Nashville – Day 1

We arrived in Nashville early in the afternoon and were raring to go. We got our car, checked in at our hotel and headed right downtown to see Broadway. We made our way over to 2nd Ave. and settled on the Wild Horse Saloon for lunch. It was relatively quiet in the restaurant during the afternoon, but you can tell the place gets packed at night. They have a huge stage and were promoting an upcoming show with Rick Springfield. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t like the song “Jessie’s Girl”!

For lunch, we got fried pickles as an appetizer. Geof told me that since we’re in the South, it was something I had to try at least once. It was decadent and delicious. I hardly touched my salad because I was nibbling away on pickles and stealing some of Geof’s cheesy grits (they were the best I ever had – savory and smoky). We also had to order one of their cocktails just to get a fun cowboy boot glass to take home. After checking out the rest of the restaurant, our friends Chad and Amy picked us up to take us to a more hipster part of town for some coffee at The Frothy Monkey. It’s a great place to people watch and we even spotted Will Anderson (lead singer from Parachute) there.


I heart Nashville!


Fried pickles


Frothy Monkey

The four of us chatted the afternoon away. Being apart from these two makes no difference at all as we always seem to pick up right where we left off. From The Frothy Monkey, we headed to Centennial Park so that we could see the Parthenon. I may never get to Greece, but this was the next best thing as it’s a full-scale replica of the original.


Parthenon in Centennial Park

Later that evening, Geof and I went downtown to have dinner at Big River Grille & Brewing Works. Geof got shrimp and grits, while I went with mac ‘n cheese with chicken. After dinner, we headed out on Broadway to meet some of our friends from NYC (Kristin & Emily) & Boston (Jessica) at Wild Bill’s. The bar is a historic landmark with the basement being part of the Underground Railroad. They have an impressive wine bar on the 2nd floor and the main level is a Cajun café. We stayed in the café/bar area where they were getting karaoke started for the evening. Geof decided he wanted to perform “Humpty Dance” for all of us. It was absolutely hysterical and awesome at the same time.


Broadway at night!


Me on Broadway


Me with Kristin, Jess and Emily

We parted ways with the ladies and headed over to Broadway Brewhouse & Mojo Grill to meet-up with Chad and Amy. We enjoyed a brew or two and made our way back to Wild Bill’s. The guys running karaoke asked Geof to do another performance of “Humpty Dance” and he obliged. What a perfect way to end our first day in Nashville!


Amy and I


Geof with his karaoke buddy, Andy


Out with one of our favorite couples!