Similar to our Thanksgiving post, here's my handy-dandy, old-school, all-in-one-place trip itinerary word document for our Nashville trip this past weekend! Adults only! Grandma stayed with our babies! Grandpa was supposed to come as well, but stayed home feeling sick with a head cold and cough and all the wintery yucks. Mom arrived Friday night in time to watch both Ryan and Abby play basketball. Ryan had a great game, and they won by two [although we were in control the whole game, not as close as the score would reflect]. Abs lost, but fun was still had, and she scored four of her team's seven points. Coleson didn't arrive home until late Friday night. After a good night's sleep in his own bed and a couple of loads of laundry so that he could repack, we left mid-morning on Saturday.
We made it to Chattanooga in time for a yummy lunch at Urban Stack hamburgers. We shared a really yummy hot pimento cheese dip that came highly recommended by our waiter [and didn't disappoint], as well as a burger and fries. From there, we went a little bit out of town to check out the Russell Cave National Monument. We had a fun visit and walked about a mile and a half. The cement was crazy and curvy and covered in moss, and we had fun pondering the reasoning for all the jig-jagging. We then drove the rest of the way to Brentwood, in between Nashville and Franklin. We came to Nashville for the first time in the fall of 2018 for a For King and Country concert. We stayed in downtown right next to the Ryman and the main Broadway strip of bars. We didn't enjoy that part of town and for this trip wanted to be closer to Franklin and the suburbs :) For dinner we headed down to Franklin to eat at Big Shake's - same as our previous trip. It was good!! insanely loud, but good. They have the best milkshakes to go along with hot chicken and mac and cheese [I got my chicken in tacos].
Sunday morning was absolutely beautiful!! We had the unseasonably best weather in Denver as well, so we're thinking future vacations should be sponsored by the local Chamber of Commerces. We walked about three miles around Radnor Lake. Pretty views, dozens of turtles, the sweet smell of freshly recycled Christmas trees, and eight deer slowly walking along within maybe 15-20 yards of us! From there, we went into Nashville for Hattie B's hot chicken. We had thought we enjoyed Big Shake's the night before, but everything pales in comparison to Hattie B's! We first went there this past fall to the Atlanta location after our day-date to an Atlanta United playoff game. Soooo good!! Since we don't get hot chicken much at all, we don't get too adventurous when ordering - I got the sandwich and mac & cheese, and I'm pretty sure it's my current favorite meal anywhere, ever! After lunch, we drove around the city some, around Vanderbilt before parking near the capital. By this point, it's about 72* and sunny, the most perfect February day ever I'd imagine. We walked all around the greenspace and capital building and farmer's market - nothing like Atlanta's capital, hehe, think more like DC. Back to the hotel in the afternoon where I ran on a greenway that passed right by our hotel parking lot. Best run I've had in a very, very long time. I think I could have gone forever, what with the beautiful warm sun and flat sidewalk and shorts & tshirt!
Sunday dinner was trickier - we had wanted to go to Franklin, but everything we pulled up was closed! The very things that appeal about small towns can also cause trouble - like being closed on Sundays. Coleson found a taco spot that looked great and said it was open, however, it definitely wasn't. and definitely was supposed to be, several other cars pulled into the parking lot too while we were trying to regroup and come up with plan E by this point?! :) I think it had something to do with a rather significant sporting event that was going on?! Apparently, some places close on Super Bowl Sunday. So we ended up back near Vanderbilt eating at Taco Mamacita. It was really good! We each had a margarita and shared an appetizer sampler with salsa, cheese dip, and guac, as well as a bowl of really fresh tortilla chicken soup. Perfect! Taco Mamacita is actually owned by the same company as the Urban Stack we went to for burgers - I had originally come across Taco Mamacita in Chattanooga, before we decided the burger place sounded better. They have three or four different styles of restaurants, each with a location in Nashville and one in Chattanooga. We sat outside on the patio which was really nice and only a wee bit cold, hooray for warm weather! Right next door was dessert - picture a cute little ice cream shop, but it was safe-to-eat cookie dough! Yummyyy!!!!! We went back to the hotel and watched the halftime show [awful and totally inappropriate] and saw the Chiefs come back in the 4th quarter to win big.
Monday morning, Coleson and I had a great power walk along the greenway and neighboring residential street. Brentwood has some great houses and character and money apparently too! We loved how all the lots were so big and nice and the trees were amazing, no clear-cut cookie-cutter neighborhoods, at least not in the area we stayed. After our walk, we shared a waffle [we really aren't much for breakfast, but it looked [and was] so good] and coffee. Too quickly, we were having to pack up so Coleson could get to his conference. But on our way into Nashville, we stopped again at Hattie B's for lunch. I mean we basically planned this trip around food and our new love of hot chicken, so it was only fitting.
