Nashville - September 2012

I had never been to Nashville before this year, and this year I went twice. The first time was on our big Southern roadtrip in May, and most recently, for Katy and Luke's wedding reception. Usually when I go to a wedding somewhere, I take in whatever tourist sights are available, but this time was unusual because I had just been there in May, and all my friend attending the wedding had also done it within the last year or two.

The hotel was very close to Broadway, the main strip where there are lots of the bars and stores. So Friday night, right after Katy and Luke's Welcome Party, we all hit the bars. It was super fun because all the places had live music and everyone was casual. We went to Tootsie's, Second Fiddle, Honky Tonk Central, and the Hilton bar. We sang, we danced, we did the "holler and swoller" thing. It's a thing, really.

Lexi, Ericka, Brian, and Audra at Tootsie's! 

After breakfast, I took a stroll to the stores with Brian, Donald, Sarah, and baby William, and later we were joined by two of Sarah's friends, Rachael, Emily, and Emily's baby Iris. What a party. We stopped for free praline at Savannah's Candy Kitchen, and helped Brian with some cowboy boot shopping at 3 different boot stores on the same street. They take their cowboy boots seriously here. They even had university logo boots. Um, no thank you.

Taking over Broadway in Nashville

Savannah's Candy Kitchen is amazing.

Me and my weekend roommate Brian outside of Boot Country

Brian and I were trying to maximize the time we spent with our law school friends over the weekend, so after Donald, Sarah, William, Rachael, Emily, and Iris went back to the hotel for a rest, we went back out to lunch on Broadway with Rob, Audra, Lexi, and Carter. We had lunch at Rippy's Bar & Grill. It was okay, but I wouldn't really recommend it. It's dicey.

Audra, Rob, and Carter at Rippy's

We went back out on Saturday night after the wedding, and this time I brought my camera. If you know me, you know that it's been many years since I went out on back-to-back nights. (For one thing, it's hard to go out on back-to-back nights when you get up at 5:30 a.m. with a toddler.) Anyway, I was pretty excited. We spent most of our time enjoying the music at Honky Tonk Central.

Katy, Luke, me, Audra, Rob, and Brian at Honky Tonk Central

Don't worry, we had a proper Southern breakfast before we left. We went for brunch at Puckett's Grocery & Restaurant. Look how much fun Donald and Sarah are having!

Brunch at Puckett's on Church Street