Hot Dogs + Ice Cream

Quick: Name something both cold and awesome. There's no way you said anything other than "ice cream" (unless it was "Charles Bronson"). Now name something hot and awesome. All right ... you probably didn't say "hot dogs," but odds are decent that you like those too.

If so, head over to East Nashville for the ideal summertime food combo. Not only are East Siders in close proximity to some of the city's best wieners, they've got some of the best ice cream too — and both on the same city block. Pied Piper Creamery and I Dream of Weenie, right off 11th and Woodland, are locally owned, neighborhood-supported and heartily Scene-endorsed.

And while you're walking through Five Points from one to the other on a stifling summer afternoon, convenience mandates you must stop for a cool libation (or five) at one of the East Side's legendary watering holes. Is that Middle Tennessee pollen making your throat a little itchy? Red Door/3 Crow proprietors DW and Ric Clarke can help you out with that. D. PATRICK RODGERS