Our Trip to Nashville!

We finally did it! I was booked to cook up one of my recipes on a TV show in Nashville and my daughter, Ireland decided to come along on the trip. Everybody has been asking where we stayed, where we were, what we did. Well, here you go y’all. Here’s the skinny on our trip to Nashville. And, by the way after the trip I’m not feeling too skinny! LOL! We ate so much good food!

We stayed at the new Kimpton Aertson Hotel. It was fantastic! Arlo, the dog came along on this trip too! Kimpton Hotels are dog friendly. LOVE THAT! Our room was beautiful. Loved the bathroom! So cool, don’t you think?

The hotel is in a great location. It’s near the Vanderbilt University campus. We packed sneakers and were able to walk to just about everywhere we wanted to go. From downtown Nashville to the cool Urban Gulch Area where Arlo liked the “What Lifts You” butterfly mural!

Our favorite was the 12 South Neighborhood! It was about a 45 minute walk from our hotel. When got there we fell in love with it! It’s a must-stop when you visit Nashville. How adorable is this VW flower truck?

There are really cool shops like actress Reese Witherspoon’s flagship store, Draper James. I wanted one of everything! From cute totes to adorable dresses and more. They even offer you a glass of her southern sweet tea when you walk in the door. Gotta love that southern hospitality!

For lunch we went to Edley’s! In fact, we loved it so much we actually went there twice! It’s a BBQ place and the although the BBQ looked really good, one of the locals told us to get the hot chicken. We did! Can you say AMAZING? They do theirs differently than everybody else. Most places in Nashville deep fry their hot chicken and then dip the chicken in a super spicy sauce. I liked this much better! So did my tummy!

You know me, I had to ask the manager how they cooked it. He said they marinated the chicken first which made it super juicy and tender. Then, they fried it and after that they coated in a slightly sweet but nice and spicy, but not too spicy, dry rub. It was perfect! That rub soaked up any of the grease. Okay, can I just be honest and tell you I’m dreaming about Edley’s hot chicken as I write this? On the side we loved their vinegar-based slaw, the mac ‘n cheese and the cheesy grits casserole. The grilled corn bread was delicious too!

For BBQ we had two favorites! The ribs at Peg Leg Porker near downtown were out of this world! I like dry rubbed ribs with the sauce on the side. They were the best ribs I’ve ever had! Ireland and I also agreed that their mac ’n cheese was the best we tasted in Nashville. Super creamy like it should be. The mayo based coleslaw and green beans were both winners too!

Martin’s BBQ Joint is probably the most famous BBQ in Nashville. We went to the downtown location. It’s HUGE! Two stories with awesome live music upstairs and when the weather is nice they have a backyard beer garden too. Be prepared to wait in line. This place gets busy! But, the the line moves fast and the staff is friendly and on top of it! We got our food almost immediately after we ordered and got seated. It was worth any wait.

Can you even believe this spread? Smoked turkey, beef brisket, and ribs. For sides we went with both the green beans and the pinto beans which had a little kick! The mac ’n cheese and slaw were really good too! Like we needed more food but we just had to try the deviled eggs too! Way too much but all of it delicious! Good thing we were leaving the next day so we were able to take the leftovers to go. Ireland had BBQ for days when she got back to her college dorm.

Besides food, we were able to hear lots of incredible live music. It’s everywhere in Nashville! We were able to score tickets to the legendary Bluebird Cafe. You can go on their website for the scoop on how to make reservations.

We were there on a night they do something called “In the Round”. Four up and coming musicians sit in a circle and each sing and play a song. It was just so cool! And the music was so wonderful! After the show, one of the young artists, Tenille Townes came out to talk with us and take a picture. What a talent she is and such a sweetie pie too!

Speaking of talent, one night we waited in line for an hour outside a place called the Station Inn. They have different live music nightly. We heard a relatively new band called I’m with Her was in town.

We listened to some of their music on Youtube at I’m with Her and we knew we just had to go see them. WOW! It was definitely the highlight of the trip. I can’t wait to hear more of their music and see them in concert again. I have a feeling we’re going to be hearing a lot about these incredibly talented folk singers.

From the food to the music to the shopping, and real nice people too! Oh yeah, be sure to visit the Frist Art Museum downtown! Free guided tours at 1:30pm daily. Nashville you got it going on! I’m counting the days until I can come visit this great city again! And eat your BBQ and hot chicken!