So Many Reasons Why I am Awesome

Now that I have (very recently) returned from my "Mystery Activity" with Emily, I can safely tell y'all what we did without the worry of ruining the surprise.  I gave you a clue as to what we did in that last sentence.  No, we didn't go to a murder mystery dinner theatre.  We drove to Nashville, y'all!

Yup, that's right.  Being the totally fabulous sibling that I am, I planned a road trip to Nashville for three days and three nights for my sister and I.  We left early Monday morning, drove 11 hours (but the driving is part of the road trip of course!) and got to Music City around 3:30.  We did some research, planned a few things, freshened up, then hit Honky Tonk Row (I don't actually know if that's what its called, but that's what I have dubbed it).  We heard some great music at the Whiskey Bent Saloon, had a delicious (although somewhat commercial) salad at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, then went back to the WBS to listen to Taria Green.  If you like country music, check her out.

We had a rather early night, seeing as I slept about three hours the night before, so we rested up for the next day.  We woke up, headed downtown for coffee and the Country Music Hall of Fame.  If you like old time country, check it out, otherwise, you could probably skip it.  We spent the afternoon walking around downtown Nashville, which was surprisingly small.  I only saw one Starbucks in the whole district, no grocery stores, hardly any restaurants and almost no people.  It was weird.  The city was very clean, but almost in a sterile way.  Like, are all of these buildings empty or something?!?  It was a cool place, but very small.  The suburbs were a little more commercial, or at least a little more populated.

Tuesday night I got tickets to see the Grand Ole Opry.  Look it up.  Its a music venue that broadcasts live three nights a week.  Sometimes big names come, like Carrie Underwood this weekend, but there's also smaller acts too.  We saw Easton Corbin (who's got some stuff on the radio now) as well as a few other small acts.  Then we saw Jean Sheppard and Whistlin' Bill Anderson, who are Hall of Fame-ers.  So it was cool to see them, and experience the Opry as it was when it first started.  That night we went out downtown to the Stage (kind of famous honky tonk) and had dinner at an Irish pub.

On Wednesday we had a great breakfast out by Vanderbuilt University at a cool place called the Frothy Monkey coffee house.  Then we visited the Parthenon--the only scale replica of the Greek temple in the world.  Mostly we went there to answer the question "Why Nashville?" (because Nashville is the "Athens of the South") and to see the largest indoor statue in the western world (a huge 42' sculpture of the Goddess Athena--it was quite a sight).

Wednesday afternoon we drove about 90 minutes outside Nashville to tour the George Dickel Whisky Distillery.  I had no idea how whiskey was made, so it was pretty informative.  Unfortunately, it was also pretty dry.  As in, no tasting.  But, I did buy a special commemorative bottle, and bought a shot on the rocks at dinner that night.  Trust me, I am not a whiskey girl, but it was actually pretty smooth.  I finished the whole drink, though I'm not sure if that's because it was very smooth or because the more I drank the more smooth it seemed. 

We rounded off the trip by saloon hopping down Broadway, hitting the Stage, Cadillac Ranch and Legends Corner.

In all, I think it was a great trip.  We got to visit a place neither of us had ever been to, which we both always like to do, I got to spend some quality time with my sister, and I got to smell fermenting whiskey.  I definitely recommend a trip to Nashville, but keep in mind it's size--I think three days was the perfect amount.  Also keep in mind your travel partner--make sure they like country music, wandering around an empty city and sipping whiskey.  And rhinestones--I swear I saw more rhinestoned souvenirs than I did in Las Vegas.  Definitely didn't see that one coming.