Honky Tonkin Good Times
What a weekend we had sans kids! It was one of the rare few weekends we’ve had together without kids since we had Hazel, and Nashville did not disappoint.
We were both Nashville virgins, and we fell in love with the city! We started late Friday night as our Allegiant flight didn’t arrive until midnight. We checked into our beautiful room at the Fairlane Hotel and did not research where to go before leaving; the hotel recommended hitting Broadway which was four blocks away. Perfect! Did I mention we were sober?! Ha! That was quite the experience to watch people walking around town that had been drinking all day.
The first place we hit up was Ole Red, and man, we were blown away by the Hudson Valley band - it was my favorite band we saw the whole trip. We were also in sticker shock when we ordered 2 Red Bull vodkas, and it was $38, coming from the insanely low prices of Northern WI. I almost fell off my chair when Kevin told me. But when in Rome do as the Romans do, so we trucked on watching music and paying through the nose for drinks while people watching was at its finest. We also hit up Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge, Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa, and Tin Roof. Around 3 am we decided to head back to make sure we were in ok shape for Katie and Farrel’s wedding the next day.
When we woke up in our super comfortable bed, we had some shopping to do. We both needed some items for the wedding and wanted to get some boots. We decided to stop in Muse, which was right next to our hotel, and we are happy we did. They had some adorable designer clothes that fit Kevin, and they were on clearance; I also found a couple of shirts I couldn’t pass up that were so extremely cute and on sale. We decided we wouldn’t find clothes like this in IL or WI, so we splurged a bit before Enterprise picked us up to get our rental car.
We then did a little research and landed in the super cute Gulch area of Nashville to get the rest of our to-do list before the wedding. I found some cute and comfy heels, plus a beautiful monarch necklace to wear. I have to say, hands down, I am in love with the fashion in Nashville; everything is flowery, flowing, and fit me so well - I could have refilled my wardrobe completely! But I refrained and got a few things that I could not pass up. We also scored some super cool boots for Kevin from Planet Cowboy that were absolutely perfect for him; I swear he was meant to be a cowboy.
After Kevin pulled me out of the stores and back in the car, we drove up to Spring Hill to let the wedding festivities begin. When we arrived at the hotel, I was so happy to be greeted by my amazing girlfriends. I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like, but I love that whenever we get together, it’s like we never missed a beat, and man, do we have fun! After we said our hellos, we tried to take a 20-minute power nap, got ready, then headed out with my handsome forever date to the wedding.
The venue was stunning; I never realized how scenic TN was. It was an outdoor ceremony officiated by the amazing Ann, and Katie’s dress was dynamite, not to mention how dapper Farrel and Brody looked!
It was supposed to rain that day, but they got lucky and had a lovely evening. Dinner was a Taco Bar (every wedding should have a Taco Bar btw 🤣), and we proceeded to dance our tails off the rest of the evening. We ended up at an after-party where we did one too many shots (damn Krissy), and I close talked with Farrel, who doesn’t know me that well and he thought I was trying to kiss him. Katie informed me the next day. 🤦🏻♀️
After our rockstar performance at the wedding, we woke up not feeling so well the next day. We have to remind ourselves sometimes that we aren’t as resilient or cool as we were when we were in our 20’s, and it takes way longer to recover since we don’t drink as much as these days. We then headed over to Farrel and Katie’s beautiful house to have some of the best-smoked burgers and hot dogs we’ve ever had. Not to mention Katie gave us the wrong address, so we got a nice tour of the countryside - haha! After a laugh-fest talking about all of the wild stuff that happened the night before. It was hard to say goodbye to my girls, but it was so good for my soul to see them.
Kevin then drove back to Nashville in the pouring rain, which was quite the event since we were still pretty hungover. We checked back into the Fairlane hotel and climbed into our super comfortable bed, where we napped as we’ve never napped before. We woke up feeling much better and decided that we had to listen to some more music and get some Jack’s BBQ since we were in Nashville. I wish I would have prepared a bit more and got tickets to some live music but live and learn. We loved the vibe on Sunday; it was much more chill than it was on Friday. We could get a seat to sit and listen to the bands that were playing. We hit up Kid Rocks Honky Tonk, Nudies Honky Tonk, and ended up at the Mellow Mushroom for some amazing late-night pizza and a nifty little band to listen to.
On Monday, we walked the town then decided to find Hattie B’s for some Hot Chicken - a recommendation by our Uber driver. I did a Google Maps check, and it ended up taking us out of the way while we were both hangry, which was quite the adventure. But when we sat down to eat, we were thrilled we did it - we got the Damn Hot. It was some of the best chicken I’ve ever had!
Before we left, I finally found a pair of boots at Betty Boots that were marked way down and super unique - I love them! I also found that I love Miranda Lamberts Idyllwind brand - I got some hot jeans and a super cute dress to finish off the weekend, plus a few gifts as a thank you to my parents. How we ever got all of the stuff we bought in our carry-on bags is beyond me, but we did it and flew home Nashville style in our new boots! We will definitely go back to Nashville but will need to save for a few years to afford it. ;)
