I am in the Nashville airport after 4 days of great food, good exploring, lovely weather, and some quality music. I came down from DC with Evan for a couple of days. I work remotely right now, and I can just as easily work from Nashville as I can from DC, so I figured I would try to see something new.
Nashville is a beautiful city. It is green and lush. The urban areas to not spoil the beauty of the setting. That is partly because the urban areas are small, and fairly unobtrusive, and partly because there is a lot of open space around Nashville. It is an interesting mix of southern hospitality, warm and welcome people, a modern urban food, art, and cocktail scene, honky-tonk and state capital. It mixes all these things pretty well (I say as 4-day expert). I enjoyed it very much.
We arrived on Sunday night and took a driving tour of Broadway and the downtown strip. We went along 2nd street and the bars there, and then back through downtown. We had dinner at a Tex-Mex place called El Chico. It was not remarkable, but it was good. I am not an aficionado of Tex-Mex, given that it is not so popular in the West. It involves queso which is a definite Mexican tradition. Check it out. It is a funny cuisine. It is like middle America ran headlong into Mexico. After dinner we went to our hotel and then walked around the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. We were staying next door to the Grand Old Opry concert hall. It is an uninteresting brick building that is steeped in music history. EVERYTHING around it is named Opry something rather. The Gaylord Opryland Hotel is a massive hotel and conference center that is like Disneyland for southerners. It is so strange and themed and landscaped and all indoors. It smells like a casino and Disneyland were blended together with lots of southern accents. After our walk we went to bed.
During the days we mostly would exercise in the morning, then have a delicious lunch, work more in the afternoons, then go out for excellent dinner food. On Monday we worked from the Dell offices on their sprawling compound by the airport. We had massive burgers at Gabby's, worked more, then went for another walk prior to dinner at Peg Leg porker. It was amazing bar-b-que. The line at peg leg was long, but worth the wait. We had bar b que nachos, and pulled pork. The meat was so tender; sweet and savory with a delicious give to it. It was almost buttery. No one flavor dominated, not too seasoned or sauced, allowing the meat to speak for itself in concert with the other flavors. IT was awesome. I tried some local Yazoo beer, too. It was crowded the whole time we were there, but there was space for seating and we never felt cramped. It was in a cool part of town called The Gulch. It was a great experience eating there.
From Peg Leg we went into downtown so I could see Broadway on foot, drink some beers and listen to music. We walked out to the midway point of the foot bridge and we took some great photos of downtown. We wandered into a bar and listen to Garth Brooks covers for a while. Then we continued on to Mike's Ice Cream for delicious hand-made ice cream. We walked out to the river and sat on benches along the river and ate our ice cream cones before heading back to the hotel for the night.
Tuesday I was able to hang out in East Nashville and go to Barista Parlor for incredible coffee and workspace. I went into a shop called Fuselage where everything was expensive and too hip (4 sizes too small) for me. It was a well-curated store though. I just didn't need a $98 vintage union jack scarf, or $38 bespoke candles. We stayed in East Nashville for dinner, drinks and trivia night at the Hop Stop where they had many many beers on tap, and great food. It was a bar b cue centric menu with nouvelle takes on everything, but the food was still good. I drank too many beers, but we took 3rd in trivia and had a great time while doing it. My brother has some great friends and coworkers here.
Wednesday I was working out of the Dell offices all day again. We took a trip back to East Nashville to eat incredibly delicious tacos at Mas Tacos Por Favor. They are the best street tacos I have had outside of Mexico or Los Angeles. I also had a rich and creamy cold-brewed iced coffee with horchata instead of milk. It was fantastic. I would say there are a few good cases of great coffee in Nashville, but overall the coffee game is lacking. That evening I went for a run along the Cumberland river. It was beautiful and green. I got almost as many stares as in Africa (fitness must not be as common? I had something on my face? I don't know...) But it was green and beautiful and the river made for a great backdrop.
That night we went to Bricktop's which was only okay. But the best was having cocktails at Patterson house. They make hand crafted cocktails that all include many expensive ingredients and liquers, and are generally cocktails dressed to impress. The setting is a lovely old house with tin tile roofs inside, low dim lamps, ceiling fans, cozy booths, and hip people. It was a chic spot to get to hang out with Evan and his friends. We stayed for a couple of cocktails and then left before the place was too packed with well-heeled hipsters and Vanderbilt folks. We cruised down music row and then headed back out to the hotel.
Now here I am at the airport, ready to fly back out. It was a great trip! I want to come back and dig in a little more. I still can't get my head around the accents. The southern drawl adds 3-7 extra syllables into everything and ranges from quaint to unintelligible. I want to see more music and understand that scene a little better. I would like to have hot chicken, which I missed this time. I want to do a little more shopping and eating and drinking. So, I am starting my next trip list now. Hopefully Lee can be with me on the next one, too.
