Honky Tonkin'

We drove into Nashville with Dolly Parton twanging on our radio. I’ve always wanted to experience Music City and couldn’t wait to soak up the whole culture.

Our campground this time was the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, who offers a few no-frills full-hookup spots for $35/night. Not bad, given it’s only a few miles from downtown Broadway (aka music central). 

We went downtown for dinner at Merchant’s and holy cow, it’s a neon city! Every bar had a lit sign, you could hear music coming from nearly every open door, and hundreds of people milled around (half of them three sheets to the wind). I was in heaven. The vibe was electric. We spent the evening walking around to various honky tonk bars, meeting up with an old friend, going into a men’s bathroom at the Hermitage (it’s okay, people do that), and awing at how much talent the city has. 

We found Justin's doppelganger killing it at Layla's.

The next day was sunny and 80 degrees, so we took a walk to East Nashville, hoping to find some cool thrift shops and a beer or two. We love getting the feel for a new place by just walking around. It always ends up being a long-ass walk, but that’s how we stay fit! With all the meandering, our walk that day was around 8 miles. We ended up eating lunch outside at The Pharmacy, which has to-die-for burgers and sweet potato fries. We drank a couple Good People saisons (the second GP beer we’d had in Nashville) and I was a total fan. 

By the time we made it back to Dot, our legs were about to fall off. YES, LITERALLY. I made a super weird dinner, which we will not speak of, and watched a movie.

...That’s what I love about our adventuring—we get to explore all of these new places, but feel like we are local because we have the option of chilling at home. It's often not as glamorous as it seems. It's simple and real. 

Our home gym 

Rambling on!

Ariele