Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Weekend Recap: Our Anniversary Trip to Nashville


This weekend T and I went to Nashville for our one year wedding anniversary.  Our anniversary is actually next weekend, but somebody has to go to the Clemson/UGA game that weekend.  What did I get myself into getting married on Labor Day weekend, a.k.a. the first weekend of college football.  I should have known better!  But regardless of that we had an absolute blast.

We arrived early afternoon on Thursday and checked into the hotel.  We used the Name Your Own Price feature on Priceline and got the Sheraton downtown for a great deal.  It overlooked the capital building which was great, and our concierge even surprised us with champagne, snacks, and a handwritten note wishing us a happy anniversary signed by the staff.  


We really wanted to go somewhere cool and non-touristy for our first lunch there.  I told T that we were not to step foot in The Hard Rock Cafe.  He obliged, and we asked our friendly valet guys at the hotel for some suggestions.  They suggested Hattie B's Hot Chicken, so that's where we went.  We each got chicken and shared some of their yummy sides.  Everything was so tasty, this was a perfect way to start out the weekend.  Stay tuned for a more detailed review of Hattie B's in a subsequent post.


After lunch we decided to hit up the bars on Broadway for the first time.  We had a couple of beers and listened to some good music, then came back to drink our bottle of champagne and eat the snacks that the hotel gave us. After all that, neither one of us was very hungry,  so we decided to forgo dinner and hit the bars on Broadway again. 

A friend of mine gave me a great tip when I told him I was going to Nashville.  These were his words, "Start at Legends, then bar hop all the way down to The Stage.  Do not waste your time going to any bars on the other side of Broadway.  Trust me on this.  If you start early enough, go back to the bars in the same rotation, it will be totally different bands".  He was totally right.  Broadway is packed with tons of bars, but the best ones are all on one little section of a block.  We quickly realized with Nashville that you should not judge a book by its cover.  Our favorite bars were ones that looked like complete holes in the wall on the outside. They seemed the most authentic inside.


At Legend's Corner with my good ole pal Billy Ray. If I had only known the shenanigans his daughter would be getting into later on that week.

A few hours into our Broadway stint we realized we were a bit hungry.   We were at Robert's Western World at that point, which turned out to be one of our favorite places.  T and I both spotted their  Recession Special on the menu- a fried bologna sandwich, bag of chips, and PBR for $5.00- and we jumped on the deal. Never has a fried bologna sandwich tasted so good.


Friday morning T and I got up and decided to get a little culture in on our trip.  We went to the Parthenon in Centennial Park.  The Parthenon and the statue of Athena inside are exact full-scale replicas of the ones found in Greece.  This building was built for Tennessee's Centennial Exposition in 1897, and it now serves as the city's art museum.  The building houses a replica of Athena, the goddess that the original temple was devoted to.




Friday night we made our way down to Printer's Alley, a part of town just two streets over from Broadway.  Printers Alley is a little less touristy and their drink prices reflected that, too.  One of their bars, Lonnie's, has karaoke every night.   T and I sat in there for a few hours just listening to people get up and sing.  It was quite entertaining, T even mustered enough courage to get up there and sing one song. 


Saturday afternoon we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. 


View from our room

After the Hall of Fame we made our way back to the Broadway area for a drink or two before dinner. One of the best things about the bars in Nashville is there is always live music and there's never a cover.   You can just roam from bar to bar listening to music all day and night.

Saturday night we made reservations for a nice anniversary dinner- no bologna sandwiches for us.  T and I have been to the bar at Husk in Charleston, but we've never had dinner there.  When we  found out that a location in Nashville recently opened up, we jumped on the opportunity and made a reservation.



Dinner was awesome.  We started with a bone marrow dish, roasted in the fire, served with a parsley biscuit, and sweet onion preserves. I've never had bone marrow before, and the thought of it skeeved me out a bit, especially because it is served right in the bone. But by the time we ordered I was one cocktail down and feeling adventurous.  As for entrees I had the snapper that was served over crushed tomatoes, courgettes, and spearmint.  (pictured below)  T went for the pork chop, grilled cabbage, buttermilk potato puree and mustard onions. 


Our food was fabulous. So good that we were wishing there was room for dessert, but there was no way I could squeeze that in after eating everything on my plate.  After dinner we waited outside for a cab to come and take us back to the hotel.  A few minutes later a cab pulled up, and we stood up to get inside.  A waiter ran out telling us that was not our cab, and that it was for one of his tables.  I was shocked at first to hear him say that, but when I realized who the cab was for I completely understood.  Connie Britton then came out from behind him and got into the cab.  I was absolutely shocked to see her.  I saw her clothes hanging in the Country Music Hall of Fame just earlier that day, and now I was seeing her in person.  Connie, you can take my cab any time.

T and I had such a fabulous time celebrating our anniversary in Nashville.  This was both our first time in Music City and we cannot wait to return!

3 comments:

  1. OMG you saw Connie Britton!! I am obsessed with Nashville, the show. So glad to hear ya'll had fun in Nashville, the city :)

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  2. How awesome! I have never been to Nashville but my husband has some family there. I'd love to go!

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  3. I love love love Nashville and would love to go back. Looks like a fun trip!! There is so much to do there.

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