Greetings to my TN friends.

I leave Friday for a family vacation to TN.  We're staying out trip off with a few days up in the mountains and maybe a day or so into the tourist trap of Gatlinburg and pigeon forge.  On our way back to MO we also have 2 days planned to stay in Nashville and do the downtown thing.

We have a VRBO in the chestnut hill area outside the city and wanted to see if anyone could provide any info on the area.

I lived and worked in Saint Louis city growing up so I know my way around rough neighborhoods, but wanting to know how rough it is...

The house has a 2 car garage so thankfully not leaving the cars on the street.

Any additional info on hiking and trout fishing near or around the pigeon forge area is also welcome.

Thanks TN gang.

As to the trout fishing, pay special attention to where you fish. Not all areas are the same license and regulation wise. Inside the National Park is very different than outside the park in Gatlinburg. The Hiwassee, Tellico, etc., all have different regs and license requirements.

Thanks for the replies.   Appreciate the heads up on the regs, hoping to find some streams off the beaten path.

Nashville being what it is,  my wife and daughter want to check out a few of the bars so I'll be tagging along to keep an eye on them.   No real desire myself to go,  is rather spend a few more days in the mountains...

Fly fishing or spin fishing?

I brought a few 3wts and a few 4.5ft creek spinning rods for my girls.  They can sling a fly rod,  but not very practiced in tight quarters.

I'll def be hawking momand daughter.   Were not going to be out all night partying, just want to check out the scene for a bit then head hack home.

Thank you again guys!

Might be gentrified to some degree, but it's too close to the JC Napier housing project to be considered "safe".  

Arrived at the house on 2nd street.  Not as bad as some areas in STL I've been around, very gentrified... my biggest problem is my Yukie XL won't fit in the garage and will be on the street for 48 hours...

In downtown Nashville at Jason Aldeans bar... lots of homeless on the way in, about like STL.  Wife and I are both strapped despite all the bars being posted.

Do not leave anything of value in it.  Check on it periodically.  One of the apparent favorite pastimes of 'teens' in Nashville is to pick a section of street and walk along busting car windows in the middle of the night, to see what they might be able to find.  That used to be a Memphis thing, but now it's also a Nashville thing.

In the last week or so, there was a news report about a group of four or five of them abandoning a car and torching it, and it was surprising how many people left comments indicating that they could not understand why they would abandon a car and set fire to it.  Some people lead sheltered lives.

I ventured into the dollar general to grab a case of water.  That was an interesting trip... never really felt unsafe despite the boarded up front door, and some strange looks I got from is patrons   Wouldn't take the family there,  but nothing worse then what I've been around in STL.  Really it's about like downtown STL lots of rebuilt areas surrounded by some not so nice areas.

We did hard rock Cafe last night on the strip which was pretty meh, and today did the Opry tour,  then hit the Gaylord and the big mall.

Appreciate all the replies,  been a good trip so far,  heading back to Missouri in the morning.  Anything else around Nashville or 40 westbound we should see?  

You guys have a beautiful state for sure. Always love visiting here.