A Fantastic Four Days in Music City

This is not a travel blog, but then you might not be a traveler. I’m not really either, but this is a blog for vulnerability and being a better human and really understanding yourself and so you are in exactly the right place you should be in reading this. My husband and I are about to be married 15 years on July 26th. This is a monumental moment in our existence. What with all the places we have lived, and the jobs we have tried and the tantrums I have thrown, 15 years is a long time to be attached. I try to think I am a good ball and chain, but sometimes I am fairly loud, clunky, unkempt one.

Joe wanted to take a cruise to celebrate. I said YAY let’s cruise. Then I went on the internet and researched cruises. I came straight back to him and said sometimes the food is bad and the waves are strong, people give covid to each other and then they can’t come out of their room and un covid, sometimes you can’t even port because the water is wrong, or storm systems are coming in and then they need someone to steer the ship. At that point he went in the bathroom and closed the door. I continued to bang on it and give him more negatives about the cruise and he just shouted back OKAY NO MORE CRUISE.

So that is how we landed on what I wanted to do, which is Nashville. It’s important to compromise after 15 years. Nashville has ALWAYS appealed to me. I can’t sing, but I love country music. It is the art of storytelling that gets me and the hats and tight jeans. There is really a lot to it. Joe booked the tickets, but I researched to the ends of the Earth. I read blogs, I made a google doc for all the places to go, I made one for what to do when things went wrong. I mean I was really prepped. It’s really weird, because I am a messy kind of person, but when I want something, there is no one more organized. I also hate flying so I had to put on my big girl pants to amp up for that.

The travel day passed with delays and bad airport food and ended with us finally getting an Uber to our hotel in Nashville after midnight. We chose Hutton Hotel, which was fancy, but not too fancy and had musicians most afternoons and evenings in the lobby. We never ate any food there, because there are too many yummy places to eat in Nashville to have a bad breakfast sandwich. Sorry Hutton Hotel!

The first morning we woke up, I dragged Joe straight to a topnotch tourist spot called the Gulch. The Gulch is very trendy, very instagram worthy and that is why a lot of women visit it on their girl trips. All the ladies also wear mostly white, they have large breasts and pose in front of all of the adorable murals. But readers, I am here to tell you, you don’t need a drunk girl squad, large breasts, or a white dress! You can do it without.

We went to Milk and Honey and put our name on the list and while we waited, we got in a long line to stand in front of one of the most famous murals in the Gulch. It is a little awkward to have such a long line waiting and watching you “get your picture made” (that’s how they say it down south). I got over this very quickly however and began to go up to people asking them to take a picture of Joe and I, and please get our best side. While we waited for Milk and Honey, I got hangry and we stopped at a Juiced smoothie place. I ordered the athlete which was a tasty little number and I highly recommend if you love breakfast as much as I do. Below is a photo of what we ate for breakfast at Milk and Honey and why we needed to do so much walking after the fact.

Speaking of walking, we did a lot of it. So while you may want to wear your cute shoes, I would say in the summer time no. Like you don’t have to wear your orthopedic sneakers, unless you need them in which case strap those suckers on Russell! But don’t rent a car, just do an Uber when your legs are real good and tired and wear your walking shoes, or walking boots! It is Nashville after all.

Once our breakfast was done, we went on our first bus tour. This bus tour is a celebrity house tour. Sounds fun doesn’t it? You get to see all the places the stars reside. Even if you don’t like country, this is fun, because Glenn is so adorable. He is very knowledgeable on how much every place costs and which star sold to who, and who likes to walk around naked in their dining room and who divorced so and so, but gave the house to their nanny. I personally love all this trivia. I began to repeat in Glenn we trust as the tour ended and if you go on this tour and see Taylor’s Swifts 27th property, please tip Glenn, he deserves it! He even accepts venmo.

Next up, we tried one of the 80 million restaurant bars. The first night we went to a very large one (Whiskey Kitchen I think), with one of those bulls to ride on. This had a good band, but it was my least favorite. It felt like a bar you might go to for a bachelor party and then Steve gets left in the bathroom and no one notices.

The next morning we woke up and made our way to Biscuit Love and boy did I love. Biscuit Love has more locations then the one we went too, but the nice part part about this joint is that the food is amazing, but fairly quick. Don’t be deterred by the line, it moves quick! I suggest the homemade chai tea and the egg plate with the ol biscuit and homemade jam. They have a station where you can get water or sparkling water and some of us are cheap and fill up our reusable water bottle there. No sense on spending extra money on water if you don’t need too!

After Biscuit Love, we did another tour and this one took us to the Ryman and the Country Music Hall of fame. This tour guide is Big Jerry. He also drives you all around so you can see what recording studio Elvis preferred and which hotel is haunted. Admittedly, when we did this tour, Big Jerry had the most soothing voice and I had just enjoyed a Nashville beverage and so I did take a little cat nap in the air conditioning of that bus. Whoopsies! I enjoyed the country music hall of fame a ton, but if you have kids with you, I might move through it a bit quicker because they won’t know a lot of the stars.

