This past weekend I took a trip down south to NASHVILLE! The original plan was to go down and watch the Steelers vs. Titans in Nashville but COVID made sure that didn’t happen 🙃 oh well! I’m glad everyone played it safe. My sister and I already had our flights booked through the Hopper app with United and American and hotel booked with Marriott. We also were planning to visit with my friend from college so we decided to roll with it.
If you are someone who has ever taken a trip with me you know I can be a CRAZY planner (I went to Chicago last year & literally made a color coordinated itinerary w/ travel times with a walking and Uber option LOL). So needless to say a wrench was thrown into my itinerary when the game was rescheduled. I shifted some stuff around and we still managed to do almost everything I had planned plus some fun extras sprinkled in.
So to the actual plans now. After arriving around 9:30pm, my friend picked us up at the airport and we drove back to her town about an hour outside of the city called Clarksville. We hit a local bar, Blackhorse Brewery right at closing time for a night cap. While we got mixed drinks, they actually had some pretty cool sounding beers like the Coalminer’s Stout and Barnstormer Red Ale. They sold all original Blackhorse brews.
Saturday morning we got an early start and headed down to Nashville for brunch. We had made reservations at Liberty Common for 12:15pm. Now my philosophy with restaurants is that if it looks super trendy, chances are the food is gonna be a little out there and not that classic meal a lot of people are looking for. That could not be more untrue about Liberty Common! The decor was adorable even down to the bathroom walls, and the food was AMAZING. We ordered a cinnamon roll to share and then I ordered the avo toast with two dippy eggs on top and a mimosa, of course! This toast was perfection….literally. The dollops of ricotta cheese and the drizzle of honey just topped it off. Not to mention the toast was actually a baguette 🤤
Next up was Jason Aldean’s bar! We headed to the rooftop for some drinks. PSA: the rooftop bars in Nashville are straight up a HIKE so prepare yourself. The rooftop was multiple levels which was nice and we sat at the bar and got some drinks. While there I got a text from my friend Dillion telling me about a Nashville classic drink called the “Bushwacker,” I know sounds fake. I asked the bartender and he assured me it was for sure a drink and I could get one down the street. We were off on the hunt!! A few yards down the sidewalk there it was…….a sign that read “Bushwackers available here!” If you are just as confused as I was at this point and you have no idea what this drink is about to be, I am here to tell you it is essentially a boozy Wendy’s frosty. I legit had a straw and a spoon while enjoying this bad boy. We then finished the night at Nudies with a bucket of white claws and a corndog 😂 Clearly Saturday was a wild day as we arrived to the Fairfield Inn & Suites, changed our clothes and fell asleep and missed our rooftop reservations at 9pm at L27 Rooftop Bar 😅
Sunday we woke up and had decided to go to Dierks Bentley’s bar for brunch. We all had mix and match breakfast sliders which were the perfect amount of food and only $4 each! Super affordable brunch and great views.
My friend left us as this point and so my sister and I popped around to some of the stores on Broadway. One of the SWEETEST was Savannah’s Candy Kitchen. They had gelato any so many homemade candies. You can even order their candies as holiday or corporate gifts. Right now they have their adorable monster apples to order.
We headed back to our hotel for a power nap and then walked around the Gulch. The WhatLiftsYou wings were nearby our hotel so we went to snap some pics there and also stopped at some boutiques for shopping of course!
That evening back to Broadway we went. Tip: the lime and bird scooters were a game changer in Nashville because the Gulch, Broadway and Printers Alley were all a decent distance apart by foot. While at Dierks Bar earlier my sister pointed out an adorable grass rooftop bar that we wanted to check out. It was Paradise Park above the Downtown Sports Club. They had frozen creamsicle drinks and yummy bar food where for whatever reason I insisted on getting a corndog again?? The cheesy tots were bomb though. The duo that was performing would “countrify” any pop song you requested. We heard hits like Call Me Maybe, Took a Pill in Ibiza, and I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love Tonight.
When the sun started to go down we went to check out the scene at Printers Alley. We got some drink specials at Ms. Kelli’s Karaoke Bar and then headed back to our hotel to get changed for our dinner reservation.
We had made our reservation for 8pm at Sambuca around the corner from our hotel. They had a duo called A Tale of Two performing some quiet jazzy and blues music. The restaurant was a very intimate setting and would be perfect for a romantic dinner for an affordable price. There were several couples that got shoutouts from the singers for their anniversaries.
Monday morning we knew we were going to be short on time because we had to get to the airport by 1:30pm. The Marriott conveniently extended our check out to 1pm so we could enjoy our morning and then get our last things packed up to go to the airport. For breakfast we went to the one and only Biscuit Love. These biscuit sandwiches were so big my sister and I probably could’ve split one yet we each got one PLUS the sausage gravy on the side and an order of bonuts (yes bonuts like biscuit donuts). Everything was outstanding! There was about a 45-50 minute wait but it went so quickly and the staff was so friendly and efficient.
Right across the street was the cutest little flower truck where you could pick out your own bouquet, Amelia’s Flower Truck. Since we were getting on a flight, we opted for a pack of herb seeds with 5 herbs everyone uses in the kitchen (thyme, etc.). If you are local, you can rent this adorable truck for an event on their site! Can we get these in Pittsburgh pleaseeee???
As we walked back to check out of the hotel we stopped to sit and enjoy our coffee at Noble Park in the sun.
We stopped at a couple other boutiques on the way back and Killebrew Coffee for some…..uhhhh…frosé??? YUM. We snapped a couple last minute pics at another wall mural and then headed to the airport.
When I tell people about my long weekends away they always say that I’ll need a vacation from my vacation but I love to explore when I travel! What’s the point of going somewhere new just to sit at the same bar all day or at the same hotel all day? I want to see everything! Hopefully my crazy itinerary will help you if you ever take a trip to Nashville!
The 412 Franimal 