Nashville <3

Nashville…the city I call my dream city. For a few years, I’ve wanted to live there. Months ago that was the plan. Once my lease was up here, I was going to pack up all of my belongings, and Guido and I were going to move to Nashville for a new adventure. But life and God had other plans. As the Rascal Flatts song says, “life throws you curves, but you learn to swerve.” I’ve learned how to swerve. I love North Carolina. This is home and always will be, still every three years or so I get an itch to live somewhere new. Not because I am bored or hate it here—I just want to try something new. When I learned all I could about Nashville, I knew it was a place I could be happy. Yet, I wanted to visit first. When I moved to Utah, I didn’t visit first, and it was not the place for me. Looking back, I moved there because I thought I wanted things that after living there I found I didn’t want. You live and you learn. I don’t regret moving there—I think I am a better person for my experiences there, and I made lifelong friends. When I decided I wanted to visit Nashville, everyone I asked to go with me declined for some reason or another. Until, one day my Aunt Lori and I were talking about my 30^th birthday that we never got to go on (stupid blizzard—and I still haven’t been to New York City), and somehow, we decided we’d go to Nashville to celebrate my 35^th birthday because she had never been either.

For me, Nashville has always been much more than Country music—don’t get me wrong, that was a large part of why I wanted to visit. I love Country music—in fact, I am listening to it as I write. I love music—all types. Well, maybe not Rap and Hip-Hop (though it’s not all bad). I grew up listening to music, and music is a HUGE part of my life. Most of the time I listen to some kind…I love singing (when no one can hear, lol!), and I have written lyrics to songs. I usually have a song in my heart and mind. It’s really hard to get work done some times. I never write without some kind of music playing. I’d say 85% of my writing has lyrics scribbled in the margins. So, why wouldn’t I want to live, or at least visit, Music City?

I did last week, and I experienced a lot of firsts! I think my trip covered my firsts for the entire year and some of 2019! As usual, travel for me is an adventure. Aunt Lori’s flight was supposed to arrive two hours after mine. Perfect, I thought. I could get some studying done while I waited for her in the airport. Technology had other plans…I arrived at RDU at a little after 5. Southwest’s computer system was down, so checking in had to be done by hand. (Both at the main check in, and when it was time to board.) It was a hassle, and because of it, my flight was delayed over 45 minutes. That wasn’t even the worst part of my airport day. When I went through security, their technology couldn’t register my ID. The security guard had to scan it four times before it worked. I was thinking: this is all I have, so if it doesn’t work, I am SOL. From now on, I will only bring my passport when I travel. I know that will work! Between being delayed and Aunt Lori’s flight arriving early, I only had to wait about 40 minutes, so not too bad.

After getting settled in our hotel, the adventures began. Aunt Lori said I walked her butt and legs off, but it was less walking than I normally do! Hahah!

DAY 1

We traveled to Broadway  (the main street downtown) and walked around Nashville. I have never seen so many bars on one street in my life. That day I just took it all in. With my sensory processing disorder, Nashville was a lot to take in—it’s noisy (really noisy), and it was raining and windy. Normally, I would struggle with all the sensory elements, but Nashville didn’t bother me one bit. I loved it! Every minute of it! Our first stop was to Jason Aldean’s Rooftop Bar. There are a lot of rooftop bars in Nashville. And most bars have live bands playing. Aldean’s didn’t because we got there pretty early, but there was a DJ. I had some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. The chicken was nothing fancy, just good.

After that, we went on a tour of Studio B, which is where many of the popular artists of past decades recorded their hits. Elvis recorded over 300 songs there. I got to sit at the piano he played while he recorded many of those hits. Being in the same room  musical greats had been in made my heart go pitter-patter. The feeling was amazing. I knew I was in greatness. The tour guide was impressed with my musical knowledge. The tour was about an hour, and after we finished that tour, we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame (which was on my list). We got to see artifacts from all kinds of Country artists. There was one artist who was noticeably missing in my opinion—no Dierks! I love museums and learning new things, so the Country Music Hall of Fame was something I loved.

We traveled to the Frits Art Museum, which is famous for its Modern Art displays. Personally, I didn’t find any of the exhibits interesting, but there was an apartment made from tissue paper, which was odd and kind of cool. One of my favorite courses in college was Art History, so experiencing all art, even if I don’t really understand/appreciate it, is important to me.

