Nashville
May 2017
What's a more American place to be over Memorial Day weekend than in the heart of country music? We took advantage of our long weekend (and Monday off work without using a vacation day) and headed about 4.5 hours south to Nashville, Tennessee! With so much to do, eat, and drink in Music City, I'm not quite sure how we fit in as much as we did.
So what is the first thing you do upon arriving in Nashville? Check into your Airbnb! This is honestly the best option for finding a place to stay anymore. Hotels anywhere within a 30 minute drive of downtown were $300+ per night for the weekend we were going, and we got this adorable tiny house in East Nashville for $300.... total! For the little amount of time we were planning to spend resting this is exactly what we needed. We saved a ton of money by going this route and were able to do a lot of really fun things with the extra cash.
In Nashville you are completely surrounded by music at all times, whether it be live cover bands, country super stars, record stores or the Country Music Hall of Fame. We got to experience a little bit of everything that this music town has to offer. Our first musical encounter was our first night there when Nick drug us to a dingy little venue to see a random band playing songs that involved a lot of screaming and not a lot of anything else. He insisted it would be good, but considering us two made up 1/5 of the total crowd, I think he may have been wrong. There are no photos to document this experience. Thankfully.
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Things only went up from there though as we hit up Broadway where live music is streaming out of the windows of the bars lining the streets. There is something for everyone on this street - bad karaoke, fun cover bands and country originals. Add in the drinks and neon lights and its impossible to have a less than spectacular time here. The Tin Roof is where we ended up spending most of the night our second night in Nashville. With two stories of twinkle lights and neon signs and a fun pop rock cover band playing up front, we saw no reason to leave until the night was over.
But music is good sober, too. The next morning we drove out to Third Man Records, Jack White's record label and Nick's favorite place in the world. After, we went down to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry, two staples of the Nashville. It was interesting to learn about the history of what is now one of the most successful genres in music. You don't have to be a hardcore fan of the genre to appreciate what has been accomplished throughout the years or to respect the icons that helped it along the way.
With Nashville being home to many celebrities, we were bound to run into at least one right? We actually met a ton! They were all so nice and they all took pictures with us. However, they were just a little waxy....
Did you know that Nashville also has an artsy side? The walls of Nashville are covered in beautiful murals all throughout the city. If you're interested in checking these out, there are some great lists on google with pictures and locations of some of the most popular ones, like the "I Believe in Nashville" flag, but keep your eyes peeled because you never know when you'll spot on that wasn't on the list!
Nashville Recommendations:
1. Check out the murals! Click here for the list I loved
2. Madame Tussauds Nashville (because you probably aren't going to see any stars in real life)
3. Mission BBQ - this was the best thing I ate in 3 days. Eat it every chance you get. It is located right across from the Grand Ole Opry.
4. Broadway - this is the place to be at night. Check out this list and find the place that's perfect for your night out
5. Taylor Swift stalking (not in a creepy way, but in an adoring fan kinda way)