Nashville – Day 3

This was our last full day in Nashville and we wanted to do as much as possible. Unfortunately, I was getting over a cold most of the time we were there, so I really didn’t get myself together until late in the afternoon. We headed out at 3:00 and drove around downtown for a bit. We decided to go to the famous Loveless Cafe for dinner and it was worth the trip.


Me outside the Loveless

Loveless is located on the outskirts of Nashville and has been around over 60 years. The food and service was everything you would expect from a small Southern cafe and more. The biscuits are something they’re known for and it was obvious at first bite. I don’t know what they put in them, but they’re delicious and the homemade preserves they serve alongside the biscuits make them that much better. For dinner, I got meatloaf, cheesy grits, fried green tomatoes and macaroni and cheese. It doesn’t get better than that! We completed our visit with a trip to the Ham & Jams Country Store and got some goodies to bring back home. I’ll be dreaming of that place until I’m lucky enough to visit Nashville again. If you go to Nashville, you must visit the Loveless.


Delicious biscuits


Yum!


Loveless Cafe

To end the night, we went back downtown to take one last stroll around the city. We walked down to the Ryman Auditorium. The building dates back to the late 1800’s and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2001. The venue has hosted everyone from famous singers and performers to actors and political figures.


Me outside the Ryman

Broadway was where we started our trip and it was the perfect way to end it. We walked up and down a few blocks before finally heading back to our hotel. We capped off the night with a soak in the hot tub and a dip in the pool. It felt good to be swimming in January.


Nashville Symphony


Geof outside the Bridgestone Area


Me on Broadway


Getting our fortune told by Willie Nelson

The next morning, we packed up and went to Gigi’s for a cupcake. Geof and I have a tradition whenever we travel to always try to find a cute little cupcake shop. He’s so good about it. I got the Birthday Cake cupcake and he had Banana Cream. They were yummy! After our sweet treats, it was time to go so we said goodbye to Nashville until next time.


Cute cupcakes!

Ultimately, Nashville is a beautiful city with plenty to see, even if you don’t love country music. The people are friendly, it’s easy to navigate and the Southern cooking is so good.

Thanks, as always for hanging in there with me during my trip recaps. Some probably find them incredibly boring while others really enjoy them. I honestly love to document each time we travel. These posts are some of my favorite ones to look back on over time.

Nashville – Day 2

We got up, grabbed a quick breakfast and headed over to the Opryland Hotel. I heard some positive things about the property and gardens, so we decided to check it out. It was overwhelmingly big and it turns out that it’s the largest non-gambling hotel in the world. We decided to take a Riverboat Tour of the indoor gardens that gave us a great view of all the different plants, flowers and waterfalls. Our guide was great and informed us that when the Delta River was built, the hotel requested water samples from all over the world and from every river in the United States. A “mixing of the waters” ceremony was held when the river opened in 1996.


Waterfall in The Cascades Atrium


One acre skylight in the Conservatory


View from the Riverboat in Delta Island


Christmas may be over, but this is too pretty not to share

From the Opryland Hotel, we headed over to the Grand Ole Opry House to see a little piece of history. I’ve never been a big fan of country music, but the Opry was a must-visit. To see the spot where so many country superstars have performed is impressive. I also can’t believe the venue was partially underwater less than two years ago. You would never know it by the looks of things now.


Us outside the Grand Ole Opry House


I don't think you're supposed to stand up there...whoops!

We headed back downtown for dinner and settled on Sole Mio for some Italian. After dinner, we got ready for the night and went to 12th & Porter to meet-up with Chad & Amy for the SafetySuit CD Release Party. I couldn’t have been more excited to see SafetySuit there since it’s the venue where they were originally signed.


12th & Porter


Us with Chad & Amy ready for the show


The opening acts consisted of Chasing Change and Throwing Gravity. The bands did a great job warming us up for the main event. SafetySuit took the stage and about two songs into their set, it was obvious that something was wrong. Doug (lead singer) wasn’t playing his guitar and just didn’t look well.

Ultimately, he had been battling a stomach virus all day and it took everything in him to come out and perform the 5 songs he was able to make it through. He even tried to give it another go while he used the mic stand to hold him up. He apologized profusely and acknowledged that so many people had come from all over for this event and it’s not his style to cancel a show. You could see the emotion all over his face as he appeared to be even more disappointed than the fans. Personally I can’t imagine making it to the mailbox with a stomach virus, so to see him push through tells me everything I need to know about what kind of band SafetySuit is (not that I didn’t already know).


Doug

The drummer, Tate came on the mic and said they were going to try something different. The rest of the show turned into a sing-along with members from the opening bands coming out to lead the crowd. This speaks volumes about the kind of fans SafetySuit has. While most people would have left after hearing Doug was done for the night, everyone did the exact opposite and showed their allegiance by singing and celebrating what the night was all about: SafetySuit and their new album, These Times. It was bittersweet and I’m glad I was there to be a part of it.


Us with Tate, J and Dave from SafetySuit

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!

Bound for Nashville

Howdy y’all! I’m headed to Nashville for a long weekend with good friends, good music and lots of fun. It’s my first time visiting the Music City and I couldn’t be more excited.

Work was incredibly busy last week and I didn’t really have much of a New Year’s celebration to tell you about, so these few days away will be just what the doctor ordered.

I’ll fill you in on all my adventures just as soon as I get home.

