We had a blast! It was a short trip, but it was a well-needed vacation for my partner and my sister. And I suppose, me too 😂
We started off our journey at midnight, driving straight through the night. I was woken up no less than three times to my sister screeching, “are we there yet?!” from the backseat. Hard to believe she’s the older sister, isn’t it?
Our first stop was the Grand Ole Opry. As someone who is not a country music fan (nor ever will be), I have to admit, I did enjoy the tour. I caught myself getting a bit misty-eyed watching the introduction video, where countless country stars were asked to join the Opry as official members. I guess I’m just a sucker for a happy ending.
Our tour guide was delightful, and as one would expect, full of fun little factoids. We got to tour the backstage area, viewing the private rooms, and a wall of mailboxes where Opry members can collect their fan mail. The tour concluded with a photo-op, standing smack dab in the middle of the circle. We did manage to get a cute picture of the three of us, but that’s just for us.
By that point, as I’m sure you can imagine, we were wiped. We headed straight back to our airbnb and promptly napped. Though, we did do a bit of exploring. It was too pretty not to!
The next day was filled with far more exploring. A glance back at my google maps insights reveals that we were in the car for a grand total of four hours that day. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself.
We started off our morning with me (the harried over-planner) jogging around the airbnb trying to wake people up. We were only in Nashville for four days, and I was determined to make the most of our time there. Of course, I’m an early riser. A dreaded morning person. My partner and my sister? Not so much. We snagged breakfast, and with much hemming and hawing, found ourselves at the Country Music Hall of Fame bright and early!
I will say, if you’re planning on hitting up this attraction in the afternoon, do yourself a solid and buy your tickets online. We got there first thing, and there was already a line to contend with. Within the hour, the museum was packed!
A lot of the people commemorated in these displays were not familiar names to me. Though, I’m sure someone who loves country would have had a heyday. I did enjoy seeing the bedazzled ensembles and mounted instruments. As a musician (primarily strings), I found myself practically falling all over myself for the gorgeous violins (fiddles) and guitars. We got to see Elvis’ famed gold-plated Cadillac, and the car from Ghost Rider, which was also quite fun. While it wasn’t particularly my scene, my partner and sister seemed to thoroughly enjoy their time.
If you’re planning on going to the Country Music Hall of Fame, be prepared to be there for a while. It is massive. By the time we finished, we were ready for lunch.
I won’t bore you with the details, but we were able to find a handful of local treasures throughout the city who catered to gluten-free and vegan diets. We stumbled upon a place that was serving brunch. Our waiter was utterly charming, but visibly… elevated. What surprised me was the clear amount of transplants in the area. I was surprised at the distinct lack of twang I heard, most places we went.
Which, was of course remedied by our next stop. The Jack Daniels Distillery. I, myself, am more of a Maker’s Mark or Glenlivet kind of gal (as is my partner), but, apparently, my sister has an unending adoration for JD. So, of course, we had to go. We packed ourselves up (slightly tipsy from brunch) and drove another hour and a half toward the distillery. I was unaware that it was an entirely outdoor tour, that, according to the tour guide was about a mile and a half. He even knew the exact step-count up and down the stairs!
I was a bit worried, as the sun was hanging high in the sky, I’m a shade darker than paper (without a lick of sunscreen on), and all three of us are yankees, woefully unprepared for that kind of heat. Fortunately, my sister and partner had the wherewithal to opt into a JD slushy. Jack and coke for the partner, JD lemonade for my sister. I didn’t trust myself with liquor in the heat so I abstained. Though, I did maybe take a sip (or two) of their pre-portioned slushies. There were portions of the tour where we were not allowed to take pictures (apparently, that can make things explode, which added a much needed air of danger to our impossibly hot, boozy walk), so I elected to only take pictures in the outdoor portions of the tour. Most of which feature my sister and partner grinning like idiots, with beads of sweat on their forehead. As you can imagine, those pictures are just for us as well. Though, I did make sure to get pictures of the antique firetrucks, and of course, the flight of JD we sampled at the end.
Honorable mention to our tour guide, John T. He was wonderful, charismatic, knowledgable, and according to my sister, “hoooooot.”
Our last stop of the evening (well, what was supposed to be our last stop) was Ole Red — Blake Sheldon’s restaurant.
I will say, like most Nashville venues, it was massive. Three floors, all of which live music could be enjoyed on. We situated ourselves at the very top, keen to take in the city from so high up. They had precisely two vegan options (one could be customized to be vegan — a beyond burger). Unfortunately, despite the additional $3 for the vegan burger, they slapped bacon, cheese, and mayo on it (it was mentioned that I am vegan). It was so crowded and it took so long for our food to get to us, I decided that I would much rather have a dinner of french fries and call it a night. Until my sister found a large swathe of plastic in her food. The management was quite gracious, comping out meals, and allowing us to get whatever we wanted as a consolation prize.
I wanted to try a pickleback shot. I made my sister try it with me, with much protesting, of course. But we both were happier for having such a quintessentially Southern experience.
I’m not too ashamed to admit that, by this point, I was fading. My sister on the other hand, had plans for us. I won’t get into the specifics, but it required two visits to piercing studios. That’s all you get.
Our final day has arrived and I, shamelessly, dragged them to Centennial Park. I was desperate to see the Parthenon and play in the Sunken Garden. We only had a few hours to spend before we had to return to the Airbnb and get ready for our final event, and what drew us to Tennessee.
Our cousin’s wedding.
I took no pictures at my cousin’s wedding. The bride and groom asked us to allow the photographers to do their job, and I was more than keen to do that. Besides, as you can tell from this blog, I am no photographer. And I just wanted to be with my family for the festivities.
All in all, I enjoyed my visit. I would be interested in taking in more cultural sights next time I visit. But, I can easily see why Nashville would be a dream place to visit as a country fan!
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Ivy Whitaker 