NASHVILLE Trip Part 2

Tuesday was our 3rd day in Nashville and was the actual date of our anniversary. We were married on 12.13.14 (coolest date ever) and the first 2 years have been wonderful, even when it was hard at times. We'd already had so much fun the first 2 days of our trip and I couldn't wait to get started on the 2nd half.

We started the morning off by going to the Country Music Hall of Fame. I grew up listening to country and have always loved it, and thanks to me Charlie now listens to it. He didn't know what he was missing out on! Our favorite exhibits were Alabama, Zac Brown Band, and Brad Paisley. These displays are only up for a limited time so I was excited that the timing worked out for us to see them, especially since ZBB and Brad Paisley are two of Charlie's favorites. Overall I thought it was a super cool place with lots on interesting things to see and read about, but I probably wouldn't do it again. It's definitely a "one and done" type of experience. If you plan to visit, leave at least 3 hours for the entire place and maybe even a little more time if you're the kind of person who likes to read every single thing.

  

LtoR: Alabama's awards, Charlie Daniels Band Grammy, ZBB Grammy

car from Smokey and the Bandit

THIS is a great website for parking locations and prices in Nashville. 


For lunch we ate at The Pharmacy, Burger Parlor and Beer Garden. They call themselves Nashville's "wurst burger" joint, serving German wurst and bier. The vibe was very laid back and the inside of the restaurant had an old European style. Outside was a garden bar and seating when the weather is nice. It seemed like one of those great places where you'd hang out with your friends on a Friday night. Charlie had a vanilla shake and I had a strawberry & ginger phosphated soda. I definitely would recommend that you try a drink from their old fashioned soda shop. I had a hard time deciding because they all sounded delicious, but in the end I was super happy with my choice. For our meals Charlie had the Farm Burger, which has country ham, bacon, an egg, and maple mustard on it. I had the Cheese burger which has 3 types of cheese: yellow cheddar, swiss and muenster, with tomato and garlic aioli, I added arugula and pickles and I chose sweet potato fries instead of regular. The food came out very quickly considering it was a fairly busy lunch hour. We were ravenous and didn't speak much during the meal. Charlie said it was one of the top 5 burgers he's ever had. He loved the bun and was pleased that it came out exactly as advertised. The meat was cooked properly (medium rare) and was seasoned efficiently. There's not much worse than eating a bland, dry, hockey puck piece of meat. The bill was less than $30. (They have the same menu for lunch and dinner.) I would absolutely eat there again and I'm sure they had some interesting beers to try if that's your thing. 

After lunch we took a little drive out to the Hermitage Plantation, home of our 7th President Andrew Jackson. I had never seen a President's home or burial site and the history nerd in me was excited. The weather was cold and misty and gross so we didn't explore the grounds too much. The house itself was beautiful and not quite as big as I expected it to be. The rooms are set up as they were back in the days when Jackson lived there and much of the original wall paper, stair bannisters, and other artifacts are still there. The tour of the house is guided by men and women dressed in period clothing who share interesting factoids about the house, the Jackson family, and slaves that worked in the house and surrounding land. 

My favorite part of our experience at the Hermitage was the burial site of Jackson and his wife Rachel. She died right before his inauguration and he buried her in the garden at their home because it was her favorite place. When his presidency was done, he moved back to Tennessee and it's said that he visited her every day and would later be laid to rest right beside her. We both enjoyed our visit there and interestingly enough, it cost $20(or one Jackson) for general admission.  

show me your best "presidential" face 

After the Hermitage we had a little coffee pick me up at Steadfast Coffee, who Alton Brown says had "one of the sexiest coffee menus". I tried the Rested Butterscotch (an iced drink with rested espresso, milk and butterscotch); Charlie had the Bruleed Latte (rested espresso, charred milk, flamed orange). We both enjoyed our drinks, but since we aren't true coffee snobs I think the allure was lost on us.

This is the sweet cat who lived at the house where we were staying. His name is Boots and we made friends our first morning there. He kept trying to come in every time we opened the door and "talked" to us whenever we saw him. It was so nice to get to love on him since I was missing my own kitty.