Source: flickr.com via Kathryn on Pinterest

Source: designsponge.com via Taylor on Pinterest

Source: ashleysbrideguide.com via Annie on Pinterest

Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend!

I’m THANKful for the 21st Century

It’s Day 5 of the Plenty To Be Thankful For Blog Challenge & Swap



iPhone

I honestly don’t know how I lived without my iPhone. I can check my email, Twitter, blogs, weather, Instagram (favorite app), etc. I’m sure a device like this would have been gawked at like something from an alien planet 50 years ago.

Internet

The internet has opened a whole new world of information and connections. You can stay in touch with loved ones via Facebook, blogs and Twitter use Google to find out an answer to just about anything and shop in your PJ’s.

Travel

Between planes, trains and automobiles, it’s much easier to get from A to B, which ranks high on my list since I love to travel. Although when I was a kid, I thought we might have flying cars Jetsons style at this point.

Chicago Trip – Day 3

This was our last day before we had to fly back to Philly, so we wanted to make it count. We got up bright and early, had breakfast at the hotel and walked over to Millennium Park to see The Bean! It was even bigger and more impressive that I could have imagined. It was also a beautiful day in the city, so you could see all of the buildings and clouds reflecting off of it. We took a ton of pics and then walked around the park for a bit.


The Bean!


Bean shenanigans


Geof and I at The Bean


Millennium Park and the "Face" Fountains

From the park, we caught a cab down to Hot Doug’s in the Chicago suburbs. This is a place I’ve heard many good things about and I loved the name, so we had to go. I knew it had to be good as soon as the cab pulled up because there was a line down the block. The food was worth the wait and it was the best dog I’ve ever eaten.


Hot Doug's

We headed back downtown to Navy Pier. I was freezing (and a little cranky) by this point. Geof was my hero because he got me a hoodie right away from one of the souvenir shops to solve all of my problems (except for the fact that I didn’t bring sneakers or a coat…I’m an idiot). When they call Chicago “The Windy City”, they weren’t joking and I’ll know better next time. The pier was having an Octoberfest event that we checked out and then we just walked down the pier to take in the sights on a gorgeous afternoon. We settled on Margaritaville for some drinks and then started back for our hotel.


Us at Navy Pier


Navy Pier

We got ready and headed went to Lou Malnati’s for dinner so I could have my first taste of a Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. It was everything I expected and more. From dinner, we walked down by Millennium Park and checked out a local pub for some drinks to end the night. I was so glad Amy & Chad were able to meet us and we had an awesome weekend together.


Lou Malnati's

Chicago is a beautiful city with really nice people. I couldn’t believe how friendly everyone was for it being a major metropolitan area. I think I’ve become a little jaded by the Northeast and expect others to behave the same. It was a pleasant surprise and I look forward to visiting again someday!

Chicago trip - Day 2

Friday, we got up bright and early and headed out for some shopping browsing on Michigan Ave. There were many beautiful things, but at almost 10% sales tax and with us trying to save money, I didn’t go crazy. I did get some makeup goodies, but that’s about it. We also took a walk down by Lake Shore Drive because the waves on Lake Michigan were roaring. I even saw a story about it on the local news that morning that some bikers and joggers were wiped out by the waves crashing up over the roads and onto the streets. It was quite a sight to be seen and it looked more like an ocean than a lake.


OOTD!


Huge waves down by Lake Shore Drive

We then visited the Hershey store to warm up with a hot chocolate and then headed to Saks. The incredibly sweet salesgirl starting trying a new blush on me and that turned into her applying mascara, liner…the works. She made me look nice though and I certainly appreciated it since I was on vacation.


Me outside the Hershey store!

For lunch, we went to Su Casa because we were craving Mexican. It’s really the only place we went the entire time that wasn’t on our list and were pleasantly surprised by the good service and inexpensive prices, especially for a restaurant in the heart of downtown. My margarita was downright delicious!


Us at Su Casa

From lunch we headed to Barney’s and then to the Hermes store. I’ve been wanting to try a sample of their Ambre Narguile perfume for a very long time and the girl in the store was more than willing to give me one and offer me another scent of my choosing (I got the Iris Ukiyoe). Both smell fantastic and the Ambre Narguile is a perfect scent for fall, though I’d never pay for my own bottle of this (I believe it’s $195 a bottle!).

From shopping we headed back to The Allerton to collect our bags and cabbed it over to our new hotel right in the heart of the theatre district. We got settled in, took a nap and then I finally got to go to Sprinkles to try my first cupcake from them. It was worth the wait and absolutely delish! We headed back to the hotel to await the arrival of our good friends Amy & Chad. We caught up for a bit and then headed out to dinner at Chicago Pizza Oven Grinder & Co. I really wanted to go to this place because I saw it on the Travel channel as being #1 of the Top 10 Cheesiest Eats in the county for their Pizza Pot Pie. It was really good and a hit with Geof too. I wouldn’t say it’s the best thing I’ve ever had, but it was definitely worth the visit. From dinner, we headed to Miller’s Pub because it was close to our hotel. It was an interesting place and we saw a guy in a suit that looked like he’d been there since happy hour fall flat on the floor off of his bar stool. Yikes.


Sprinkles!


Us with Chad & Amy at Chicago Pizza Oven Grinder & Co.


Pizza Pot Pie

I just have one more Chicago post and then it will be back to business as usual!