We took a quick trip to Nashville for fun between Christmas and New Years.
Since neither of us like country music, it seems random- but hey, we do like trying new things!
And guess what- we loved EVERYTHING about it!
First of all- THE. FOOD.
Real Southern food is amazing!
Our first Southern food stop was in Louisville, Kentucky- and it was the best chicken wings we've ever had.
Our cute loft apartment in Nashville- I felt like I was living in Ikea (a dream of mine)
A real Southern country breakfast- bbq'd pulled pork over corn pancakes, with eggs and cheese hash browns.
Oh so good. Can't even describe.
Belle Meade Plantation
Such a beautiful house (no pictures allowed inside) and grounds.
Completely random- but awesome.
There is a full scale replica of the Parthenon in Nashville.
It's modeled how the Parthenon would have looked originally.
And they have a replica of the Athena statue inside.
60 feet tall!
So amazing!
When we were in Greece, we kept saying how we wish we could have seen the Parthenon how it used to be.
Who'd have thought we'd have to go to Nashville to do that!?
One of the many lines we stood in for food.
Southerner's don't mess around with food.
And this fried chicken was totally worth the wait.
This little hole-in-the-wall has won TWO James Beard Awards?!
It was soooooo good.
Boots for days.
And there were stores like this ALL over.
Sophia not so sure.
But Rick fit right in.
"Howdy ma'am"
So lots of things about Nashville were great- but the MUSIC was phenomenal.
Like I said- we don't like country music, but all the live music all over, and just the pure concentration of talent was amazing.
No wonder they call is "Music City"
We loved cruising the Honky Tonk and seeing all the performers.
Some of the places had 4 bands playing at the same time on different floors.
Crazy.
This packed on a Monday afternoon…
Rick and Sophia dancing down on the Honky Tonk.
Southern Biscuits and Gravy- yum!
President Andrew Jackson's plantation.
It was so beautiful, and really interesting to learn about this complex man.
Country Music Hall of Fame
Very cool too see all the stuff from Elvis and Johnny Cash- but let's be honest.
We didn't know 75% of the people in it- haha
Sophia playing in a giant guitar - haha
Ironically there was a free Trace Adkins concert downtown.
The only reason I even recognized that name was because we had just seen it in the Hall of Fame museum!
I had to google him.
Sorry, because I know that was totally wasted on someone like me- haha.
We also stopped at Mammoth Caves in Kentucky on the way home.
The worlds longest cave (over 400 miles?!)
We got to hike through it for 2 hours, and it was so cool.
The caverns were just huge!
And the formations were just phenomenal.
All in all, such a wonderful first trip to the South.
By the end we were listening to Blue Grass on the way home through the rolling Kentucky hills.
Love it.
