A Girl’s Trip To Nashville

It’s been a while since our last girl’s trip. I believe it was 2019 when we took a cruise on Royal Caribbean and shortly after the world shut down. We’ve been trying to come up with something that would be a short flight and would be of interest to all. Tired of Myrtle Beach. That was our go to spot for two years; we were kind of looking for something a little more adventurous. Not a lover of Country music but open to anything and everything.

I flew Southwest -second time ever. Not a bad flight. On time and only 45 passengers. I was in row 10 without anyone near me. I read a bit and dozed a bit. It was 5:45 am and I woke at 3 am with Lyft picking me up at 3:30am. A very quick start to a long and fun filled day.

I met Lauren and Kadyn’s flight at 7 am. All of us on time and ready to go. I am using Lyft to get around. Their rates are a bit cheaper then Uber and so far no problems.

We arrived at the Holston House, a Hyatt hotel, in downtown Nashville right off Broadway. They checked us in right away and it wasn’t even 9am. I thought that was pretty good. We dropped our bags and did a quick tour of this old hotel. Especially the rooftop pool.

Afterwards we went in search of our much needed coffee. Luckily, Lauren needed her morning fix as much as I did.

We found a local coffee shop a few blocks from the hotel. Anchorhead, kind of a strange name not on the water but the coffee was good. Of course it was very avant-garde rather than your old fashioned DD. But good nevertheless. I did get a peach turnover which I shared with Kadyn. That was pretty good too!

We spent a few hours walking around Broadway. It was relatively quiet; everyone sleeping off Friday night hangovers.

Lauren and Kadyn went to Whole Foods and brought back a few salads for lunch. We ate in our room and then headed to the rooftop pool. It was very refreshing. But again it’s a party town with everyone hanging by the pool and in the pool – imbibing for quite sometime. The party had begun. This is a town for drinkers who like music. No children anywhere!

After showers and a lot of back and forth about wardrobe, I contacted Lyft and we were on our way to the Grand Old Opry. We left early so we could check out the Gaylord Opryland Resort. It was well worth a trip over to check it out.

A tropical paradise within acres of a massive glass atrium, complete with a gently rolling river, boat rides offered, and waterfalls cascading several stories, it was quite magical.

We decided to eat sushi and ate at Wasabi our table set beside a lovely waterfall. We had an appetizer of spinach artichoke dip and then several different sushi rolls. It was very delicious and satisfying.

Live music could be heard throughout the restaurant. Live music is everywhere in Nashville. Then we unfortunately stopped for gelati and cookies. We went from satisfied to stuffed. No more of that tomorrow.

We made our way back to the Grand Old Opry. Time for a photo op and to listen to some more live music before we headed into the show.

The show was great. A mixture of bluegrass, country rock, country pop with a great comedian thrown in. Loved it and I don’t like country. But now I guess I do like some of it, especially country rock and I love the fiddle!

Exhausted, we waited about 20 minutes for our Lyft driver. We made it back to our hotel and all crashed around 11 pm.

Sunday we stopped for coffee and then headed to General Jackson’s Showboat cruise for a lunch time sail. I called for a Lyft and the first driver seemed high or hungover. No way to report that in the app. We did not go with him. Finally we got our ride and all was well.

All aboard for a 12 noon sail. We sat with six other people who were not overly friendly but oh well. They served chicken, Mac and cheese and green beans. It was ok. Then we went on deck to view the Nashville skyline!

Dessert was a blueberry crumble which was tasty. The show was good but sound system had the musicians overpowering the singers for the most part. It was entertaining but a little lack luster.

The Elvis rendition was lively and fun!

After the cruise we meandered over to the mall where we checked out Katy Perry at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.

Johnny Cash was there beckoning us in but we decided that we really didn’t want to go inside.

We spent a few hours by the pool in the late afternoon. It was quite crowded but I had a nice spot to start my blog.

For dinner we ate sushi at the food court. Kadyn loves California rolls. Then we walked the strip.

The Nashville scene is not for the faint of heart. The sounds of the music competing from bar to bar overpowers the frenzy of people speaking in elevated tones trying to overcome the incessant noise of traffic. And in the midst of all this chaos is the smells of yesterdays beers, the unwashed bodies of the homeless, exhaust from the cars and buses, and the occasional intermingling of vomit and dog poop! Even the sugary smell of the praline store could not stamp out these odors.

I think Lauren, Kadyn and I had enough stimulation of our senses and were more then ready to retire to our room and comfy beds at the Holston House.

Monday morning Kadyn and I went for breakfast at the crepe place while Lauren did her morning workout. I had a chicken basil crepe and Kadyn had a sweet berry crepe.

We picked Lauren up and headed to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

There were lots of interesting exhibits and I learned a lot about country music, its roots and its many stars.

There were two floors of exhibits, including clothing, guitars and movie clips. A collection of gold records aligned one wall.

We took a photo in front of a giant guitar and in a mock up of Taylor Swift’s tour bus.

Elvis Presley’s gold plated car was on display as well as clothes, guitars and movie clips.

Also two other cars – one a Bonneville convertible with a gun as the hood ornament and Smokey and The Bandits car.

We spent quite a few hours there before heading out to find Kadyn some Bobo tea.

We walked almost two miles to get the tea – climbed many stairs and checked out the capital building before we made it back to our hotel before the storm and the rain came crashing down.

The sky cleared a bit but we played a few games in the lobby.

We decided to go back to the food court for dinner. Kadyn and I had sushi. Lauren had Shwarma.

Then we went to the Savannah candy shop for some tasty delectables and pralines.

The food court was hosting some live music so we headed back there to enjoy the entertainment. A couple of the singer/song writers were great. One guy sounded just like Johnny Cash.

Our last morning in Nashville, Kadyn and I headed out to the Donut Distillery. These mini donuts were delicious.

Lauren, Kadyn and I walked the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge. It was an easy half mile each way. Nice views of the Nashville Skyline.

Now back at the pool for some afternoon R&R.

Our last dinner out, we decided to go a little fancy and went to an Italian restaurant off Broadway, Trattoria IL Mulino.

We ordered an artichoke salad, ricotta meatballs and a pizza with balsamic glaze.

For dessert we had cappuccino coffees and shared a chocolate dessert.

And I can’t forget the delicious salted caramel gelato.

After dinner we listened to live music again at the Food Assembly. It was Anthony Michael who we liked so much last night. Kadyn even drew a picture of him and gave him a tip.

We are making it an early evening. My flight is at 7:45 am so a quick trip to the rooftop to see the city lights and then to bed! It’s been a wonderful girls trip with my two favorite girls.