It took us forever to decide where to go this year: different places are more expensive this time of year (Seattle), other places were deemed too hot (Texas), others were too far/expensive (Tokyo)... (Okay, Tokyo was not really in the running. But how cool would that be? Answer: very.) Nashville was cheap, within driving distance of two of us, and we hadn't been there before.
I drove the 5.5 hours from Lafayette to Nashville Thursday morning. That's the farthest I've ever driven by myself. Is that weird? I've just always had another adult or kid in the car. Anyways, it was great. I listened to music and podcasts, stopped when I wanted, shook my fists at Kentucky because the GPS signal kept getting lost. Good times. The drive wasn't that scenic, but I actually really enjoyed the time to myself!
I picked Deidra up from the airport and we eventually met up with Cyndi and Kanien at the Opry Mills Mall, which is right next to the Grand Ole Opry House. You can't go to Nashville and not see that, right?
It was... big. And brick. And that's about it. I'm not really into country music and had no desire to pay for a tour. So this picture out front? Good enough for me!
Cyndi and Kanien had a bit more fun.
Then we wandered the Opryland Resort for a while. That place is HUGE! The atrium with the garden was pretty impressive. It was nice and cool inside, which was a nice contrast to the heat outside. (Seriously, it was in the 90s the entire trip. What the what, Nashville?)
That night we ate at The Pharmacy, which is a local place that came with rave reviews. It had cooled off enough to eat in the Biergarten, and we shared giant hamburgers that were pretty delicious!
It must be said here that the whole trip was pretty much spent chatting. We chatted each night and all during our wanderings. We discussed our families, the gospel, life, the universe, and everything. And this is why I love these trips.
The next morning we parked across the river, hiked across the pedestrian bridge (HOT), and wandered downtown Nashville. Nashville is a big city in the same way that Indy or SLC are big cities. They have a skyline and business district, but there isn't the urban sprawl like in bigger cities like LA or NY. We walked down Broadway street, which has all of the honky tonk bars and touristy stuff, but since we don't drink or really listen to country, we didn't stop.
We did, however, have to stop for Elvis. Deidra was smoother with The King than I was.
I was trying to look star-struck.
But ended up goofy.
The obligatory group selfie.
We walked around the Country Music Walk of Fame and took a picture at Elvis's star, but I can't find that dang picture anywhere now!
We had a quick lunch at Acme Feed & Seed, which was this really cool place downtown, but obviously not so cool that I remembered to take pictures. Dang. It was big and industrial and country, and you could sit at big group tables or smaller ones. The food was pretty good, although the hush puppies were not as great as the ones I remember from my childhood in NC.
We spent the afternoon on the Hatch Show Print tour, which was REALLY cool. (I studied printing and stuff like this in college. I still love it.) It was fascinating to watch the letterpress printing and to learn the history of the company.
Of course one of the printers wore a kilt. It just seemed right.
The walls were covered in their designs and I took pictures of several of my favorites, but I can't find them either. I'm getting the feeling I deleted some things that I did not mean to delete. Dang.
We even got to print the red parts of a mini poster that we got to take home. The perfect souvenir!
Here's the little letterpress we got to use.
I bought a "the party is this way" poster. I'd show a picture, but it's still safely rolled up until I can get a frame and hang it up in the basement. (Deidra bought "It's a girl" and "It's a boy" posters. She used the girl one last week to announce the newest Hartwell that will be here in February. Woo-hoo!)
After the tour, in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
On our way out of town we stopped at the Goo Goo shop, where I bought a couple of boxes for my kids because candy is pretty much the perfect 'surprise' for my kids when I go on trips. (My kids always request a 'surprise' when I go on a trip. I'm about 50/50 on honoring this request.)
True story: within the first 10 minutes of being home from Nashville I realized I had left the Goo Goo Clusters and posters on the bed at the rental house. $@#@^(@$%!!!! My kids were sooooo sad. (And so was I! Actually, not sad. Mad at myself, really.) But the rental owner was so kind and mailed them to me! We got them yesterday and they were the perfect treat for FHE.
Here's Nissan stadium, as seen while walking on the bridge back to the car.
Nashville's skyline.
It was a pretty fun place to visit! And a great time of year - except for the heat. But few tourists.
That night we had dinner at a place called the Whiskey Kitchen. It came highly recommended by our rental house owner. It was... not great. Well, the food was okay. The Green Tomato BLT Deidra and I split was awesome. But the place was LOUD. And HOT. Seriously, where was the AC? We asked our waitress to please turn up the fan, so she did and then our hair and napkins flew everywhere! Maybe we're just too old and not cool enough for that kind of place. Dang.
A bit unsatisfied by dinner, we struck out for what was heralded as "The best ice cream in Nashville, if not the US": Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. That random reviewer was correct. It was SOO good. I had a scoop of Wildberry Lavender and Darkest Chocolate, and it was amazing. No pictures of the ice cream, but I did snap one of the milk bottle chandelier. Seriously, what is my thinking when it comes to taking pictures? I can't explain it.
We spent the next morning touring Andrew Jackson's Hermitage. It was really neat! Big old house, 90%+ original furnishings, interesting recorded and live tours. Andrew and his wife had a pretty rough go in life, sheesh. Makes me glad to live in this time!
You can't take pictures in the house, but it was big and impressive. The grounds were beautiful, and to the left you can see a bunch of white chairs set up for a wedding. It'd be a beautiful place for one, but it was already steamy hot before noon. I suspect it was a short ceremony!
After the hermitage we drove down to Franklin, which has a really cute downtown full of restaurants and boutiques. We at at this place called Merridee's Breadbasket and it was SO good. With the checked tablecloth, chicken salad, chips and Coke, it made for the perfect lunch. I don't know what it was about that chicken salad, but it was delicious! We each bought a slice of pie to share - key lime was the best.
We wandered up and down main street, popping into little boutiques that all started to look the same after a while. Many of them had cute pumpkins for sale, but not cute prices. (One large glass pumpkin was $240! Cole was very impressed by this when I told him about it, and he keeps bringing it up.)
The best part of Anthropology are the displays. I hope to some day have a reason to make a clothespin swag like this... (Just dyed clothespins and netting - how hard could it be?!)
Our final stop in Nashville was the Parthenon. Apparently it was built for Nashville's 100th birthday. It's a full scale replica, so pretty darn big.
But it's made out of cement, not stone, so maybe not quite as impressive as the original. It just seemed weird to have it there - I mean, why the Parthenon, Nashville?
It was fun to walk around and snap some pictures, but the craft fair that was going on right next to it was even better. There were a ton of booths selling all sorts of handmade crafts, art, carvings, etc.
I splurged and bought a little hand-blown glass pumpkin. But I didn't take a picture of it and I'm too lazy (and my ankle too sprained) for me to get up and take one.
That night we got tacos to go at Mas Tacos. It's not much to look at on the outside - in fact, it reminded me of taco places down in LA. (Bars on windows, old paint, etc.) But it was PACKED, which is always a good sign. The tacos, once we got them home, were delicious and went perfectly with the awesome salsa Kanien made.
That night we made a simple craft while we watch the General Women's broadcast. It was the perfect ending to the day.
Kudos to Kanien for finding this on Pinterest - it was the perfect craft for that night! (Read: easy and cute.)
The next morning Cyndi and Deidra were up before dawn for Deidra's flight. Kanien and I got to drive back to Lafayette together (her husband had stuff at Purdue), and it was awesome. It felt like a treat to get Kanien all to myself for that long, and then to get to have lunch and pedicures with her the next day!
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| The chalk wall in the house we rented. |
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