Digging Beneath the Surface: What a Nashville Tunnel Can Teach Us About Our Past with our Tours

If you’ve ever been on a Nashville History Tour with us, you know we’re not in the business of rattling off dates and pointing at plaques. We believe history lives in the streets. It's heard in the echoes of old saloons, seen in the cracks of cobblestone alleys, and, sometimes, felt in the quiet corners where no marker stands. That belief is at the heart of what we do at Nashville Adventures, and it's also what inspired my recent article published in The Tennessean—“From Mules to Musk: Nashville’s Journey Beneath the Surface.”

The piece explores how Nashville’s newest transportation proposal—a high-speed tunnel from downtown to the airport—mirrors a century-old debate about infrastructure, progress, and who gets a seat at the table when cities change. It dives deep into the old livestock corridors, Black-owned stables pushed to the margins, and how decisions about horses and hygiene a hundred years ago still echo in how we talk about tech and transit today.

But here’s why this matters to us: that article isn’t just a piece of opinion journalism—it’s a window into our entire philosophy as a tour company.

History Isn’t Behind Glass—It’s Beneath Your Feet

At Nashville Adventures, we run tours a little differently. We don’t stand in front of a building and recite a Wikipedia paragraph. We don’t stick to sanitized versions of Nashville's past. And we don’t believe history is something you "visit." We believe it’s something you stand in—something that shapes you, if you're paying attention.

Whether you’re on a Nashville Ghost Tour hearing about the lingering energy beneath Printers Alley, or walking with us through the former warehouse districts on a Nashville Tour of downtown, what we aim to offer is a deeper connection—something rooted in the truth that history isn’t just about what happened. It’s about what still matters.

The tunnel project makes for an interesting headline, sure. But it also raises some important questions that have always been part of Nashville’s story: Who’s the city being built for? Who gets left behind in the name of progress? And how do we carry our past with us without being buried by it?

Those are the kinds of questions we bring to life on every single tour.

Why Our Nashville Tours Stand Out

People often ask us what makes Nashville Adventures different. Is it the awards? (We’ve been fortunate to be named GM of the Year and Nashville Hitmaker of the Year.) Is it the 500+ five-star reviews? Is it the fact that we’ve grown over 1200% since our early days? Sure, all of that matters.

But if you ask me, it’s this: We treat storytelling like it matters. Because it does.

Every one of our guides is chosen for their passion, not just their ability to memorize bullet points. Every tour is designed to reveal the soul of the city—not just the skyline. We don’t rush people. We don’t fake it. And we don’t care if you’re a local or a tourist—we want you to walk away from a tour not just knowing more, but feeling more.

Because when you tell the right stories, you give people the tools to understand not just the city, but themselves.

What Ghost Tours Teach Us About the Living

Even on a Nashville Ghost Tour, where the lights are low and the vibes are spooky, we’re still doing what we always do: connecting the past to the present. You can’t tell a good ghost story without understanding what created the ghost in the first place. And half the time, the real history is stranger—and more powerful—than the legend.

That’s the magic of this city. Nashville has layers. And when we go digging—whether in an old stockyard, a haunted alley, or a proposed tunnel under Broadway—we don’t just find facts. We find meaning.

Why This Article Matters (And Why We Wrote It)

Publishing in The Tennessean wasn’t about publicity. It was about putting into words what we believe every day when we lead a tour: that the past is still with us, that infrastructure is never neutral, and that every city has choices to make about who it wants to be.

We don’t just walk you through Nashville. We walk you through the decisions, the conflicts, and the voices that shaped this city—and still shape it today.

So if you’re looking for a Nashville Tour that goes deeper, a Nashville History Tour that doesn’t flinch, or a Nashville Ghost Tour that gives you goosebumps and insight—you know where to find us.

Let’s keep digging. Together.

Check out the full article here: From Mules to Musk: Nashville’s Journey Beneath the Surface – The Tennessean