Hey Y’all! To be honest, y’all isn’t part of my Midwestern vocabulary (I say “you all”), but it felt appropriate in Nashville. I just returned from a long weekend in Nashville for a friend’s 40th birthday celebration. I’ve been to Nashville once before back in college and let’s say it sure has changed over the years! Here’s the scoop on the fun.
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Before I get going, let’s chat about this trip. I was there for my friend this weekend. While I took about a million silly group pictures with some of my very best girlfriends, I’m not going to share those on my blog. I shared a couple fun moments on my Instagram stories, but my friends never signed up to have their relaxing girls weekend published on my blog forever. I’m going to chat about what I did, saw and wore, but I’m going to leave it at that. Hope you guys understand!
So Nashville… We rented THE CUTEST 4 bedroom town house from VRBO that was right across the street from Vanderbuilt. It was new, clean and set-up perfectly for a girl’s trip. If anyone seriously cares about what place it was, email me and I’ll send you the link, but it couldn’t have been more perfect for our group. Awesome location, as every single Uber we took this weekend was less than $20 (most were only $6) and the outdoor patios and rooftop were perfect this time of year.
Joggers, army graphic t-shirt (C/O 2Be Bella), denim jacket, snakeskin tote, leopard shoes, duffel bag
We flew in super late Thursday night and pretty much crashed right after we got to our rental. Since most of my friends who went on this trip used to work out together, we all decided to get up on Friday morning and go to a workout class. Barry’s Boot Camp has a location in The Gulch (one of the newer trendy Nashville neighborhoods) so we went there to go get our sweat on before the fun really started happening.
I’ve never done Barry’s Boot camp before and honestly did zero research on it before we walked into the studio. I love boot camp type workouts so I figured if the Kardashian’s can do it, so can I. It was a good workout where you rotated between floor work with weights and the treadmill. Running on the treadmill was a little odd because the room was pretty dark, but I get how people like the workout. Wasn’t my all-time favorite class, but I’d totally do it again. And burning 500 calories was a good way to start the weekend!!!
We realized that Barry’s is right next to a popular Nashville breakfast and lunch place called Biscuit Love. Popular is a bit of an understatement because is totally the hot spot of the moment. We tried to go there for lunch after out workout class, but the line was insane. Probably 75 people were lined up on the street and after we didn’t move for 10-15 minutes, we bailed on the whole idea. We tried two other nearby restaurants and those also had 1 hour waits. I guess The Gulch lunch scene is busy, busy.
We ended up getting seated at a place called Whiskey Kitchen, which didn’t have a wait. Honestly, the lack of a wait should have been our first sign because the entire lunch experience was pretty terrible. I rarely say stuff like that and generally take the “only say something nice” mentality, but it was flat out bad. Our waitress was rude and inattentive, the food wasn’t good, and they didn’t even have salsa for the tacos. Even our cocktails were super sweet and not good. Let’s just say maybe we should have waited somewhere else.
Johnny Cash graphic t-shirt, shorts, cowboy boots, snakeskin tote, hat
Following lunch, we went back to the house to get cleaned up and then ended up heading back to The Gulch to shop. A bunch of celebs (Kristin Cavallari and Jessie James Decker) have stores in the area, so it’s such a fun area to walk around and shop. I bought a pair of earrings from Uncommon James I totally didn’t need (see below), but I did love the area. Maybe not for grabbing a quick bite, but it was awesome for shopping and people watching.
After the whole lunch debacle, we were pretty happy we made reservations at a restaurant called 5th and Taylor. The vibe was super cool and we got a great table on the patio. However, service still wasn’t the best and I’d say my beer can chicken was good, but not great. I’ve always heard the Nashville food scene was awesome but so far I wasn’t overly impressed.
Side note: As I’m writing this post, I fully recognize I’m only focusing on food and actual activities. I had a fricking blast with my friends. I’m obviously not going to recap our personal conversations, but I’d take amazing company and bad food all day, everyday. While I love to eat, I wouldn’t consider myself a foodie and could totally survive on Taco Bell if it was magically healthy, so whatever. We were having a ball.
Skirt, high neck tank top, booties, fringe bag, hat
Following dinner, we headed over to a couple bars on Broadway which is where all the honky tanks are located. First we went to AJ’s, which had a number of different floors with different music and karaoke on each level. The rooftop was fun, but we were ready for a change of scenery and went onto to The Stage. I LOVED The Stage. I’m not the world’s biggest country fan, but I can sing along with Garth Brooks and Johnny Cash with the best of them. Live music, not insanely crowded and just a good scene. I’d 100% recommend this place.
We called it a night and honestly had a super lazy morning on Saturday. It felt nice just to sleep in, chill at home, eat bagels for breakfast. With 9 moms in one house, we all don’t get to do this too often, so we embraced it.
Similar graphic t-shirt, plaid flannel, denim shorts, cowboy boots, hat, fringe bag
After our lazy morning, we headed out for a late lunch at Bar Taco. Yes, the Arizona moms went to go get tacos while in Nashville. #canstopwontstop I understand Bar Taco has a number of locations randomly spread across the country, but none of us have ever ate there before. And after a night out on the town, tacos were totally the answer.
It was in the cutest neighborhood called 12 South, which was totally more my vibe. It was family friendly, quaint and just flat out cute. We checked out Reese Witherspoon’s store Draper James while we waited for our table and settled in. The drinks were delicious, the tacos were heavenly and the service was fantastic. Saturday was so far going much better than Friday.
We decided to rally on and headed over to the FLG House, which is the bar/restaurant on Broadway owned by Florida Georgia Line. We watched The Ohio State football game there, listened to fun music and then ventured back out to the street for cheesy souvenirs for our kids.
As far as Broadway goes, it is basically like the Times Square of Nashville. A billion lights, people and insanity. I seriously hate large crowds so this area wasn’t my ideal spot, but it wasn’t bad when you settled into a place. We checked out Kid Rock’s bar before heading home to eat Papa John’s and chill on the couch. #old
Floral dress, fringe booties, fringe bag, hat
Sunday was a short day for most of us because we were heading home. However, after getting ourselves together and packing up, we still had time to go to brunch. We went to Adele’s, which was back in The Gulch. For brunch, the only option was their buffet, but it was good food and great service. While I love buffets in theory, I’m positive I didn’t eat $28 worth of food. However, it couldn’t have been more perfect for the day because we could make a reservation and everyone found something they liked.
Live in leggings, burgundy t-shirt, leopard shoes, denim jacket, hat
After brunch, I packed up and headed to the airport with one of my friends. We had a little extra time so we ended up grabbing a snack and a drink at Tootsie’s in the airport terminal, which even had live music. 100% average airport food but the live music totally made it the perfect way to end the weekend.
Such a fun trip and I 100% recommend Nashville for a girl’s weekend. Just make sure to make reservations in advance!!! Who has been to Nashville recently?? What was your take on the city?
all so fun 🤩🤩
I know!! Let’s do it again!!