When the museum closed, we went to Blake Shelton’s Honky Tonk. While we were there, I tried poutine for the first time. I am sure Aunt Lori thought I was crazy. Poutine is tater tots covered with gravy, pulled pork, and a fried egg. It was an interesting combo, but I really liked it. We also listened to two live bands while we were there—one had been on The Voice, and the other had been on CMT. I really liked a song called “Dirt Road Dancing.” It was really fun to see bands trying to get their start, and they were good! Honestly, one of the reasons I like Country music is generally the singers sound just as good live as on their albums.

DAY 2

Aunt Lori and I are very different people. I rise early, and she sleeps in. I got ready and studied while she slept in, but she did wake up at around 8:30. We did the HOP ON/HOP OFF BUS Tour on day two, something else I have never done before. I was nervous to do it because I wasn’t sure what getting on and off actually entailed, but it was a great day.

Our first HOP OFF was Antique Archaeology, which Aunt Lori was very excited about because she and her husband, Scott, watch American Pickers. We spent a good bit of time looking at all the antiques in the store. I love antiques. They tell us about our history. In the mall where the store was located, there was also the Jack Daniel’s distillery, as well as a moonshine distillery, and a wine slushy bar. I figured while I was there, I might as well taste test. (Most of it was free.) Apple Pie Moonshine was my favorite. I have had it before, and I really want to make it, but I can’t find a sugar-free recipe for the diabetics in my family. The slushy was interesting—Aunt Lori drank most of mine, but she had had them before, and she knew she liked them. My mission on the trip was to find a CASH (as in Johnny) t-shirt for my Cash, but everywhere we went only had adult sizes, so I custom made one for him. I love it, and I hope my favorite little guy will, too.

We then went to the area of the city known as The Gulch, which is where a lot of the city’s athletes and young people live. They should come up with a better name for it—gulch is an ugly word. We started our time there by taking pictures at the angel wings mural. We then ate at the best burger place in Nashville, which was called Burger Republic. It was pretty affordable. I had a burger called the Tennessee, which was topped with things that Tennessee is famous for—onion straws and bourbon honey barbecue sauce. I love food and trying new things, but Nashville was a challenge for me because they love spicy, and with my food allergy, I can’t do spicy. I really wanted to try Nashville hot chicken, but alas, I could not.

Safely downtown, we went to Dierks’ bar because I couldn’t go to Nashville and not go to my favorite singer’s bar. He could have been there, and I would have missed him. He was not, though. I also wanted to watch the Preds’ game with fellow fans. I will admit I was disappointed. My food was mediocre. Aunt Lori’s was good, though. When we got there, some drunken guy tried to stand up and talk to me. He stumbled before he made it to me, and security quickly removed him. As someone who is “too nice” I appreciated they were on top of things, but he didn’t really bother me all that much. If you’ve read my previous posts, you know I haven’t had the greatest experiences with drunken men and Dierks’ events. The band was really good. Probably the best one of the trip. I was watching the Preds and the Thursday Night football game at the same time. The Preds lost, and disappointed fans entered the bar, the vibe changed. Drunk young girls dancing inappropriately and guys filming them. Gross. Some guy tried to look at Aunt Lori’s bill. It was just weird. We left pretty quickly thereafter. I wonder if we were to go back another time how things would be different. My biggest problem: there was only one stall in the bathroom. Whoever designed that was dumb. Why would you only have one stall in a women’s bathroom? (FACE SLAP). I’d like to go back to see how things were different if we went back because apparently it is Nashville’s Favorite Bar.

DAY 3

We really wanted to go on The Sound tour of Nashville-a tour when a Nashville songwriter and you travel around the town, and they give you insider information. We couldn’t figure out where it started, so we went to The Musicians Hall of Fame and Grammy Museum instead. So cool. As a music lover, I love listening to all parts of the music, so learning about the people who played the instruments and make the music memorable was amazing. The best part of the museum was that you got to experience the making of an album from the beginning to the end. Aunt Lori played the drums, and we sang and recorded and mixed. We laughed a lot, too. It’s hard to sing when you can’t hear yourself. I may have danced a little when I recorded, too! We spent a long time there and had lots of fun.

We went to Luke Bryan’s 32 Bridge. In the South, I found cheese curds, which of course, I had to order, and Aunt Lori had some really yummy nachos. We went to the karaoke bar, but no one was there I don’t sing karaoke at home because I don’t want people to remember me if I am horrible, but I am not singing in public to no one. It was a nice break to sit and listen to music. As a tourist, we did tourist things: souvenir shopped and explored the city. I love sending people postcards when I go on vacation, and I bought myself a cowboy boot keychain that closely matches my own cowboy boots. We took pictures all over the city, and we went to the Pedestrian Bridge, which overlooks the city and the Titans’ Stadium.

