Music City
      • Family Fun
      • Parks & Outdoor Fun
      • Day Tripping
      • Events & Happenings
  • Contact Us
    • Links
    • Construction Update
    • In The Press
    • Get Perks
    • Stay With Our Friends
  • Emergency Info
  • Blog