Oh how I love Nashville, the home of country music. This was my third visit and it never gets old.
My brother and sister-in-law currently live about 30 minutes east of downtown Nashville in Lebanon, TN. Last month I went to stay with them for 4 days/3 nights to not only visit but to explore the area as well. We had a blast exploring Nashville together!
When I arrived on Saturday around 6pm, we met up in Mt. Juliet at the Buffalo Wild Wings to grab a bite to eat and watch the Alabama vs. Ole Miss game. Brother and I were happy our team won, but man what a blowout.
Sunday: We headed to downtown Nashville. First stop, Centennial Park to see the Parthenon. The building and the Athena statue are both full-scale replicas of the Athenian originals. Originally built for Tennessee’s 1897 Centennial Exposition, this replica of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece serves as a monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture.
The re-creation of the 42-foot statue Athena is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece.
After walking around Centennial Park and exploring, we made our way to Downtown Nashville. We kept seeing people zoom by us on electric scooters, and we finally came across some to try out ourselves. These Lime Scooters were impressive, and they went pretty dang fast.
SO fast in fact, I lost control and ended up crashing into a concrete wall… But don’t worry, I’m just clumsy no matter what I do. Overall, it was a good time and well worth it! A must do when visiting Nashville, or any city that has them!
For Dinner we stopped at Sante Fe Cattle Co. near the Opry Mills Mall and it was delicious! Justin and Holly thought so too!
Monday: While my brother worked, Holly and I decided to head to the 12 South area of Nashville. To our luck, we found a couple scooters and hopped on. This area was full of cute houses, shops, boutiques, wall murals, and restaurants/cafe’s. It had a very “homey” feel to it and was extremely dog friendly (water bowls outside most stores, and dogs welcome inside most places). Most of the main attractions are on one road, 12th Avenue South. We parked at the end and made our way up one side and down the other.
LOTS of cute photo ops in this area, which is what we specifically came here for. A few of my favorites:
There were a couple of shops we stopped at worth mentioning. Both had a very modern, chic, and southern style:
Draper James – Owned by Reese Witherspoon
White’s Mercantile – Owned by Holly Williams, Hank Williams Jr.’s daughter
Next, Holly and I headed to The Gulch area of Nashville. Here we walked around and found a couple more wall murals. One of which I had been dying to see, the What Lifts You mural.
While finishing up taking pictures, we overheard these ladies talking about the free bus that was coming by and would “take us around the Gulch”. So what did we do? We hopped on this free bus not knowing exactly where we were going, but it was hot out and that bus had air. As we are riding, this bus is getting farther and farther from where we were, and at this point we realized we were NOT going around the Gulch. Next thing we know, we’re completely across town. We weren’t in a hurry to get anywhere though, and the bus driver was quite entertaining. If you ever need a free bus ride around Nashville, the Music City Circuit is definitely the way to go.
Once we got back closer into downtown Nashville, we hopped off so we could checkout the Walk of Fame. It’s located across the street from the Country Music Hall of Fame (which you should definitely visit, a must do for a Country Music fan).
After seeing the Walk of Fame we made our way back to the Gulch, stopping halfway at the Music City Center for a break (it was HOT) and some water. That building is HUGE. We made a quick pit stop at The Bar Louie for an appetizer before leaving Nashville for the day.
Tuesday: Before I headed out of town, we made our way to The Gun Room Shooting Range in Lebanon. A family owned and operated indoor shooting range, which happens to be frequented by some big name country stars from time to time.
Leaving the gun range, my car battery was dead (OF COURSE, my luck). Got that replaced real quick, had lunch with Holly, then headed home to see my pup and husband.
I had a wonderful time in Lebanon & Nashville, and I can’t wait to go back again soon. There is definitely something for everyone in Nashville. Great food, entertainment, sights to see, things to do, etc. You name it, they’ve got it. Maybe here in the next few months I’ll blog about my first 2 trips there.
Stay tuned, we’re traveling to 2 new cities this month.
“So come and visit me in “Music City”, we’ll drink all night and write songs no one will sing. In pick up bars, the country stars, playing Japanese guitars. Come and visit me in Nashville, Tennessee.” – Bobby Bare Jr.
On the Rhoades Again 
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