Nashville TN :: Murals

Nashville is filled with so many awesome murals. I think we did a pretty good job finding murals the suited all of us. 

Nashville TN :: Day 03

Our last full day. Penny treated us all to biscuits from Biscuit Love, which was right across the street. They were really good. Afterwards, we walked to the Johnny Cash Museum where we strolled around for awhile and all became a little obsessed with The Man in Black. The museum is located in a more touristy space, so we decided to drive over to 12 South again, and BarTaco. It's a chain (there's even one in Madison, WI) but it really is good. And totally hit the spot. We all loved it. After heading back to the condo, we hung out for a bit, and decided to go to Yee-Haw Brewing for some moonshine cocktails. After that, we ended the night at Patterson House. Such a great way to end the evening. Lots of laughs, great environment, delicious cocktails. And the best quote of the night, from our Uber driver: "I want to go to heaven, just not tonight." 

The next morning we left at 11am and were all on the same flight to O'Hare. Loved spending time with these ladies. I absolutely love this tradition, and feel so lucky to be part of it. 

Nashville TN :: Day 02

Another ridiculous, fun day. After much coffee, we walked over to Hattie B's for Hot Chicken. It did not disappoint, that's for sure. The big surprise for me was the incredible side order of waffles! They were delicious. We did save room for Baked Bear ice cream sandwiches. Penny and I made the winning combo with blackberry swirl ice-cream layered between a sticky cake cookie and chocolate chip cookie. Afterwards, we went to French's to buy some boots. Emma was the only one who found some. I did get a cute dress though. It had been pouring while we were in the store, but we had to get going to the super secret surprise Amy had planned. We all had smiles from ear to ear when we found out what it was -- a Petal Tavern. And, I kid you not, the rain totally let up the entire time we did it. It was such a perfect thing to do. Along the way, we stopped at HQ Nashville. They did a great job with the Stranger Things theme. So fun. After some pinball games and shots, it was time to load up and petal on. The 90 minutes went way too fast, that's for sure. We ended back on Broadway and low and behold, Boot Barn is where four more of us found boots that called our names. I went into this trip saying there way no way I was getting any, but I'm completely obsessed with them. We celebrated our purchases with more drinks at a Robert's Western World. Gracie even filled out a dollar bill for their wall behind the bar. Later that night, we topped by a British pub by our condo for dinner (I had really good fish sliders), then went to The Station Inn for their Blue Grass Jam. I have to be honest, we didn't get the warmest welcome there, by one guy in particular. Kind of a bummer, since we were pretty excited about it. But we still had fun, of course. And the Blue Grass was really cool. We decided to call it an early night and head back to the condo. 

Nashville TN :: Day 01

Just had the best few days in Nashville to celebrate Gracie's graduation from college. We surprised Emma a couple years ago in NOLA, and decided to keep the tradition alive. Such a good one! Amy & Gracie arrived the day before. We all met up at the condo, then walked over to Peg Leg Porker BBQ for lunch. We even tried the Kool-Aid Pickles. Which surprisingly, were not terrible. We were all so full that we decided a walk to 12 South sounded like the perfect plan. Nashville is a bit steamy and sticky at the moment, so we were all a bit sweaty, but it still felt great. We walked around the neighborhood, ate donuts from Five Daughters (perhaps the best donut I've ever had was the vanilla cream) and did a little shopping (I picked up a t-shirt I've been eyeing at Imogene + Willie). We headed back to the condo -- via car -- then got ready for a special celebration dinner at Margot. Leif arranged for a couple bottles of champagne to be delivered to the table. Such a nice surprise! We went back to the condo, and frankly, I could have totally fallen asleep at that point - but we rallied and went to Skulls Rainbow Room for a burlesque show, which was really fun. Quite a loaded, fantastic first day.

Spring Break 18 :: The Dinner

As our last hurrah in Nashville, Brian had made dinner reservations at Husk. I love that our kids appreciate going out for nice dinners. I think. It's also very dangerous considering we have two teenage boys. Ha! But seriously, they love trying new foods, and I love that.

"Husk, from The Neighborhood Dining Group and James Beard award-winning Chef Sean Brock, is reinterpreting the bounty of the surrounding area, exploring an ingredient-driven cuisine that begins in the rediscovery of heirloom products and redefines what it means to cook and eat in Nashville."

What we ate:
A Plate of 24-Month Bob Woods’ Country Ham, Cheddar Biscuits, Pickles
“Killed Lettuces”, Shaved Onion, Benton’s Bacon, Buttermilk Croutons, Asiago
Grilled Rappahannock Oysters, Celery Root, Lemon, Benne
Sunburst Farm Trout, Butter Beans, Hominy, Mustard Greens, Bay (me)
Bear Creek Farm Beef, Sunchoke, Broccoli, Satsuma, Charred Onion (H)
Bear Creek Farm Pork, Barefoot Farmer Sweet Potato, Peanut (C)
A Plate of Southern Vegetables (B)
Pecan Chess Pie, Chocolate Caramel Corn Cake, Brown Butter Soft Serve

Spring Break 18 :: Day 2

What a fun day! First of all, I got to sleep longer than I have in a really, really long time. Brian and C had coffee and walked the neighborhood before H and I were even thinking about waking. It felt incredible.

We started the day by visiting the Hatch Print Shop. Unfortunately, there just wasn't time to do the tour. That would have been amazing. Then we walked the streets a bit (amazing live music was already happening and it wasn't even noon on a Sunday), hit up the Goo Goo Cluster shop, and moved on to the 12 South neighborhood. First on the agenda, food. I REALLY wanted to go to Mas Tacos, but it's closed on Sundays! Ugh. So we went to bartaco,  I guess I just won't know what were were missing, but I sure was content where we ended up. Brian made sure I had a few margaritas before going across the street to Imogene + Willie. When I lost weight last year, I kept telling myself I'd buy a nice pair of jeans. I still haven't pulled the trigger, but now that I've held the same size for over a year, I figured it was as good of a time as any. I found a great, comfortable pair of really good jeans, and am so excited. Afterwards, we walked the neighborhood a little, and stopped in at Five Daughters Bakery (per the recommendation of the I+G girls) and split 2 doughnuts (totally worth it) then went to Jeni's for some ice cream (I had goat cheese with black cherry, and salted peanut butter with chocolate flecks -- amazing). Last we stopped at Jack White's record store before coming back to the hotel to chill a bit. Up next.