Girl Meets City: Nashville, Tennessee
I hadn’t exactly planned for my next Girl Meets City post to be about Nashville- in fact, I had planned for it to be on either Milledgeville or Augusta. But as with many things in life, fate intervened. Life became a little too hectic for weekend trips to Milledgeville or Augusta, and then I took a new job with Raycom Media’s new website The Southern Weekend.
My position as Digital Content Editor for The Southern Weekend has taken me to Savannah, St. Simons, and now Nashville. Well, sort of, see it just so happened that a friend is moving back from Nashville- and we just got finished shooting some video articles in Nashville, and I was planning on writing some articles on Nashville anyway…. see how fate is intervening here? I was able to combine visiting a friend along with taking care of work items.
Upon arriving in Nashville, it was lunch time. I left Macon rather early, around 6 am, and even with a couple of unscheduled stops (damn you contacts for getting an eyelash stuck in my eyes) I still made pretty decent time. A 6 hour drive is just about at my limit, even with 2 stops.
I was lucky to have a well seasoned veteran and long time friend as my guide. We first stopped by Mitchell Deli, where I would deign to my guide’s suggestion for lunch: a turkey & avocado sandwich. It’s actually called the Turkey, Avocado, and Bacon sandwich. It’s made of toasted wheat bread, turkey, Benton’s bacon, avocado, sprouts, tomato, and mayo. And I didn’t get a great photo because I ate it so fast. #whoops
It was also here that we picked up a copy of Nashville Scene with it’s annual ” You’re So Nashville If…” AND imagine my excitement to see a reference to an article we posted on The Southern Weekend, originally on my friend Tess & Haley’s blog In Fine Feather.
Next stop? I had to at least stop in The Perfect Pair.
The Perfect Pair was once co-owned by a young lady from my hometown- but she has since sold her share to her then business partner: Whitney Dunn. You might have heard of the band her father was in, Brooks & Dunn. (Totally singing “Boot Scoot n Boogie” in my head right now. Someday y’all remind me to tell y’all about when my little brother sang it for the talent show at school when we were kids.) This is one of the best places to go and shop in Nashville. I follow their Instagram page religiously and wish I lived a lot closer than 6 hours away, but my wallet is thanking me for that distance:
heat index of 100 degrees calls for a lightweight, $42 shirt dress. A photo posted by @theperfectpairnashville on
It was at this point that I had to take a meeting with an ad agency and do some actual work. Because that was the primary reason I came to town. (Ok, maybe visiting a friend was the primary reason. But it’s ok to fit some work in as well!!)
Then it was off to Eastland Cafe- which was sublime. I think it’s my Nashville happy place. My tour guide got the Coleman Farms Chicken Roulade with asparagus two ways, shiitake mushrooms, potato thyme gnocci, scallion oil and pinot noir sauce.
I got the pork brisket: pork with woodchuck braised cider cabbage, granny smith apples, apple butter and bernaise. My only complaint would be that I would have LOVED more apple butter on the plate. And even that’s not a real complaint, it’s just that everything was so amazing.
Oh! And I almost forgot to mention, we got there just in time for happy hour- which meants having this amazing pimento cheese and crackers. I would also close out dinner with the Scarborough Fair cocktail: Grey Goose pear, domaine de canton, rosemary, and lime. I was afraid it would be too sweet, but the flavors balanced out quite nicely.
For my one real stop in to downtown Nashville I was taken to Robert’s Western World- with a slight distraction by a young street performer beforehand:
*Note: carry cash. It’s not proper to not tip street performers, as I was informed by my tour guide, especially if you videotape or photograph them. I’m told that Robert’s Western World is the place where you will find both tourists as well as locals. I don’t like to feel like a tourist when I go places, so it was nice to know each can mingle here. And OF COURSE the band was playing Allman Brothers! Y’all I seriously swear everytime I go somewhere I either hear The Allman Brothers or Otis Redding and I damn near tear up #BecauseMacon.
Anyways. Here I learned that the best bartender is upstairs, and unfortunantly I cannot remember her name. Because both my friend and I tend to way overtip (left over from being in the bar and restaurant business) apparently we had extra special service.
And then because I was slightly tipsy I may have taken advantage of the really intoxicated Canadian flirting with me and encouraged him to buy shots for me friend and I…. and then I slipped away to pour mine out in the ladies restroom because I knew that I was done.
This is where I also had another little interesting encounter. Don’t get too excited, come on y’all. Anyways. I had heard my friend discussing how Nashville is apparently the new destination du jour for bachelorette parties. I encountered one. I think. I can’t imagine why else these women were stumbling and giggling to themselves, loudly, and talking about how they had taken pictures and send it to their guys playing the game “name that crotch” and “name those glitter tits”.
Lesson here: just because she’s dressed up doesn’t mean she’s a classy chick. But what do I know
Anywho, back on upstairs where I had aided my tour guide in getting slightly intoxicated on someone else’s dime. #Winning
There was also a brief stop, once we wisely left before getting to the point of no return, at a hot dog stand. Another note, hot dog stands in Nashville take credit cards. Because of course they do.
Sadly, I did not get any photos of what I was wearing that night. I thought I looked damn cute in my spaghetti strap Tibi tank top and silk black pants. But apparently I was the other female in Nashville who decided to channel her inner Johnny Cash because I saw ZERO other women in all black. Not even the bachelorette crew. Neon holds a special place in the hearts of those in downtown Nashville.
The next day I felt a little bit more at home in East Nashville with it’s boho-gentrification vibe. After assisting during an at home project, I frankly needed a nap. Baby girl over here is getting OLD.
Once I finally emerged from a coma-like state it was off to Hillsboro Village. I was excited to see the variety of shopping in this part of Nashville: Babe Beauty Bar, Posh Boutique, but what I liked the most was Village Marketplace & Brewery. It was here that I fell in love with local designer Tucker & Bloom’s bags. They are created locally and have a lifetime warranty. Not to even mention that they family owned with over 30 years in the industry.
#Repost @djmakossa ・・・ Feeling quite lucky to be one of first (if not thee first) to receive this brand new Version 2.0 Rich Medina 45 Bag In Olive Green. Thank you @tuckerbloom, @casebloom and the one and only @richmedina. Shout out to Case for ensuring this arrived just in time for my photo shoot today with @alivemagstl. ?? #richmedina45bag A photo posted by Tucker & Bloom (@tuckerbloom) on
I also like that they appears to cater to the music industry, especially with bags made for DJs.
For dinner we stopped off at Jackson’s Bar and Bistro.
The next morning before leaving it was time to grab some coffee and breakfast. As always, I managed to double up on coffee stops. First up was Portland Brew, a fun little spot on a corner of East Nashville. So, according to my friend and others that live there, East Nashville is becoming highly gentrified with places like this one that cater to ” an up and coming 30 year old who wants to work in something that gives their life meaning kind of place while shopping in a spot with reclaimed wood and organic foods”. But I’m ok with that. If these kinds of places are giving small business owners a chance to hack it out there in the dog eat dog business world, I don’t mind paying more.
All that to say, their coffee is very good and the setting is fun. From there it was off to a Nashville institution: Pied Piper Eatery. I was told the biscuits and gravy were some that cannot be missed, and so I did not miss them. Meaning, I ate all that was placed in front of me.
The menu is also a lot of fun.
Nashville, you were a lot of fun. I hope I get to visit you again soon! Just like with every other place I visit, you’ve captured a place in my heart.
Love to all y’all,
Molly
