🚗 Nashville’s first toll lanes

🍅 The Tomato Art Fest Starts Tomorrow!

It’s Tomato Art Fest time! Nashville’s quirkiest festival celebrates tomatoes and our creative local arts community, and it kicks off this weekend in East. The City Cast Nashville podcast team has the scoop on what to expect. [🎧 City Cast Nashville]

📱 FBI Seize Andy Ogles’ Cell Phone

FBI agents executed a search warrant last week and confiscated Congressman Andy Ogles’ cell phone. Ogles believes the FBI seized the phone to investigate his campaign finances after he falsely claimed he spent $320,000 on his campaign. [NewsChannel 5]

• Ogles recently defeated Metro Councilmember Courtney Johnston in the Aug. 1 primary. [Tennessee Lookout]

🌳 Free Trees!

Want some free trees? The Root Nashville is offering free trees to Davidson County residents, as well as help planting the trees. Individual homeowners can receive up to three free trees, while community organizations and businesses can request up to 10. Order your free trees by Aug. 31. [NewsChannel 5]

🚗 Nashville’s First Toll Lanes

Tennessee’s first toll lanes, called “Choice Lanes,” will soon be coming to I-24 between Nashville and Murfreesboro. Public buses, TDOT officials, and paying motorists can use these lanes for speedier travel. Community members can express their opinions and concerns about the lanes at upcoming public meetings. [WKRN]

I have a deep, profound love for tiki drinks, instilled in me by my parents who built a tiki bar in their basement as their pandemic project, so here’s a guide to some of the best tiki drinks around town. All of these recs are in East Nashville, which means you could even do a tiki bar-hopping night!

🏝️ The Tiki Bars

Chopper Tiki

I ought to disclose that I am a regular at Chopper to the degree that I begged them to give me the recipe to their Dopamine cocktail so I could make it for my birthday. The Dopamine is a bourbon, coconut, and coffee cocktail … and I will not be giving you the recipe. (I’m sworn to secrecy.)

The menu changes seasonally and for major holidays (like May 4, as in “May the fourth be with you”) so there’s always something new to try. They have non-alcoholic versions of a bunch of their cocktails, too. If you’re hungry, the Maiz de la Vida taco truck outside is a late night food option I would be smitten with even if it didn’t come alongside tiki drinks. You can order at the food truck and have your food brought to you inside the bar. I’d highly recommend the birria tacos.

Side note: I’m very excited to hear Maiz de la Vida is opening a brick and mortar shop soon in the Gulch! Yum.

Pearl Diver

Pearl Diver has a really cool, retro aesthetic, with comfy seating and a photo booth (which I am a sucker for). There are a ton of tiki drinks on the menu, as well as shareable snacks. I had the Papas Bravas as a snack and, while it is meant to be shared, I ate it all. I’m currently obsessed with the Yum Yum, a creamy coconut rum drink with a little bit of Thai basil, Thai chili, lemongrass, and lime. It comes in an adorable (tiny) glass, so it’s a sipper. They also have an outside area in the back that’s lovely on a nice night.