Aunt Lori wanted to check out Kid Rock’s Honky Tonk, so we went there. While we were there, we met Henry, who was there to see the Jets-Titans’ game that Sunday; there were a lot of Jets’ fans. Henry bought us drinks (Aunt Lori drank my rum and Diet Coke), gave me life/love advice, and chatted. After one more bar visit, Aunt Lori had a few shots of fireball and my rum and Diet Coke and was giggly—it was comical. She chatted our Uber driver’s ear off about the weird pedestrian happenings in Nashville: 1) diagonal crosswalks and 2) a lot of jaywalking. It’s weird. When we got back to the hotel, we watched our videos from earlier and just giggled. Good times. My brain needed a break—I have been under a lot of stress lately, so it was nice to just enjoy life for a short time.

DAY 4

Madame Tussaud’s famous wax museum was on our agenda for our final full day in Nashville. It is in a mall, which I thought was unusual. It’s an interesting experience. We did lots of things while we were there—sang and danced with famous singers, sat with actors, stole Bruce Springsteen’s drinks, got scared by Ozzy, climbed on Miley’s wrecking ball, and shot our own album cover. No Dierks once again! More giggles and fun. I love spending time with my Aunt Lori. I know I can be myself with her.

The Grand Ole Opry is across the street. In the winter, performances are moved to The Ryman, which is in downtown Nashville, so the Opry was unavailable to tour. We did spend a short time taking pictures outside. We could see a little inside, and I would love to go back when I could tour the Opry and spend some time soaking in what I am sure is the amazingness of it.

Back downtown, we went to the Johnny Cash Museum and then GOO GOO’s, which is Nashville’s famous candy. I tried a piece  even though I don’t do sweets, and it wasn’t bad. I wouldn’t eat it normally, but it wasn’t terrible. When on vacation calories don’t count, right? We found ourselves at Kid Rock’s Honky Tonk, again. We sat on the rooftop and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the city. The band was good—I sang  with them. By the time we left, I had lost some of my voice. I had been wearing my backpack all day, and I walked into the bar with it on, but the security guard told me I had to leave. As I was leaving, another security guard, the one that had let me in, told me I had to leave :/ I dropped my ID as I was leaving. Luckily, I noticed a little way down the street. As I went back to get it, the security guard pointed at it smugly—jerk.

We decided to go to a bar called Legends before leaving downtown (everything downtown turns into a nightclub after six, and you can’t get in if you’re not 21 and backpacks are not allowed) because it is the Honky Tonk where a lot of famous Country singers got their start. We had a good time listening to the musical decades with the band. The 80’s were the best!

I dressed in my #59 jersey and cheered on the Preds!!! They scored three goals in less than five minutes, and it was great. It’s always nice when your team wins!

DAY 5

Home again. Home again. I was sad to leave, but my heart is in Raleigh. With a song in my heart, I loaded the plane. On my flight, I wrote eight deeply emotional and vulnerable poems. Maybe I will be brave enough to share them one day. It’s funny where inspiration comes from. I needed it. I hadn’t written in over a week, and every time I tried to, I couldn’t. It was nice to release some of those emotions to paper.

THINGS I LEARNED IN NASHVILLE:

• Dolly is truly beloved! Oddly, so is Billy Ray Cyrus, but I think that’s more for the humor.
• Every band knows and sings “Dust on the Bottle.”
• ALL kinds of music is accepted and loved—truly Music City!
• I bought all three girls cowboy boots, so they could be like Auntie Moe because I am the best Auntie!
• It doesn’t matter your age and their age (whether he’s 21 or 60+)—guys will hit on a pretty girl.
• Taxes in Tennessee are really high!
• Nashville likes to give away free things!
• A lot of construction happens there, but it is still really clean.
• Nashvillians are loyal to their sports teams. You can stand on either end of Broadway and see a stadium. People wear their jerseys proudly, too.
• Nashville was surprisingly clean and easy to navigate. Makes it an nice place to visit.

There is so much to see and do, I could never do it in one trip, so I guess I’ll have to go back 😉 I loved being there. I hope Aunt Lori did, too. If you want to more in depth details, I will be more than happy to share them with you!