Our trip to Nashville

Joe and I had the opportunity to meet up with my best friend, Hannah, and her husband, Luke in Nashville over Joe's birthday.  I've always wanted to go to Nashville so I was really excited!

Joe and I got in on Friday- I think we went to our room by noon. We stayed at the Omni Hotel and Resorts in Nashville- which had just recently opened - http://www.omnihotels.com.  It was a fabulous hotel and in a perfect place near everything! Joe and I watched some live music and just enjoyed the atmosphere and then we hit up The Palm Steak Restaurant.  It was a high-end steakhouse that was nice - but we really would have enjoyed anywhere.

The next morning, we decided to go get breakfast in "Midtown"...we thought we could walk. It was cold and it was a VERY long walk....we ended up having to get a taxi, tired, and pushing our luck to meet Hannah and Luke back at the hotel for their arrival! But, breakfast was in a garage at a place called Jacksons and it was delicious! So, I guess it was worth it!

We got back to the hotel and met Hannah and Luke and went and did the Nashville scene. We visited awesome candy stores, clothing stores, boot stores, bars, etc.  We went to lots of honky tonk bars - but Honky Tonk Central might have been our favorite - it had 3 floors of all live music.  Sadly, on Sunday, two hours after we left this bar, a man fell to his death from the 3rd floor - kind of creepy.

We ended up at a bar (Rippey's) on Saturday watching the Hawks play with a whole bunch of Iowa alumni- totally random but that ended up being a lot of fun, too! On Saturday night, upon a recommendation of Joe's cousins, we ended up at Giovanni's - an Italian restaurant in Midtown. It was SO good.  And, while we were there - we ate dinner next to this guy's table:

 His name in real life is Chip but he plays Deacon on the show Nashville.  Luke went up to him as we left the restaurant and said "Love your work- really like Nashville. But, a big fan of you on 'Whose line is it anyway?'"  Chip was really nice but I could barely hold it together at Luke. Outside, I said "Did you watch that show? You remember him from that?" And, he said, "No, I googled it from the table." Haha!

 On Sunday, we had breakfast at the infamous Pancake Pantry. It has been featured on the Food Network and CBS Sunday Morning. They have a gazillion kinds of pancakes and it was really good - but to me, a pancake is a pancake.  However, we did have a memorable conversation at breakfast regarding jury duty, judges, and our experiences with the law.

After breakfast, since it was Joe's birthday, he got to decide our next thing to do. He chose to go to an NFL football game- the Tennessee Titans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (Former Michigan Player Denard Robinson was playing for them!).  It was a short jaunt and about 3/4 of the way there, Hannah and I were told we can't take our purses into the game....so, we had to turn all the way back and go back to the hotel and meet the guys later. The game was a lot of fun but there were definitely some questionable fans! Lee Greenwood performed "Proud to be an American" at halftime for Veterans Day and that was really good too!

 Our Sunday night was supposed to end with a trip to Bluebird Cafe....but we got there at 96th in line and they only took 90. So, after paying for a cab ride and waiting in line for more than an hour, we were denied. It was not the ending to our trip that we expected! But, we ended up at a recommended restaurant, the Whiskey Kitchen - and it was a huge score! The fish tacos and pizza were amazing and we learned that lots of famous people like to frequent this stop!

It was a great trip. But, most of that was due to the company and not Nashville.  I'm always sad after leaving Hannah because it's such an easy friendship and I always wished we lived in the same town.  She's due to have her second baby in 2014 and we're very excited for that! This trip was a perfect short weekend to catch up on lost time. I'd definitely recommend Nashville to anyone- not just country fans!

What we DIDN'T do in Nashville: Country Music Hall of Fame; Opryland or shopping....maybe next time!