more about nashville! here we go. a thing i like about myself is that i’m not into gps-ing. that may or may not be related to growing up between a north + south street and being very directionally oriented // having an affinity for maps, and not so much for “directions” // always using up my phone’s data and so not really having the option to look things up. sad-form. so point is, unless i had to be somewhere at a specific time, i’d look up some places on my phone before i left the house and then wouldn’t look at a map again. this made me have to talk to people. rely on brain things, like remembering addresses, and let me explore. if you have the time, i really think this is the best way to see a city. on my first full day driving around somewhat aimsly, i saw a baby camper in someone’s driveway (a long term goal of mine is to buy a little scamp or shasta trailer, fix it up, and explore the US in it. or at least park it in my driveway and take mini-stay-cations in it). then i stumbled upon a little-free-library that had a book about mountains in it. (you know how pretty much this whole trip was based around “mountains” in general). ok now nashville. i liked you ever since my first online order where i had to type “T” into a drop down thing and tennessee came up before Texas and forced me to abandon the tab key and use my mouse. but now , in real life, you’ve really got me! bad things about the city: literally only two hip coffee shops (see the barista parlor pictures below) and barely ANY real country dancing. houston, you’re still my #1 don’t worry!

it only took me a one evening of exploring nashville to find out about the “other side of the river”. the one guy from the band the first night told me about a place called “the 5 spot”. so, after my date-with-my-self to the grand ole opry for bill anderson // jamey johnson // chris janson //the secret sisters // crystal gale, i (cheated my own game, turned on my data, and looked it up) and drove over. it was one of those really scary things, going to a hipster bar in a new city alone, but lots of things about this trip were scary. so i just did it. and what the freakin heck! turns out it was their once a month “western wednesday” night. (if you’re familiar with the good ole robert ellis and the boy’s whisky wednesdays at mango // fitz) (it was LITERALLY that. sans all my fave houston folks). so umm. imagine all the cute PBR drinking // cowboy boot wearin good looking people my age playing, listening, dancing, and singing along to 1960s+ country. it was the best – probably the highlight of my trip thus far – and maybe would have been the best part if i hadn’t met the dreamiest cowboy on the dance floor. i met a boy. we danced for the last few songs. exchanged numbers. made plans. i saw him the next few night and the next time and we danced even more. cheek to cheek all the nights to all the live country music in nashville + surrounding towns. vacation romance is the best thing. a trip is the best of the best of real life and meeting a hottie while traveling is like out of this world.

 

places i went:

OMG : “old made good” shop. filled with the coolest vintage and repurposed items. def DEF shop here and buy all the things! (look at those zines + loretta lynn art print i bought!)

barista parlor : one of the two hip coffee shops. all the boy baristas i saw working there (3, over two visits) had side nose rings. so that was like a joke. but i liked the place + the vanilla bourbon latte.

little octopus: i didn’t actually eat there. ( i ate all my meals at whole foods) (oh, one night a boy bought me dinner, but besides that. all grocery stores all the time!) i just liked the sign and like saying “little octopus” in my head. so yep.

crema coffee: the only other hip coffee shop i could find. i’d probably have liked it more except, when i asked the wifi password the girl said “creamacreama” and for some reason i couldn’t understand what she said (or that it was just the name of the place) it all happened too fast for me to ask her again, so i sat grumpy and alone for a while until i overheard someone else repeat it. i went after dinner one night, to kill time before going dancing and didn’t realize the dang place closed at 7pm. so i only got to stay like 45 minutes (and you know how being on a trip is kinda like being homeless – and so – i had been, in my head, planning to stay there for a few hours). oh well. still worth a trip i’d say.

hail dark aesthetics:  i asked the girl working at OMG for more shopping recommendations, she told me about this place. i thought it’d be “demonic” in like a joke way. but umm. nope. they seemed pretty serious about their devil worshiping. i got makenzie some cool “middle finger flicking you off” stud earrings. so yep.

bar 308: i parked at the sherwin williams next door just to take a picture of this place. i love love LOVE nikki lane and she sings about this place in one of her songs. listen HERE.

a few of my fave bloggers moved // are moving to nashville (abeautiflmess + bleubirdblog + kellygarcia from muchomuchobuenobucno) and luckly have been pretty good at giving nashville suggestions. so i can’t take credit for finding all these places on my own, but uhh turns out nashville’s not all the big (compared to houston at least) so. so, umm. what am i saying. those are some good places, so go if you’re headed to nashville. and, if you are going to nashville – take me with you!!!!!