Nashville is a beautiful city. It is green and lush. The urban areas to not spoil the beauty of the setting. That is partly because the urban areas are small, and fairly unobtrusive, and partly because there is a lot of open space around Nashville. It is an interesting mix of southern hospitality, warm and welcome people, a modern urban food, art, and cocktail scene, honky-tonk and state capital. It mixes all these things pretty well (I say as 4-day expert). I enjoyed it very much.
We arrived on Sunday night and took a driving tour of Broadway and the downtown strip. We went along 2nd street and the bars there, and then back through downtown. We had dinner at a Tex-Mex place called El Chico. It was not remarkable, but it was good. I am not an aficionado of Tex-Mex, given that it is not so popular in the West. It involves queso which is a definite Mexican tradition. Check it out. It is a funny cuisine. It is like middle America ran headlong into Mexico. After dinner we went to our hotel and then walked around the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. We were staying next door to the Grand Old Opry concert hall. It is an uninteresting brick building that is steeped in music history. EVERYTHING around it is named Opry something rather. The Gaylord Opryland Hotel is a massive hotel and conference center that is like Disneyland for southerners. It is so strange and themed and landscaped and all indoors. It smells like a casino and Disneyland were blended together with lots of southern accents. After our walk we went to bed.
During the days we mostly would exercise in the morning, then have a delicious lunch, work more in the afternoons, then go out for excellent dinner food. On Monday we worked from the Dell offices on their sprawling compound by the airport. We had massive burgers at Gabby's, worked more, then went for another walk prior to dinner at Peg Leg porker. It was amazing bar-b-que. The line at peg leg was long, but worth the wait. We had bar b que nachos, and pulled pork. The meat was so tender; sweet and savory with a delicious give to it. It was almost buttery. No one flavor dominated, not too seasoned or sauced, allowing the meat to speak for itself in concert with the other flavors. IT was awesome. I tried some local Yazoo beer, too. It was crowded the whole time we were there, but there was space for seating and we never felt cramped. It was in a cool part of town called The Gulch. It was a great experience eating there.
From Peg Leg we went into downtown so I could see Broadway on foot, drink some beers and listen to music. We walked out to the midway point of the foot bridge and we took some great photos of downtown. We wandered into a bar and listen to Garth Brooks covers for a while. Then we continued on to Mike's Ice Cream for delicious hand-made ice cream. We walked out to the river and sat on benches along the river and ate our ice cream cones before heading back to the hotel for the night.
Tuesday I was able to hang out in East Nashville and go to Barista Parlor for incredible coffee and workspace. I went into a shop called Fuselage where everything was expensive and too hip (4 sizes too small) for me. It was a well-curated store though. I just didn't need a $98 vintage union jack scarf, or $38 bespoke candles. We stayed in East Nashville for dinner, drinks and trivia night at the Hop Stop where they had many many beers on tap, and great food. It was a bar b cue centric menu with nouvelle takes on everything, but the food was still good. I drank too many beers, but we took 3rd in trivia and had a great time while doing it. My brother has some great friends and coworkers here.
Wednesday I was working out of the Dell offices all day again. We took a trip back to East Nashville to eat incredibly delicious tacos at Mas Tacos Por Favor. They are the best street tacos I have had outside of Mexico or Los Angeles. I also had a rich and creamy cold-brewed iced coffee with horchata instead of milk. It was fantastic. I would say there are a few good cases of great coffee in Nashville, but overall the coffee game is lacking. That evening I went for a run along the Cumberland river. It was beautiful and green. I got almost as many stares as in Africa (fitness must not be as common? I had something on my face? I don't know...) But it was green and beautiful and the river made for a great backdrop.
That night we went to Bricktop's which was only okay. But the best was having cocktails at Patterson house. They make hand crafted cocktails that all include many expensive ingredients and liquers, and are generally cocktails dressed to impress. The setting is a lovely old house with tin tile roofs inside, low dim lamps, ceiling fans, cozy booths, and hip people. It was a chic spot to get to hang out with Evan and his friends. We stayed for a couple of cocktails and then left before the place was too packed with well-heeled hipsters and Vanderbilt folks. We cruised down music row and then headed back out to the hotel.
Now here I am at the airport, ready to fly back out. It was a great trip! I want to come back and dig in a little more. I still can't get my head around the accents. The southern drawl adds 3-7 extra syllables into everything and ranges from quaint to unintelligible. I want to see more music and understand that scene a little better. I would like to have hot chicken, which I missed this time. I want to do a little more shopping and eating and drinking. So, I am starting my next trip list now. Hopefully Lee can be with me on the next one, too.
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