Wandering in Music City

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I have a love/hate relationship with Nashville. I grew up a Knoxville gal [thanks Mama B], but since 2010 the aura of Nashville called to my heart. Le Husband and I decided back in our first year of dating, we were going to pick up and move to good ol Music City. Clearly that has yet to happen. Unfortunately due to jobs and unfulfilled promise the move has been placed on the back burner multiple times and now doesn't seem to be in the cards at all. But, I am not dwelling on the situation today, trust me, that is a post for another time [one that is in the works].

Anyway, I love me some Nashvegas. Seriously, Music City has become one of THE destination cities in  recent years and for good reason in my opinion. There is so much to do, see, eat and drink in Nashville. Every time I visit I have a blast and I'm quite bummed I don't have many of my own pictures to share. You see, every time we've visited Nashville we've stayed with Le Husband's friends and therefore we are also balancing quality friend time with exploring the city time. Don't get me wrong, we've done some damage on the Nashville strip at Tootsie's, Acme Feed & Seed [SUCH a fun bar] and other bars, but we aren't in the city the entire time. I really want to take the time to explore the Grand Ol Opry, the museums and of course, hit up a Predator's game. #maybeillgettoseecarrieunderwoodtoo

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 My favorite trip to Nashville was our trip back in 2014. We had a kickball tournament in August and the team we played on was STACKED like no other. It was a great tournament and we won which made it even better. Not only did we do it right on the field, we did it right in the restaurants, too. Yelp helped us stumble upon Urban Grub and we enjoyed one of top ten meals that night. Y'all the food was out of this world and the dessert was foodgasmic. I plan on making a repeat visit the next time we're in town, my mouth is watering just thinking about our meal, yummy!

Lobster BLT flatbread, lamb chops with purred cauliflower, homemade single chocolate meringue, homemade vanilla doughnuts and chocolate covered bacon. DIVINE!

Our next visit is closely on the horizon, however it is extremely kickball heavy so I'm not sure how much of Nashville we are actually going to be able to see. But, for those of you who have been, what are your MUST DOs in Nashville? If you haven't been, is Nashville on your list?

linkingup for wanderlustwednesday and waitingonwednesday

Alaska Cruising {Day 3}: Excursion #1 Icy Strait

Our first excursion on our Alaskan cruise was Icy Strait, Alaska and it was the most quaint towns I've ever seen filled with fun activities and delicious food. We were up for breakfast early so we could be on one of the first crafts off the ship, because we had an early reservation on the Zipline  and we wanted to explore the town a lil bit before our ride.

The day was cloudy and cool, but not too cold. I actually liked the clouds in the back ground because it provided a pretty backdrop for all of our pictures. It was so cool seeing all the starfish up close in the water.

Picture of a selfie!

The selfie!

After we explored the shops we met up with a bus tour for the trip up the hill to the Zipline. During the ride we were given a history lesson on Icy Strait [all the tourist services are locally owned by native Alaskans, so cool] and were told to be on the look out for animals [no sightings, drat].

Once we reached the top it was a short walk to the ZipRider launch. Now, this is no AVERAGE zip-line. The launch is 1400' high and riders descend at speeds of up to 60 mph, soaring 300' above the tree-tops to the Landing Zone on the beach.

I managed to grab a video of the zip-line experience and I hope you enjoy it. Make sure you have the sound down low at the beginning because you'll hear some shrieking and screaming :)! So fun and so fast!

Y'all it was such a fun ride! So fast and so fun and soooooooooo beautiful. I'm so glad I was able to snap a few pictures on our way down,you can barely see Le Husband way out in front. Must be all that muscle weight.

How adorable is my 88 year old grandpa? You rock, T-Bone!

After our family conquered the zip line we continued exploring the base of Icy Strait and grabbed some delicious food. Seafood was EVERYWHERE and the size of fish and grab in Alaskan stunned me. People were literally bringing food in from the water below us while we waited to eat, it was amazing.

HUGE HALIBUT fresh from the sea.

Amazing FRESH FROM THE SEA CRAB!!!!

While we were exploring the area we stopped for some amazing picture perfect backdrops.

FRAMER!

Candid and classic, that's the Bradys.

Christmas Card Perfection!

Brady Totem :)

We all perused the rest of Icy Strait in our own lil groups and Le Husband and I happened upon this delicious lil doughnut shop. I was in need of a lil coffee pick me up so I grabbed a mocha [so good] and we got some donuts and tornado potato to share. My life is changed after experiencing the gloriousness that is a tornado potato, so amazing.

Most amazing potatoes EVER!

After our fun excursion it was time to head back to the cabin, check out our cute lil towel guy for the day and get ready for dinner. Our cruise ship had three extra restaurants on board that you could pay a small fee {$20} for a more restaurant-esque feel. Le Husband and I did a date night at the french restaurant and it rocked our faces off, no joke. We shared escargot, a bouillabaisse, duck and two incredible desserts [lemon creme sorbet and tiramisu], making it a top five meal for both of us. It was a fun date night atmosphere and we even saw whales out the window [spotted by yours truly].

Once dinner was over, Le Husband and I ventured up to the deck to take in the gorgeous sunset. The colors of the sun against the blue of the sky and sea were breathtaking and if you can believe it even more beautiful in real life.

