Somewhere in my parents’ garage, there’s a half-painted, half-baked plywood thing that started life 29 years ago as a Father’s Day gift. Like many baby boomers, my parents are high-functioning hoarders, so there’s no shortage of stuff at their house. But I know my father keeps this particular piece of garbage so he can ask me, from time to time, when this “gift” will be ready for him to open.
While I maintain that the ability to hold this debacle over me is a gift in and of itself, I can tell you one thing my dad would’ve liked better for Father’s Day back in 1995: to spend the day with me. Unless your dad is Logan Roy or Jamie Spears, all he really wants is to hang out with you. It really is that simple! If you feel like you need to get Dad something, take a picture of you two hanging out, and print and frame a photo of that.
Most importantly, just enjoy the time. Here are five ways to do it.
Classic Cars at Cheekwood
1. Do Something You Can Only Do This Father’s Day
Catch Classic Cars at Cheekwood
Here’s the great thing about old cars: Even if you know (or care) nothing about them, they are pretty to look at. Cheekwood will be teeming with classic cars from the early to mid-20th century as well as vintage motorcycles on Sunday, June 16, for Father’s Day (and the Saturday before). They’ll have a barbershop quartet, vintage vinyl spinning, bar stations, food trucks and hands-on activities for kids. Your ticket to the gardens will also give you free rein to stomp among the trolls while you’re there, and it will be the last day to see the drawings of Edgar Degas, so it’s a perfect stop for Art Dad, Car Dad and Garden Dad all at once.
Enjoy Watches and Wheels
Watch Dad is just as real as Car Dad, Lawn Dad, or Craft Beer Dad. If you compliment a man on his watch and, 10 minutes later, you’re still hearing about dials, quartz or anything Swiss, you’ve met Watch Dad. And if this is your dad, you’re about to blow the tiny little hands off his timepiece (which is what he’ll call it) with this one-day-only event.
WATCHES+WHEELS is happening only on June 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Paseo South Gulch. It’s part block party for the new development but all celebration of dad via:
- Watches from Weiss Watch Company, which will be onsite selling their locally made timepieces, and
- Wheels from Lucid Motors, 615 Rovers and One Garage Nashville, an elevated members-only social club rooted in auto/moto culture.
In addition to all that metal, you can buy clothes from Loyal Stricklin and STAG Provisions or chain-stitched bandanas from RangerStitch (see why chain stitching is pretty badass here); tour the trendy Malin co-working space; get measured for a suit by Indochino; and enjoy live music organized by Carter Vintage Guitars.
You can also buy breakfast from All or Nothing Bagels, and score free food and drink including:
- Coffee from Barista Parlor
- Tacos from Maiz de la Vida
- Banana bread from Two Hands
- Beer from Marble Fox Brewing
- Bloody marys from Black Lion Vodka
Have Some Free Free-Wheelin' Fun
Rounding out the car-themed trifecta, dads will be admitted free to Lane Motor Museum on Father's Day with the purchase of one regular ticket. In addition to rides and demos, they'll be running vault tours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is a big deal, I'm told, by Sorta/Kinda Car Guy Stephen Trageser because LMM's car collection is so big they can only display a portion at a time. The rest they keep in a garage called "The Vault." Once available only a few times a year, Vault Tours are now available most weekends for an additional $10 per person — but not on Dad's day! Along with some other fun activities, Vault Tours are free on the 16th; however, they are first-come, first-served, so get there early if you know your dad will want to lay his eyes on all that sweet, secret, stowed-away metal.
Amelia's Flower Truck
Don’t forget flowers from Amelia’s. My father, a civil engineer by trade, was also our in-house florist growing up, and he still crafts a mean planter. Boys deserve bouquets too!
2. Do Something Dad Likes With Him
This one is highly subjective, but I’ve pulled a crazy array of things you can surprise Dad with day-of. Take Dad to:
Hear live music at:
- Station Inn (Sunday is gospel night!)
- The Bluebird Cafe, or, my personal favorite
- Robert’s Western World at 10:30 a.m. for weekly Sunday Service
Have tea at the Hermitage Hotel at 2 p.m. The special "Dad & Me" Tea will feature live music and a complimentary shoe shine in the famous men's restroom.
See Hairspray at TPAC at 1 or 6:30 p.m.
Curl at Tee Line (which is air-conditioned — a gift in itself).
Hit balls at Topgolf.
Play pickleball. (Just don’t forget to bring your own net for public courts.)
Ice skate at the Ford Ice Center.
Record a song at NashVox.
That last one is really a labor of love. There’s nothing short of improv I’d want to do less than let someone record me singing “Islands in the Stream'' with my dad, but if that was what he really wanted, I’d do it. Thank God he doesn't live here.
A still of the most historic moment ever to occur at NashVox: The Real Housewives of New Jersey recording a “song" on their visit to “Nashvegas.”
3. Take Dad to do Something Fun Later
This option is the move if you and Dad have shared interests but can’t find quite the right thing happening on June 16.
Heritage Fire
If any of those interests are food, fire or booze, get tickets to Heritage Fire for Sunday, June 23. The annual event at Stone Hall Mansion is $125 per ticket, and that gets you three hours of unlimited snacks, entertainment, spirits, wine and cocktails. If you didn’t catch that, the description lists alcohol three different ways, so factor in a rideshare, and be ready to try bites from heavy-hitting local chefs including:
- Anthony Pell, The Iberian Pig
- Brack May, Marsh House
- Edgar Victoria, Alebrije
- Kristin Beringson, Henley Nashville
- Travis Tanner, Bourbon Steak
If your dad’s less about food but still about spirits, wait for Whiskies of the World on Saturday, June 29, at Loews Nashville Hotel at Vanderbilt Plaza. For $125, you can try 150 expressions of bourbons, ryes, single malts, scotches and more, while enjoying exclusive masterclasses.