That night we ate at the The Southern Steak & Oyster for our big anniversary dinner and used Uber for the first time to get there! The restaurant was beautiful inside and jammed packed for a Tuesday night. I was glad we had made a reservation. Since we were at a place with oyster in the name we figured we should get a few. Charlie had never had any before and it had been years for me. There was a long list of types of oysters based off of location; thankfully our server was knowledgeable and helped us choose a few. It's also worth mentioning that the service we received was superb, and not just at the Southern. I felt that most places we visited had that wonderful southern hospitality. 

Since neither of us was certain if we would actually enjoy the raw oysters, we only got a few. At our server's recommendations, we picked 2 Thundercaps from Prince Edward Island and 2 Blue Points from Long Island, splitting them up between us. Thankfully we both loved them and have been looking to eat more oysters ever since! The blue point were my favorite out of the two, very briny and not slimy at all. I liked mine on a cracker with a little horseradish and a squeeze of lemon. 

For the main course I had seared sea scallops with farro, wild mushrooms, asparagus, bacon and a lemon butter sauce. It was so good I could have picked up my plate and licked it clean. My only tiny complaint was that I wish there had been another scallop or two in the dish. Charlie had the grilled prime sirloin with green peppercorn aioli and french fries. We took turns trying each others, and agreed that it was worth every penny. This was my favorite overall meal of the trip. One other tidbit about the Southern that I loved is that they make a lot of their own sauces and condiments in house. Several of them were brought to the table for our meal and while I enjoyed each of them, their Texas Ketchup got the winning vote. We purchased a bottle on the way out! 

After eating we walked up and down Broadway (also called The Honky Tonk Highway), stopping in different stores and shops. There was music coming from every open door you passed and there were more neon lights than anywhere else I'd ever seen. We went into Nudie's Honky Tonk Bar for a drink and to listen to a band play. The Nashville Predators had just won a home game and since Bridgestone Arena is just down the street, hockey fans flooded the street and bars celebrating their victory. We sat for a time, sipping our drinks and relaxing, but it had already gotten late and because we knew we were getting up early, we Ubered back to our place. 

The next morning we packed up our things and said goodbye to our little Airbnb. After a quick stop at Five Daughters Bakery for a few more of those incredible 100 layer donuts, we were on the road. We drove to Percy Warner Park to hike a little and get some fresh air. Hiking and walking in new places is always something we have enjoyed so we try to find a park when we travel to a new place. 

After getting a little exercise we drove to The Loveless Cafe for brunch. The Loveless Cafe is basically a Nashville staple and it was on every single list of restaurant recommendations I read or was told about. The walls are covered in pictures of celebrities that have eaten there and I have a feeling it's one of those places that always stays busy. We waited for 45 minutes to be seated on a Wednesday morning! While we waited I browsed through the several little shops and stores on the property. It is truly an adorable place with even better food.

Charlie and I both got the biscuit sampler because neither of us could make a decision. Each plate came with four biscuits of your choice. Charlie chose chicken, bacon, country ham, and sausage with hash browns as his side. My biscuits were chicken, country ham, pimento cheese with fried green tomato, and pulled pork with cheese grits as my side. The chicken and ham were excellent; my ham loving husband couldn't get enough. The pimento cheese and fried green tomato was well seasoned and very southern. My favorite by a long shot was the pulled pork. I'm not sure why I had never thought to put BBQ on a breakfast biscuit, but holy moley does it work. Their sauce was tangy with a touch of sweet that perfectly complimented the soft buttery biscuit. I could have eaten 30 of them. And the grits...those grits are the kind that make you want to slap yo mama. There was nothing particularly special about them, but they were just right. When you think about the prefect grits, the right texture, perfect seasoning, just cheesy enough, creamy, these were it. This was the perfect meal to cap off our trip and we drove back to Georgia as happy as clams during high tide. 

basically my life during the month of December

Thanks for reading about our wonderful trip! I already can't wait to go back. Here's a short list of some things I would like to do I had more time:

-see a show at the Ryman Auditorium 
-Grand Ole Opry 
-visit Gaylord Oryland 
-spend more time on lower Broadway at night
-Nashville's Farmers' Markets 
-Bluebird Cafe

Restaurants to try:
-I Dream of Weenie
-Hattie B's hot chicken 
-Biscuit Love
-City House 
-Puckett's Grocery 

we always pick up new Christmas tree ornaments when we travel