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Published: July 21st 2014
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NASHVILLE!
First order of business yesterday was moving from our hotel out of town to a hotel just a block or two away from Broadway and printers alley. Then on to breakfast at Puckets Grocery. I use the term breakfast pretty loosely, Brittney and I had pulled pork with sweet potato pancakes and Patty had brisket hash on a cornbread waffle. It was all amazing! They did actually out a fried egg on top so that we knew it was supposed to be breakfast!
It's been such a perfect temperature whilst we've been here, just great walking weather so we walked a fair ways around the city and then got a taxi to East Nashville. It is such a cool place! Lovely streets of arty houses with perfect gardens. Some had wrap around porches with rocking chairs and white picket fences. If I ever have to move to nashville, that is where I will be going!
The area had so many gorgeous little independent shops filled with stuff which, on the whole, served no earthly purpose but looked amazing. The majority of what was on offer was made by local artists and
was exceptionally cool. There is a tomato festival taking place next week and EVERYTHING has to be tomato themed. The poster for the festival was, of course, designed by local artists and just oozed the kind of cool that only east nashville can offer.
Being of a cheeky disposition, I asked the art gallery owner if I could have one of the flyers if they had any spare. They didn't have any spare but they did that the original artwork for the poster which I was welcome to take with me!! It will be framed once I get home! She even wrapped it and packed it as if I'd bought one of the paintings from the wall. Patty and Brittney were impressed.
Lunch/dinner was in an indoor but open restaurant bar, which had chandeliers made from Mardi gras beads. We picked there because Patty fancied trying the local "hot chicken." We had a local brew or two and all loved our meal, it tasted really authentic, local, and in the case of patty's chicken, hotter than the fires of hell!
Last evening was spent at the Grand Ole Opry and it
was awesome! I'm pretty sure that the format hasn't changed in about 60 years. Our seats were good, but side of stage and the acts ranged in age from 3 to 93. Little Jimmy Dickens was a surprise guest and didn't feature on the original billing. He is 93 years old, wore a fully rhinestoned suit and was fully hilarious! He only sang one song and forgot the words half way through, and couldn't play the guitar, but he was so entertaining. The Willis clan were the last on the bill, they seemed to really appeal to the homely American ideal but I can only imagine them appealing to ladies 30 years into their retirement in the UK, they were very talented though -12 siblings, ranging in age from 3 to 22. I think us Brits might just be a little bit too cynical of such things!
Once the Opry was done, we got a cab back into Nashville (the Opry is about 20 minutes out of town) and watched a band in a bar called the fiddle and steal guitar in printers alley. The bar next door had something called nude karaoke... We didn't try it
out!! The band were good but the vibe was very mellow for a Saturday and we quite fancied a dance. On broadway we met a couple of people who recommended "The Stage" and we were SO glad we took their recommendation. The bar was rammed but the guy on the door promised the best band in Nashville and boy did he deliver! They played for hours and were really talented. The three of us danced (with two other girls who were hilarious) and closed the bar down... We were literally the last people there and almost had to be swept out with the trash.
We had a great first day here in Nashville. This city is something very special and we are all really enjoying the overall vibe that it has. We aren't 100%sure what we will get up to today but I hope that it involves a little rehydration and plenty more exploring.
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