The next day we went to the most famous bar in Nashville called Tootsies. Tootsies has one of those lived in vibes. It is crowded, it is busting with music. Every square inch is covered with an imprint of the stars, or the people who want to be stars. The woman who ran Tootsies used to allow Willie Nelson to stumble out the back onto his next set and she reserved the upstairs for artists who had not made it yet. Joe and I could not find a single table to sit at. This normally would make my anxiety spike, but I loved the old school vibe, the live band and the no bullshit bar tender. It astounded me how at peace I felt just standing at the bar and listening for an hour and a half. At most of the bars Joe and I went to, artists would be playing and they would have a tip jar , or bucket and ask people to come up and request songs. I had an I”m happy to be here attitude, so I never fully requested anything. I just nodded along when Fancy came on by Reba, or Girl Crush was belted out. Every singer was amazing, there was nothing about it that had a karoke vibe. Real voices, real dreams, zero bullshit. I have decided this is one of my favorite settings. I hate forced conversation, uncomfortable silences and you don’t have to worry about any of that garbage in Nashville.

That evening we went to a restaurant called Adeles. If you eat no where else in Nashville , please get to this spot. They will take reservations, and you should wear more than your joggers with the mustard stain. Place is nice y’all! What is special about Adeles is that it is all Farm to table, homemade sauce , homemade everything. If you are a foodie at heart, which I definitely am, you will drool when the waitress tells you about the options and how it is made and how happy you will feel by the end of it. I ended up ordering the pork chops, which I don’t even cook at home, but it was one of the tastiest meals I have ever had. Our waitress was adorable and genuine and obviously knew the food that was being served at the restaurant. One of my big pet peeves when I eat in Maine, is college guys telling me they don’t really know what’s on the menu, they got wasted the night before at U Maine bro. Like oh okay thanks, tip goes down. down and down.

That evening we went to the Bluebird cafe. Joe didn’t know what the Bluebird Cafe was. I like to watch a lot of cooking shows and that is how I discovered it. Trisha Yearwood has sang there and it is actually the place that Taylor Swift was discovered. On Monday nights, you can get in line at 6:00 and it is first come , first serve and they bring in aspiring artists to play for the room. Well, we apparently got there too late and so we did not get a spot. Joe was ready to give up, but I reminded him, we are here to discover the stars Joe! We are basically talent agents. He did say that I taught second grade, to which I responded with and also I run my own recording studio. Anyway, the tall glass of water by the door leaned in and told me, if you come back at 7:15 you can see the second act. We will let you in at 8. We ended up doing just that! Everyone loves to get into a secret building, an exclusive club. When the doors opened at 8, I could see the line moving and moving and it looked like we would not be let in. Only 80 people are allowed! We ended up being one of the last to be let in and got a not so great seat, but no matter! A jazz band started to play and while I don’t particularly love jazz, I liked this guy. Something about him. He didn’t need a stand for his cell phone. He wasn’t looking at anyone else notes. This guy knew his shit. His voice sounded raspy and glorious like gargled whiskey instead of mouth wash. He also looked humble, like he might be able to afford a nice car and ram around in Nashville but he bought himself a 2015 model, so he could buy his aunt a car too.

As the band continued, I thought to myself, this guy is the real deal. Like he knows his shit. At one point, he played his guitar using someone’s Bud light can. With twenty minutes left, someone beside us said you know he writes with Chris Stapleton don’t you? He wrote Starting Over and Tennessee Whiskey with him. That’s Mike Henderson. You guys why didn’t tall Mike open with that? I certainly would have. I would have said look I’m a song writer, and Chris Stapleton is in my phone contacts and not in yours and so send my shots to the front. Anyways if you have time to go to open mic night, on a Monday night, it is Monday magic. It is warm, it is inviting, if you like any kind of music, the listening experience is like nothing else.

Along the way, Joe and I also checked out the Pedestrian Bridge with it’s gorgeous views, the Parthenon and Centennial Park. If you don’t have time for all three, I would hit the Pedestrian Bridge. It won’t take you that long and the pictures are amazing. You can also see the stadium from there. The stadium of the Steelers, or the thrashers, or the predators. I Know it is something with a strong r, I just didn’t care that much.

In order to get a full feel of Nashville I had to go to Miranda Lamberts bar, Luke Bryan’s and Miranda’s ex Blake Shelton. It is important to compare and contrast. That is what I am being paid for, or paying for, one of the other.

It pains me to say that Miranda’s was my least favorite. I do love all the purple detailing in it, and it may just be the cramped size, but Blake’s is superior in his merch, first floor listening and bathroom to the stars. I have never peed in a more glamorous bathroom. Luke’s had my heart though. Joe and I went all the way up to the top floor. There was a security guard monitoring and he let us pass right through. This was on the Fourth of July, so picture women spilling out of their Patriotic bathing suit top, picture men wearing American Flag overalls and sunglasses. It was a lot of people watching! The band at the top level was FANTASTIC and instead of having places to sit next the band, there are tables to stand. This is a five foot three dream come true for this gal. I hate sitting at bars, but I love a table I can lean on while listening to music. Halfway through our listening experience, security bounced some underage people and couples with babies. “Luke hates babies” I yelled down the stairs. I’m sure he actually doesn’t, but it felt cool to be exclusive for a second. As our time there drew to a close, the bartender came over to cleared off the table. “Ummm I think there were more people here” I told him. “You have been the only ones at this table” he winked. No matter readers, you are in the music city!!! Drink to your hearts content!

I hope I have convinced you to take a trip there. It was heavy on my bucket list, and I enjoyed it right down to every last music note, biscuit, and sip. Please take a trip there with your other, with your girls, or even with your kids. It is worth every penny.