Category: Misc

Last week Landon and I road-tripped to Nashville.  It was about 700 miles from our house to the doorstep of our adorable Airbnb cottage.  Overall, we had a blast and would totally go back again!  Here’s part 3 of our time down south. (You can catch part 1 here and part 2 here.)

Day 3

On our third day we ventured out of Nashville to the city of Franklin.  We first stopped at the Carnton Plantation.  It was a house built in the 1820’s and turned into a Civil War hospital during the battle of Franklin in 1864.  We did the extended tour of the house and surrounding, including other buildings on the plantation, the garden, and the Confederate Cemetery.

There was so much history and the tour guide really did a great job making it feel like we were there on the day of the battle.  We could even see the blood stains on the wood floors.  It was creepy and so full of history.  They didn’t let us take photos inside so you’ll just have to go see it for yourself. ?

After hearing all about the McGavock family and the battle, we ventured down to Main Street Franklin for lunch.  This town was absolutely picturesque.  The houses, the downtown, the shops, restaurants, everything made this town seem perfect.  We ate at the very cool 55 South and had the most delicious lunch.  Then we walked up and down Main Street enjoying a sunny day.  We also found the perfect sign for me:

That afternoon, we headed even further south of Nashville to Arrington Vineyards.  We found out after we were there that it is owned by Kix Dunn, of Brooks and Dunn!  No, we didn’t see him there but we did try some great wines and brought some back with us.

On our way back to Nashville, we stopped for some Starbucks and then found ourselves in some horrible rush hour.  It definitely wasn’t fun but we were happy with our afternoon treats and enjoyed talking about everything we saw that day.  Later, we picked up some more wine and a pizza from Five Points Pizza, a local place recommended by our Airbnb host.  It was delicious!  We watched the last of Time After Time episodes and did some packing to make our morning smoother.

Driving Home

Since carsickness got the better of me on the way to Nashville, I made sure to take “non-drowsy” Dramamine on the way home.  I put “non-drowsy” in quotes because I drove the first 3 hours and then was basically useless the next 7. I slept a lot.  A LOT.  There were some bad storms running across the midwest with quarter size hail that we were trying to stay in front of.  We were pretty successful but for a good hour in southern Illinois, I was meteorologist/navigator.  But I was sooooo tired.  It was horrible fighting to stay awake and figure out if we needed to stop and wait out the storm in Springfield.

Landon was great handling so much driving.  We never stopped the whole way home for more than 5 minutes to refill the gas tank or use a bathroom.  Of course, the 24-hour “non-drowsy” pill wore off at about 12 hours – right when we got home.  It was nice to feel mostly awake but even nicer to enjoy that new alertness while sitting in my comfy chair in our own home. ?

Summary

Overall, we really enjoyed our time in Nashville!  We felt we split our time well taking in all different kinds of cultural and historical experiences.  We also learned a few things about ourselves.

After all that whiskey tasting, we learned we are not whiskey-on-the-rocks type of people.  I’m not even sure I would like it in a mix drink.  It wasn’t bad and we certainly didn’t over do it (I didn’t finish any of the samples), but it has a bite and we are just more of red wine type of folk.  Both distilleries were still worth touring though!

I learned how to relax on vacation and not feel so antsy every time we were in our cottage before it was dark out.  I also learned that “non-drowsy” is a lie and I need my mom to make me some essential oil concoction for motion sickness before we take another road trip.

We both would love to go back again.  We would like to spend more time listening to live music, maybe tour more vineyards, and see the Belle Meade Plantation (it also has a vineyard so there is history AND wine).

My favorite part of the trip is a toss up between Belmont Mansion and just being downtown Franklin.  There was something about that city that makes me just want to travel there and wander the streets to see the amazing houses and venture into all the shops and try every restaurant (I think I need one of those houses for that).  Landon’s favorite part was Broadway, followed by the Carnton Plantation tour (he’s a little history buff ?).

And that’s a wrap!  Hopefully it makes you want to travel to Nashville too!  In case you missed it above, here are parts 1 and 2 of our trip.

Have a good weekend!  I’ll be back next week with more decor and DIY stuff!

Last week Landon and I road-tripped to Nashville.  It was about 700 miles from our house to the doorstep of our adorable Airbnb cottage.  Overall, we had a blast and would totally go back again!  Here’s part 1 of our time down south.

Driving There

We spent a whole day driving down.  It really shouldn’t have taken that long but when you are 30minutes in and realize you forgot some crucial articles of clothing so you turn around, that eats up some time.  It also is wise to not constantly look things up on your phone and then try to take a picture of a water tower while the vehicle is moving if you are prone to carsickness.  You will get nauseous and then have to stop for another hour before you feel better.   The only hour worth the delay was when we stopped at this awesome restaurant in Kentucky for dinner.  We happened to be there when Kentucky was playing North Carolina for March Madness.  The place really got loud at the end!

Day 1

Our first morning we took our time waking up and getting ready.  I am my father’s daughter and feel a constant need to never take a breath on a vacation.  Landon was really good at telling me it’s okay to relax – which if you keep reading, you will see I got really good at doing just that.  A little after 9am we ventured out on our first Uber ride toward downtown to see the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum.

The place is massive!  There were so many different exhibits all over of all different sizes.  It was neat to see the old outfits from grandparents’ time but I honestly didn’t know much about the names with the clothes and instruments.  The wall of records was impressive.  And then we headed down to the next level and there were even more, so we stopped for a picture.

After the Country Music Hall of Fame, we walked a block over to Broadway, the street that is blocks of bar after bar after bar on both sides. In these bars is where amateur musicians play all hours of the day.  It was great to wander in and out of bars and listen to a variety of country music performed by full bands and individuals acoustically.  One bar (Nudie’s Honky Tonk) even boasted Nashville’s longest bar!  It was ridiculous and the whole bar was made of silver dollars.  We both enjoyed a fun cocktail – I swear it was 5 o’clock somewhere! ?

Later that night some pretty bad thunderstorms rolled in so we took to relaxing in our little cottage.  We found a new show called Time After Time and instantly became obsessed.  We actually watched all 6 episodes in our evenings.  You can go on vacation but apparently TV still has a hold on you…

Come back tomorrow for Part 2!