I recently took my first trip to Nashville Tennessee with my family and it exceeded all of my expectations. Before the trip, I didn’t really know what there was to do other than listen to country music. We only had three days, so we tried to pack as much as we could in that short amount of time. Here are all the things we did and the amazing experiences we had.
Once we landed we arrived at our hotel which was very conveniently in the heart of Nashville. It was about a two block walk from Broadway, which is the busiest street in Nashville that has all of the country bars owned by celebrities. We were unable to check into our hotel because it was only about 11AM, so we dropped off our bags and walked towards Broadway.
Food
Jason Aldean’s Kitchen and Bar
It was about lunch time when we arrived and we were starving from all the traveling, so we set out to find somewhere to eat. We immediately wanted to immerse ourselves in the Nashville experience and wanted to go to one of the celebrity restaurants. We ended up at Jason Aldean’s Kitchen and Bar. It was loud and exciting, blasting with country music. The menu was filled with your typical bar food items, burgers, fries, mac n cheese etc. and it was delicious. Throughout our entire trip, I was never disappointed in the food, every single dish I had was fantastic.
Legendairy Milkshakes
If you know me at all, you know that one of my favorite things in the entire world is dessert, and if you didn’t know that, well now you do and let me tell you, I can eat dessert at any time of day and no matter how full I am, I will make room for dessert.
We heard that this milkshake place was really popular and worth a try, so we decided to check it out, and it was only about two blocks from Broadway which is where we were. When we got there the line was so long, it went out the door, so we knew that it had to be good.
These were no ordinary milkshakes. These were crazy concoctions filled with goodies, they came with slices of cheesecake, brownies or cookies, depending on what you order and rimmed with frosting. I was in milkshake heaven.
The Flipside
For lunch the next day, we went to this little diner called The Flipside and it was so cute! It had the retro, 50’s, old fashioned diner vibes and I loved it. They are known for their “Jack’s Best Chicken” which is seared in bread crumbs and can be topped many different ways!
Jeni’s Ice Cream
On the same street as The Flipside was Jeni’s ice cream shop. They have very unique flavors that are all so creamy and delicious. The flavors range from “Gooey Butter Cake” to “Brambleberry Crisp.” It was a cute ice cream shop that had the perfect little ice cream shop vibe, ya know what I mean?
Pinewood Social
For dinner one night we went to this restaurant called Pinewood Social. It was kind of in an odd location, but we were still able to walk there from our hotel. I’m not sure how we came across this restaurant or how we heard about it, but it was pretty cool. It was a restaurant with a bowling alley in the back, which i thought was a little random.
Before we got there, I was expecting something super casual and laid back and a menu with stuff like chicken strips and burgers. When we walked in, I realized I was probably wrong. This place was pretty classy, it had darkish lighting and was very clean and modern looking and the waiters and bartenders were very clean cut wearing black pants, white shirts, and black tie.
On the menu there was stuff like grain bowls with quinoa and different veggies and different choices of meat. There were different seafood options such as lobster rolls or salmon, grilled chicken, roast beef, and beef short rib pot roast, which was what I ordered and it was probably my favorite meal the entire trip, it was so good, I ate every last morsel.
Pancake Pantry
For breakfast our last day, we ate at Pancake Pantry which as you could probably guess has all things pancakes. They had pecan, chocolate chip, apple walnut, blueberry, sugar and spice, strawberry shortcake, banana bread, raspberry delight and georgia peach pancakes. They had probably every pancake you could think of. They also had every other breakfast foods such as eggs, bacon, sausage, omelets, etc. I ordered the peach pancake and it was absolutely heavenly, If I could eat that for breakfast every day, I would.
Bartaco
For dinner our last night we went to the restaurant Bartaco. It was a cute little taco restaurant and you build your own taco plate and can choose from so many different options. All of the tacos were so delicious and their margaritas were absolutely fantastic, they are known for their great margaritas and now i can see why!
The restaurant was really busy the whole night and we had to weave in and out of groups of people as we were leaving, and right as we were out the door, we pass this one girl who looked like she was in a hurry and focused, but right as I passed her, I realized it was the one and only Julia Michaels, and I am a huge fan of hers, and I’m sad I didn’t get to meet her, it all just happened so quick and before I knew it, she was gone.
Sights and Such
There were more things to do in Nashville than just eat I promise! Here are some of the sights and activities that we did in our short time there.
Music City Star Riverfront
On our way to Broadway there was this bridge that overlooked the riverfront. We had a view of the city and the water while the sun was setting. It was so beautiful, yet so simple. It made me think how we take simple things for granted sometimes. I was really appreciating the sun setting behind the tall buildings of the city, because big cities are one of my favorite things, and I was living my best life in that moment.
12 South
12 south is the place to be for all things shopping and restaurants. It is like one of THE places to go in Nashville besides broadway. There were a lot of cute little shops and boutiques and great restaurants. The Flipside, Bartaco, and Jeni’s Ice Cream were all on 12 south. There are also a lot of murals to take pictures at all around 12 south.
Why Don’t We Concert
The craziest part of our entire trip was probably the Why Don’t We concert. I am still pinching myself to wake up, because it felt like a dream! We were walking out from dinner at Pinewood Social and headed back to our hotel, when we heard screaming from what sounded like an outdoor stadium and thought it was probably a concert. We didn’t really think much of it until my sister and I heard the beginning of a song we knew, Trust Fund Baby. My sister and I looked at each other with both excitement and disappointment. We knew they were coming but we weren’t sure when and then it slipped our minds. We had just recently started listening to their music and fallen in love with them. We were excited to hear their music but so disappointed we weren’t there to see them live. We tried to see if we could look over a railing or something to see it from afar, but we couldn’t.
We headed back to the hotel and the stadium they were playing at was on our way there. We thought we might as well go up to the doors and ask if there were any tickets left. Security told us no because the main act was already on, but we could try to look online.
Without missing a beat, I pull out my phone and start typing away. Within seconds I found tickets in a front section for $4 a piece. I buy them and we get in. by the time we made it to our seats we had only missed about three songs. We jam out to all of the songs, in awe that we even made it in. It was so spontaneous and so much fun! It was the best $16 I had ever spent!
Country Music Hall Of Fame
The Country music hall of fame was really cool to see. It was cool to see the history of country music. My favorite part was seeing all of Taylor Swift’s outfits and guitars. I liked learning about how country music has evolved over time and how it is so different today than it was when it first started.
The Gulch
The Gulch is another part of town where there is a lot of shopping and coffee shops. This part of town has more expensive/high end stores. We mainly just hung out at the coffee shops down there, we didn’t do too much shopping at the gulch, but if you want to spend some money and spoil yourself, this is the place to do it.
Love Circle
There was this park in Nashville called Love Circle. It was at the top of a neighborhood and we had to drive up a winding road to get there. It overlooked the entire city of Nashville and it was so pretty! We hung out there for a little bit to take pictures and take in the sight of Nashville.
Honky Tonkin
Broadway
Broadway is full of different rooftop bars and restaurants, and once the sun goes down the party really gets started. We went to multiple different bars to listen to country music, drink and dance, and it was so much fun. Some of the bars we went to were:
FGL House, which is owned by Florida Georgia Line.
We went to Kid Rocks Honky Tonk, and that bar was my favorite. It is about four stories tall and was packed with people and cover bands jamming out to country music.
The last place we went was Dierks Bentley’s Whisky Row, which was also filled with lots of people, country dancing and music.
The streets were packed until the early hours of the morning with people letting loose and having a good time.
My experience in Nashville was absolutely amazing. If you ever have the opportunity to go, I could not suggest it enough!
