One of the first decisions I have to make when planning a vacation is how we’re going to get there. In general, if it’s more than a comfortable day’s drive, I prefer to fly, unless there’s something we’d like to see along the way.
We planned a trip to Nashville as a spring break getaway. It had been a long winter, and I was looking forward to getting further south where we could walk around with a light jacket. We’d never been to Nashville, so we started to plan.
Despite driving through major cities (Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville), the trip was fairly uneventful.
After a long drive, we arrived in Nashville on Saturday night. We’re staying in an apartment hotel, the Kasa. It’s right across from the Sheraton and the State Capitol building. We chose this location because it’s walking distance to so many amenities. Tired from a long drive, we went to bed early.
We woke up early and had breakfast in the room. Took a drive to a Target to get supplies, then had lunch at a great little cafe: Sunflower Bakeshop. The food was amazing, and it was vegan/gluten free. After getting back, we walked to the Tennessee State Museum and took in the exhibits right as they opened. Then we walked to the Farmer’s Market, a public market that’s open year-round. While only about a mile walk, our hotel is on the top of a hill, so it was quite a climb back.
That afternoon, we walked around the Arts District area, and ended up going to dinner at Hattie B’s, a chicken place that was recommended by a few friends. The food was fantastic. It was super crowded, though. The weather here is in the upper 60s/lower 70s. When my ring doorbell detects motion I can see the snow in my front yard. Sorry, not sorry.
The next day we visited the Parthenon. This building was originally made in the late 1800s for the Centennial as a replica of the Greek Parthenon. It was featured in a Percy Jackson movie. The statue on the 2nd floor was breathtaking! It was small, and fairly expensive, but I felt it was worth it.
We then went to Marathon Motor Works. This old factory was converted into a shopping area. It has museum exhibits throughout and several stores and cafes. We visited Antique Archeology, the store owned by American Pickers star Mike Wolfe. We had lunch in a cafe here.
The Belmont Mansion was our next stop. While beautiful, it has the dark history of being funded by cotton picking and the domestic slave trade. It was occupied in 1864 by the Union Army just before wining a decisive battle for control of Nashville.
After returning from our morning museums, we headed out for a walk. We went from the hotel to the Riverfront, then returned through the busy tourist district on Broadway. We listed to some music, did some shopping, even went to an Apple Store. We had dinner at a Gyro cart a few blocks from the hotel, and it was delicious! Spent the rest of the evening resting our tired legs!
The next day was another gorgeous day weather-wise. We woke up and took a walk to Whole Foods to get water and a sandwich for lunch. We then took a walk to the Apple store to get my laptop diagnosed as it wouldn’t charge from the MagSafe charger. Turns out one of my cats chewed on the cable and shorted it. I got a different cable. Then we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame, hoping to take the printing tour that was mentioned by Di Doersch yesterday, but they were sold out for the day. Instead, we walked around the gift shop. Then we went for ice cream before seeing a few songs performed by a talented band. From there we walked The District again before heading back to the room. We drove to the Gaylord Opryland Resort, which had breathtaking atria. Had a rest at the hotel, but went out for dinner, then rested in the room for the afternoon.
We drove home through Champaign, IL for a different view. The trip again went well. We enjoyed the trip, and could see ourselves returning some day.