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A few months ago, my husband was traveling to Nashville, TN for work. We had the opportunity and the privilege to tag along, and as a lifelong country music fan, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. We'd wanted to wait until our kids were a little older to take any major trips out of the state, but decided we could make an exception for Nashville, especially since it was a manageable driving distance away. We arrived late in the evening and set up shop at a local Airbnb that we'd booked online. We knew with our loud crew we'd need a place to ourselves that wasn't so close to any neighbors. Luckily, the founder of the Nashville Entrepreneurship Club rented out his condo, so we snagged that at a great deal. It was a single unit and so meticulously maintained.
We'd read online about a great place to get burgers called The Pharmacy. I follow a lot of local bloggers who live in Nashville, and all of them had frequented this restaurant at one time or another! We called ahead and booked a table outside. We were seated immediately and enjoyed one of the best burgers I've ever had. Surprisingly,
even our young daughter did great and she enjoyed being able to walk around the place while we waited on our food. That night, we took a drive down Music Row and took in all of the neon lights from the Honky Tonks. It was definitely something unlike anything I'd ever seen before and I was thrilled to absorb it all! We made a note to get tickets to the Country Music Hall of Fame when we got back to the condo, and that's exactly what we did. We were all exhausted from our long drive, so we headed right to sleep as soon as we got back.
The next morning, my husband had a few work meetings to attend so the kids and I dropped him off at a local conference center, then headed to explore. We hit up a local coffee shop, then just walked around downtown for a few hours. Thankfully, the sun wasn't too hot and it was still spring, so there was a slight chill to the air. They especially enjoyed ducking into the massive candy store on Music Row and grabbing some fudge for the road!
We picked my husband back up
around lunchtime and headed to another hot spot I'd heard about called Mas Tacos Por Favor, or in English, "More Tacos, Please!" I knew from my research that the chicken tortilla soup was out of this world, so we all ordered a few bowls of the soup, plus a side of plantains. The entire meal was divine and even though the facility was relatively small, it was cozy and quaint and we made a special memory there that I'll never forget!
From there, we decided just to take it easy. We needed a few groceries so we hit up the local grocery store for baby food and other essentials. Then, we went back to the condo so everyone could take naps! We knew we had a big night coming up and I wanted to rest up for it! After refueling, we headed toward the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. It was a little bit of a drive away, but I'd seen pictures of the interior all of my life and I knew I wanted to go there while we were in the area. While we could never afford to stay there overnight, it was amazing to take in the incredible sights,
shopping and entertainment! We splurged on a boat ride around the premises and I'm so glad we did. Our daughter got a little antsy toward the end but the sights were so overwhelmingly beautiful they helped to calm her down. They were hosting a special exhibit wherein you could get harnessed into a bungee and spring to the top, almost to the ceiling. While it looked thrilling and would undoubtedly be a moment that would make the trip, I wasn't quite ready to cash in on my life insurance
policy quite yet, so we decided to forego that activity in favor of resting by the bubbling creek. My favorite part was seeing all the towering, tropical trees that they managed to grow inside of the hotel. That, plus the great little bakery we hit up, made the experience more than worth it!
We still had two more days to spend in Nashville, and we wanted to go off the grid a little while also absorbing everything that the city had to offer. So, that night we made plans to spend the next 48 hours visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame and local breakfast hotspot Loveless Cafe, as well
as nearby Leiper's Fork and Franklin, TN. I'll share more about those next few days in my next blog post, as they're chocked-full of adventure on their own. Overall, it was an incredible time spent with family, and though my husband had to work a little bit, we still managed to sneak in plenty of time for memories and special moments.
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