Okay, okay, I know what you're thinking. Is this girl done traveling yet?!
All my trips recently have happened all at once, but I am officially grounded for a little bit and am happy to be home! I've loved being able to write about my trips here on the blog because not only do I get to share my adventures with you, but it also serves as a journal for me to document all the memories.
Most recently, one of my best girlfriend's from college, and I took a road trip to Nashville to celebrate her graduation and my birthday! She visited Nashville multiple times before; she loves it so much that she wants to call it home someday soon. I, on the other hand, had never been before! So Kristen did the planning and I did the driving and we made a great team!
We left on a Thursday and came home on a Sunday. The drive is a little over seven hours but didn't seem as long as I was expecting. We stayed at an Airbnb that was about 15 minutes away from downtown Nashville. The place was adorable, cozy and the perfect size for the two of us. We arrived a little after 5 P.M. and got ready for our evening plans.
| THURSDAY NIGHT |
On Thursday night, we had a scheduled ride on a Pedal Tavern (more on that later) but wanted to grab a bite to eat first. Our original plan was to try Hattie B's Chicken, but the line was long and we didn't have a lot of time to wait. We ended up at Tin Roof and had a quick dinner with some live music.
Our Pedal Tavern ride was at 9 P.M. If you're not familiar with what exactly a Pedal Tavern is, (I wasn't either!) it's basically a big vehicle with seats all the way around for a group of riders. The riders pedal (like bike pedals!) to move and you drink and listen to music throughout the ride. (It's BYOB!) It's a two hour ride with a few stops along the way at different bars that offer Pedal Tavern rider's drink specials. This was one of my favorite things we did because it's a great way to see the different streets of downtown Nashville, you can drink without having to spend money at the bar and we met some really nice people along the way. After the ride, we went to Tootsies to dance for a while before calling it a night.
| FRIDAY MORNING |
We woke up and got ready Friday morning and headed to The Gulch to go to Biscuit Love. The wait was only about 20 minutes and it was WORTH. IT. Their sweet tea alone is worth the wait, and for brunch, I got the biscuits and gravy and it was SO delicious. After brunch, we spotted Amelia's Flower Truck and took some photos before driving over to 12 South.
Our first stop in 12 South was none other than Draper James. I'm a huge Reese Witherspoon fanatic and couldn't wait to see her store in person. After playing dress up, we checked out some other fun stores and took pictures by all the murals scattered throughout the neighborhood. A guest blog post by Kristen is in the works that will be a guide to all the Nashville murals- stay tuned!
After a day of exploring, we stopped at Five Daughters Bakery to treat ourselves to some donuts, which just happen to be our favorite, on (ironically) National Donut Day! The donuts lived up to the hype and were out of this world.
| FRIDAY NIGHT |
After relaxing for a while at our Airbnb, we changed outfits and headed to dinner at the FGL House. Kristen tried the margarita flatbread and I got the shrimp and grits. We both tried some drink specials and sat at the bar to take it all in. After dinner, we made our way to the rooftop for some music and dancing. This was definitely one of my favorite places we went to!
We barhopped the rest of the night and I can truthfully say that navigating the crowds on Broadway at night gets a little frustrating! We eventually went back to our Airbnb to drink in the comfort of our own place.
| SATURDAY MORNING |
We slept in Saturday morning before getting ready for our day. We drove to the Pancake Pantry anticipating a long wait, but it actually helped that we went closer to lunchtime! We only had to wait about 10 minutes. They were some of the best pancakes I've ever had, and trust me, I've eaten a lot of pancakes in my day. I tried the chocolate chip and the banana bread pancakes, but it's hard to pick a favorite!
After brunch, we walked around Hillsboro Village and found some fun places to shop where we both spent too much money, but TREAT. YO'. SELF. We drove through Music Row, which I personally thought was super cool, on our way to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Kristen had been to the Hall of Fame before, but I'm grateful she tagged along so I could experience it as well!
| SATURDAY NIGHT |
After our busy day out and about, we dolled ourselves up and decided to go out for a nice dinner. We passed a restaurant called The Diner a few times throughout our trip so we decided to try it out! The restaurant has multiple floors, some of them serving different menus, and we were on the fifth floor with a table right by the open windows. The view was beautiful and the sun was just starting to set. The food was delicious too!
After dinner, Kristen was dying to check out Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row bar, which was a new addition to Broadway since her last visit. This was another one of my favorites because the drinks were good and the live music was SO good. Afterward, a high school friend of mine who lives in Nashville had us over for a bonfire for a little while before we had to turn in and get some sleep.
We headed for home Sunday morning, which was brutal because we were exhausted. But we made it back to Illinois safe and sound!
*****
Overall, our girls trip to Nashville was something we both needed AND deserved! I was really fortunate that Kristen knew so much about the city because I never felt lost or unsure of what to do next. There are a couple of places on my list that we didn't have time for, but that is just more of a reason to go back and do some more exploring!
Where are you and your girl gang headed this summer?
Thanks Nashville,
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