Sometimes we are lucky enough to travel along with my husband for work trips. Last week he had to shoot a wedding, so we decided to make a vacation out of it with stops along the way. Life with him sometimes means buckling your seatbelt and bracing for spontaneity (which I've actually learned to prepare for). We knew we wanted to start our trip in Atlanta to visit some of our dearest friends. We stayed with them on night one, before making a last minute decision to venture into Nashville, and ending up at our ultimate destination - Alabama. I'm so glad we decided to go to "Music City," which is what Branch kept calling it.
If you ever have time to visit Atlanta - Buttermilk Kitchen is a must! Our friends insisted we go have breakfast there the morning we were leaving town, and I'm so glad we did! Everything is made from scratch - get there early because they operate on a walk-in basis, and be sure to order the Pimento Cheese Snack as a starter.
From Atlanta we made the drive into Nashville. My husband booked us the cutest little Airbnb in The Gulch. I'd recommend staying there or 12 South. Both are walkable areas, with a cute shops, plenty of places to eat, and are just minutes away from Downtown's Broadway Street, aka Honky Tonk Row. We took on Nashville entirely by Vespa, which was amazing and saved us the hassle of parking. Plus, B looked really cute on it. I caught people taking photos and pointing everywhere we went.
We started our trip at 12 South, specifically White's Mercantile. I just knew I couldn't leave Nash without visiting this shop! Heart eyes for literally everything in the store, and there was a designated section for each of us to explore. Branch spent the whole time in the toy section. They had the most adorable Nashville Coloring books! Our other favorite spots in this area: Frothy Monky, Five Daughters Bakery, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, Imogene + Willie, which is where we stumbled upon the famous Amelia's Flower Truck! You could spend a full day in this area alone - it had such a friendly, small-town neighborhood feel to it.
We visited the Midtown area for lunch, just for some famous Hattie B's Hot Chicken. There was a line wrapped around the block, but it moved fast. Also, yes, the chicken was hot. :)
Since we had Branch with us, Broadway Street was not where we set out to spend a lot of our time. But we still wanted to go explore some for the experience, so we decided to go for an early dinner at BB King's Blues Club. Here, we stumbled upon live music from Carl Stewart - a Nashville Native, and former guitar player for BB King himself. So good! Branch danced at the front of the stage the entire time. By herself! It was more of a laid-back blues-style club and super family-friendly. A few doors down was Wildhorse Saloon, which is where we ended up taking Branch afterwards. She was dying to get out on the GIANT dancefloor while everyone was line-dancing! Joshua and I were laughing over how much she wanted to dance. In between stops we went boot shopping for her - she was the celebrity of the store, dancing around in her new boots and talking to everyone. We left with not 1 pair, but 3... :) Afterwards, we enjoyed just walking up and down Broadway, and stopping for a listen at each of the bar windows.
Biscuit Love is a great breakfast spot - another place you have to get to early, before the line wraps around the block. So worth the wait! It was once a food truck. The Gulch location (the original of the 3) was walking distance from our Airbnb. Loved the atmosphere there - coffee shop feel with lots of white, and a giant lit-up Nashville sign inside.
My husband also made it a point to stop into Gruhn Guitars, and a few other music shops. Gruhn's made us a little nervous with Branch running around inside. Guitars worth thousands & thousands were propped up nicely on guitar stands and at one point she practically dove in between two of them to steal a peppermint from the top of a desk. I guess the risk was worth the reward. :)
The staff gave her a sticker as a souvenir, which we hung proudly on our fridge when we got home.
Also, I hear if you hang around there long enough, you might see a few famous musicians pop in.
We ended up leaving Nashville with a ton of places still on our list, so I highly recommend the trip if you ever have the chance to go for a few days! We could have easily spent another day or two taking it all in.
We wrapped up our trip in Wetumpka, AL at "The Cabin," stopping for a swim at the "Hippie Hole" in NW Alabama. My husband worked, and we were able to relax & unwind in the peacefulness of the woods. Two things made our stay most memorable: the bugs (eek!) and this game!! The best feature of the cabin was the view through the big windows in the common area - it gave us a three-sided view of the creek that surrounded the cabin. We had so much fun!
