Nashville, TN

On Saturday afternoon, after we were done in Lynchburg, we made our way back north to Music City, Nashville, TN.  We checked into the hotel and headed upstairs with our complimentary cookies.

After a little rest and decompression, we headed down to Broadway for dinner at Jack’s.  Fortunately for us, the line was only out the door, not down the sidewalk, and it moved pretty quickly.  We even made some friends while were standing there.  It was a group of guys from Fort Rucker, AL and we saw them a bunch of times over the weekend.

Once about a half an hour had passed, I think- I’m not really sure, we finally made it to the ordering stage of the line.  Casey got the three meat platter and I, again, got the smoked chicken.  Check out my post later today for reviews!

We ate dinner on the back patio, listening to the music coming into the alley from The Stage next door.

When we had finished dinner, we walked up the street to Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge for our first honky-tonk experience of the weekend.  Of course, the bands were really great and we had an awesome time hanging out.

When it came close to ten o’clock, we headed out of Tootsie’s and down to The Stage for the rest of the night.  A band was finishing up when we first arrived, and before long the stage was set for the main band of the night, who were also awesome.

We had a great time dancing and singing and laughing, especially at our group of Fort Rucker friends, whom we found out were there for their friend’s bachelor party, but he wasn’t actually there because he’s in the California Guard, so they had a printed photo of him glued to a piece of cardboard with a handle that they were bringing around taking pictures with.  It was very entertaining.

When it was late in the night, or rather early in the morning the next day, we made our way back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

On Sunday, we slept in a bit and then headed out for the day, starting at Ryman Auditorium for their backstage tour.  It was really cool and we learned quite a bit.  I’m thinking I might do some special posts next week for the tours we took, because they were pretty awesome!

After the tour, we went down to Broadway and found a place to eat lunch: Rippy’s.  We sat right next to the band and ordered the “hog platter” and chips and queso.  All were really tasty!  (Again, check back later for more in depth reviews!)

When lunch was finished, we wandered down Broadway to where the Let Freedom Sing 4th of July Festival was taking place at the end of Broadway in the street and all throughout Riverfront Park.

We walked around a lot on Sunday afternoon, accomplishing little in the heavy crowds.  At some point in the early evening, Casey had dinner from Jim & Nick’s and I had a homemade ice cream.  After that, the crowds got really frustrating and we almost just went up to the honky tonks, but both of us really wanted to see the fireworks, so we cooled off in one of the shops on Broadway and then made our way back towards the river to find a spot.

We ended up in a parking lot and got lucky to be able to see the fireworks really well, which were absolutely amazing.  We both agreed they were the best we’ve ever seen, and we’ve been to the ones in the Nation’s Capitol!

After the fireworks, we headed up to Tootie’s for a little while, followed by a visit to Legends, and then we finished the night at The Stage.  We were out pretty late considering we were leaving the next day to drive ten hours, but we wanted to soak in as much as possible and we had a great time!

So, all these posts have been pretty long, but they don’t fully represent the awesome experience we had.  Of course, I don’t think I could do that with posting, you kind of had to be there!

I was so glad to take such a trip with Casey, especially because I finally got him to do something besides go to the beach!  I guess when you throw good food in the mix, it’s easier to convince him!