Knife forged by real-life dad and my real-life brother, Martin Akin
If, conversely, your dad is more about making food, take him to The Forge. The nonprofit serves aspiring creatives with a focus on giving at-risk youth the chance to discover their potential through making. Their Knife Forging classes are perfect for Chef Dad. He'll enjoy a two-day, 16-hour workshop consisting of class and shop time. Lunch and beers or beverages after class are included, and Dad will walk away with an 8-inch chef’s knife to keep.
If your dad’s a gardening guy, check out all the stuff coming up at Cheekwood. From “Diagnosing Tomato Disorders” to “Bonsai for Beginners,” I can promise you will enjoy reading the class names even if you don’t enjoy attending the classes with Dad.
Astronomy guy? Give Dad this Hatch Show print celebrating the Barnard-Seyfert Astronomical Society’s 90th anniversary, and then take him to an Astronomer Talk and Telescope Viewing at Dyer Observatory or a Public Star Party at Montgomery Bell State Park.
If Dad has the need for speed, the Rackley Roofing 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck series is coming up at the end of June. If he prefers motorcycles, book him some Sportbike Track Time.
If you don't pick red panda, you don't love your dad.
Animal lover? Snag a Backstage Pass Tour for a behind-the-scenes experience at the Nashville Zoo. Pick a rhino, giraffe, sloth, anteater, red panda (yes, please!) or whatever animal would strike your dad’s fancy.
Tip: If you really want to piss off your siblings, pick a cause your dad loves and schedule time to volunteer for it together.
4. Tour Something Historic
If you want to pinpoint the day you go from being “young” to “middle-aged,” it’s whatever day you buy a ticket to tour a dead person’s house. The Biltmore, Colonial Williamsburg, Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage (which has been branded with and without Jackson’s name a bunch of times based on how bad a dude we think he is at any given moment) — we’ve all been dragged to these old houses by our dads or teachers or both. But the day you personally want to see the desk where an old white dude wrote a letter to another old white dude, you’re middle-aged.
If your dad is such a history-loving fellow, he’s probably already been to The Hermitage and Carnton, but here’s the good news: Both likely have new tours to take since the last time he went. Remember when everyone finally realized (albeit way too late) that all of these Southern plantations should probably feature the stories of the enslaved people who lived there in addition to the people who enslaved them? Well, now most do.
Take Dad on the:
- Hermitage Enslaved: A Wagon Tour, which visits the fields where the majority of Jackson’s enslaved men, women and children worked and lived. You can add this impactful experience to any ticket for $15 at the box office (and that’s the only way you can buy it, likely because it’s weather-dependent, so you’ll have to do it onsite).
- In Their Footsteps: Lives of The Hermitage Enslaved walking tour to learn about the men, women and children who were enslaved here, as well as their stories after emancipation. This one sounds more interesting to me, however, you’ll have to do it later in the week as at the moment, it’s not offered on Sunday — or, inexplicably, on Juneteenth (though maybe we can complain enough to change that?!).
- Slavery & the Enslaved Tour at Carnton in Franklin — though again, you’ll have to hit that Saturday, Monday or later in the week as they’re not open on Sunday.
If all of that feels a bit heavy for Father’s Day, try something historically significant with a side of whiskey at Nearest Green Distillery Tour & Tasting in Shelbyville. If you don’t know the story behind Uncle Nearest whiskey, the short version is this: It was “Nearest” Green, an enslaved man, who actually taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. That makes Green the first known African American Master Distiller in history and kind of an enormous deal. On top of that, their whiskey is great, their facility is gorgeous — it cost $50 million to build and covers 458 acres — and they’ve got awards out the wazoo to prove it.
If you need to stay inside the city limits, hit some easy music history with a trip to the National Museum of African American Music, Johnny Cash’s tour bus at the Ryman, or any parts of the musical trinity of tours departing from the Omni Hotel: the Country Music Hall of Fame, Hatch Show Print and Historic RCA Studio B.
5. Treat Dad to Self-Care (That He’d Never Get Without You)
Men’s feet are notoriously tragic. My husband didn’t get a pedicure until I insisted he do it pre-honeymoon, despite the fact he’s a chef and is on his feet 60 to 80 hours a week. My dad didn’t do it until he turned 80 and literally couldn’t bend down to clip his toenails. But getting your grubby little feet rubbed is one of the simplest, truest joys in the world! Don’t deny your dad — or yourself — this pleasure.
If your dad’s never had any fancy footwork, try these:
- Signature Nail in Green Hills is a great place for first-timers because it’s huge and bustling, so no one’s going to bat an eye if Dad feels silly or uncomfortable.
- Serenity on Harding Pike is smaller but also typically busy, and it has two side rooms you can request if you really want privacy.
- If you don’t want to jump into the full nail-cutting, exfoliating treatment, ease Dad into it with an appointment (you must make one!) at Bucca Reflexology. If Dad likes any kind of massage, he’ll like Bucca, and you’ll both wonder how you lived without after you try it.
Finally, if you know Dad’s too squeamish for foot stuff, treat him to a fancy straight-razor shave somewhere like Scout’s or The Moose. I don’t (yet) have enough facial hair to get one of these, but as soon as menopause makes that my reality, I fully plan to enjoy one.