When the sun went down we headed back inside for a night cap and then went back to our cabin to get ready for our next amazing adventure, Juneau.

Linking up with *megan* *kristin* and *annie* 

Denali, Alaska {Day 2}

Hello, friends! I hope your week is going well. Today is my Friday 'woot woot' and I'm stoked for a short week. Today I'm heading down to Tennessee with my family [minus Le Husband, sad face] to surprise my 89 year old grandpa. We're throwing him a lil party this weekend and I can't wait to see his face when we all show up. Fingers crossed traffic is nice to us tomorrow evening, please?

I am also stoked because I have my second Alaska recap ready for y'all. Hashtag FINALLY! If you missed my first post, check it out *here*. After our super long first day in Denali, we hit the hay around 2am even though it was super light. However we were all totally exhausted so we all were able to pass out pretty quickly.

Due to a miscommunication I missed out on the family early morning run, but met up with everyone at breakfast ready for our first adventure of the day. Our first excursion was a trip to Denali National Park ranger station and then a bus ride throughout the park. It was a lot of fun and we all enjoyed the scenery and local talks.

Our first stop on the tour was a cabin that one of the park rangers lived in while the park was being created. The guide at the cabin spoke as though it were 1930 and told us about the scary wilderness he and others faced. After his lil speech we were able to tour the cabin, but told to stay close since we were in the park and in bear country. I'm not sure what we would have done if we saw a bear because we had received three contradictory accounts of what to do if we encountered a bear. Luckily, we didn't see any in the park while walking around.

One of the funnier parts of the day was right after one of the bear lectures, we all turned around and noticed our grandpa, T-Bone, was off deep in the woods on his own. Old man there, he don't care. Thankfully, his bright orange coat helped us locate him quickly and bring him back to the group. Mama B decided then and there to stick closer to his side, heehee!

The dirty hippie is read for the next part of the trip ;)!

The next stop in the park was at the top of a hill that gave us some gorgeous views. Seriously, the park was amazing view central and I was in awe of nature the whole time. Just look at those hills, the green grass and the mountains in the background. Beautiful, right?

While we waited for our Alaskan guide the Brady Bunch walked around, took in the sights and of course took some fun pictures. Man do we love our outtakes. #gooberspartyoffour

FRAMER!

Look out for the bears T-Bone. Keep taking pictures, Babyspice.

My 88 year old grandpa is pretty flipping sweet!

She told us a story of the Alaskan people and tribes and then told us about the four generations in her family. Her voice was exactly as you would imagine and after her talk she sang us a song her grandfather wrote for the Denali mountain. I love meeting people of different cultures and learning about their way of life.

On our way back through the park we saw other buses pulled over on the side of the road which meant there was wildlife somewhere in the fields. The entire trip we had been hoping to see something, but every other time nothing came of our stops. However, this time was different because we finally got to see a bear in the wild!!!

DO YOU SEEEEEE the bear?!?!?! If not, look at the big tree then look at about the 2 o'clock in the picture. that lil brown mound is the head of a mama bear chowing down on a baby moose. Sad, but necessary in the wild. My family was the family that helped others see the bear from our bus. This photo was taken using our huge long distance lens, no way we could have seen it with just our eyes. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day in Denali National Park

Our day wasn't finished after the park, oh no. We headed back to our rooms to change, grab a quick bite to eat and then it was off to our white water rafting excursion. Mama B and T-Bone decided to attend an authentic Alaskan dinner excursion since T-Bone wasn't sure he wanted to be cold rafting. 

Thanks to Babyspice for letting me copy a bunch of her pictures!

We headed to the excursion center where we learned the gist of our trip, signed our paper work and then put on our dry suits. Aka our space ninja outfits. We looked fabulous I tell you, just fabulous.

We left all of our phones and cameras on the bus during the trip, since we didn't want to chance losing anything in the water if we flipped. Our guide's name was Chewy and he was everything you would imagine an Alaskan raft leader to be, plus some. This was my fifth rafting trip so I knew what to expect and was honored enough to be the first mate of our boat. Aka the person in charge of stroke count when we were given instructions. The river was a lot of fun, not super challenging or scary but we did hit some crazy rapids.

One of the best parts of the day was when Chewy asked us if we wanted to float in the water alongside the boat during a calm stretch. Initially I thought "HECK NO", why would I want to put myself in 50 degree water? But after another girl in our boat jumped in and said the suits kept her dry we all went for it and it was so amazing. Definitely a moment I'll keep with me for the rest of my life.

All too soon the river was done and it was back onto the bus for our trip home. We were all bushed but enjoyed learning about the area we drove through. We even passed the bus where the kid from Into The Wild lived. Once we were home it was time for dinner where I scarfed down some amazing halibut, then back to the cabins to pack since we were leaving for Whittier the next morning. One day closer to the start of our Alaskan cruise, woohoo!

Linking up with *kristin* and *annie*

ps.com Katie brought it to my attention yesterday that y'all have been dealing with captcha on my comments and for that I am so sorry. I turned it off two years ago so I'm unsure why it's still happen. I double checked my settings yesterday and word verification was turned off. Let me know if y'all are still being required to enter a captcha, please. Has anyone else notice the new 'CHECK THIS BOX to prove you're not a robot" on your comments? That randomly showed up on mine recently. If you know how to fix it, please let me know! Have a great day!