Coleson's annual Hanger Live [Ed Fair] conference was at the Gaylord Opryland this year. Perhaps even bigger and more impressive then the Gaylord in DC that we dropped him off at a few years ago?! He went off to meetings pretty quickly, and I logged about 85,00 steps exploring my new surroundings. Okay, maybe not quite 85,000, but since I don't have a step counter, not only can I not prove that I went that far, but you can't prove I didn't. Anyways ... I went all over the Gaylord as well as the neighboring Grand Ole Opry and the Opry Mills shops. I had the worst carmel macchiato ever at the Starbucks in the shopping mall, but other then that it was great. I walked and walked and walked and even picked up a few souvenirs. Coleson had a cocktails thing to go to, so I grabbed a slice of veggie pizza and an Auntie Anne's pretzel in the hotel and watched the evening fountain and lights show, I always love that sort of thing! Of course, just after I settled into the room and found the Hawks game, Coleson called :) We had a nice evening walking a bit, meeting a few people, and then finding a spot to sit and enjoy a glass of wine.
Tuesday morning, I walked him to his conference room and that was the last I saw him, bummer. But from there I went and got a lot of brownie points with my mom, by meeting her old friend Roxanne for coffee. She was a sweet lady and we visited for maybe 20 minutes before her first meeting of the day. While we sat there, we also saw quite a few other people that knew me as "Donna's daughter" including, but not limited to, Debbie Polley and Sue Mellor. Old home week I suppose. After the coffee, I ran on the hotel treadmill for 3.5 miles. I'm not usually a treadmill girl, but they aren't as boring when you're in a fitness center with other people. And even though no one was swimming, I had a great view of the pool and then to the outside, so I didn't go too crazy. A shower, a couple of pages in my book, a leftover lunch [bagel and yogurt from the Residence Inn continental breakfast, Great-Grandma would have been proud, and I mean that in an insanely loving way!]. I left about noon eastern for my journey home. Unfortunately our amazing weather had turned to rain showers, although still relatively warm at least. But I had jotted down a few places I wanted to explore on the way home, and of course, they were mostly outside spots. I did stop in the town of Bell Buckle for a gingerbread latte. It was good, no regrets, but I also don't see myself going out of the way to go there again. For future bucket list trip ideas : I had really wanted to explore the Old Stone Fort State Park. But I also really didn't want to get caught in a rainstorm. I had also considered stopping for a ride on the Incline Railway in Chattanooga. I hadn't decided if that would be worth doing in the rain or not, when I discovered that it was closed anyways for routine repairs. Also on the bucket list, is spending a long weekend/ week on Nickajack Lake. Sooo crazy pretty!!! And being right near Chattanooga there would be so many fun things to do in addition to the lake [like the Old Stone Fort or the Incline Railway!].
I made it back to town in time to grab a publix sub and have a picnic dinner at Badger Creek. Taylor was sick and didn't go to practice, and I didn't want Mom [and mostly Chloe] to have to stay there for the whole practice, so they dropped her off and went back home. After eating and a stroll around the park, Abby and I were reunited and headed home to see Ryan and Chloe too! And Grandma. And get Abby to basketball practice. Welcome back to the crazy routine!!
So there's the really long version of our weekend away. Or at least my side of it. Coleson is still in Nasvhille until tomorrow [Friday] afternoon. It was soo weird leaving the hotel without a final goodbye knowing that he was in meetings somewhere in there. And walking right past the spot where we had sat the night before having a drink. It was good to be home and to see my babies, bummer I had to leave Coleson there though :) But hey, only about ten days until our big vacation .... a cruise!!!!!! It's gonna be amazing!!!
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*** We didn't make it to the Factory at Franklin, or to those last three restaurant ideas that I had looked up. We had hoped to spend Sunday night in Franklin, but the Factory had closed early, Oscar's wasn't open at all, etc etc. Plus, we wanted the hot chicken more, so we had it three times, hehehe.
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Friday, January 31st – basketball games at 6 and
8 [no games Saturday]
Saturday, February 1st – get up and leave
Russell Cave National Monument? And then head on towards Franklin/ Brentwood?
Residence Inn, 206 Ward Circle Brentwood TN
Checkin Saturday 4pm, checkout Monday 12noon
Sat, Feb 01, 2020 –
Mon, Feb 03, 2020
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Confirmation Number:
97414194
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The Factory at
Franklin
Radnor
Lake State Park
Near hotel in Brentwood – hiking trails, great reviews,
one-ish hour walk around lake
Hattie B’s and Big Shake’s!!!!!
Oscar's Taco Shop
4115
Mallory Ln, Franklin, TN 37067
Pancho's
Place - Franklin
209
S Royal Oaks Blvd, Franklin, TN 37064
Tupelo
Honey
2000 Meridian Blvd #110, Franklin, TN 37067
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