Nashville Musings

After our night in Memphis, we headed to our friend’s wedding at Madison Creek Farms in Goodlettsville, Tennessee (just a quick drive north of Nashville). It was hot and sweaty and beautiful. The only thing I love more than beautiful friends gathered for love and commitment is the food and drinks that come with it. I wish I had taken pictures of the spread because it was GORGEOUS. Not only did they have tons of beverages and snacks like cheese, bread, and fruit, but there were childhood pictures of both the groom and bride all over! It was darling.

For dinner, they served carnitas tacos (that they smoked in the back of the farm – talk about fresh), incredible mac n cheese, a sweet kale summer salad, and a great local beer, as well as four wine options. It was a perfect summer afternoon with perfect summer food. Congrats to the lovebirds!

After showering off incredible amounts of sweat, J and I went to grab some pizza in East Nashville at a place called Five Points Pizza. This place was almost identical to Home Slice! There was a super long wait but we were able to claim some seats at the bar. I love when restaurants have first come first serve bar service. Makes things a lot easier. We started off looking at the extensive beer list. I tried a beer that I am a hardcore fan of now – Bell’s Oberon from Michigan. Just thinking about it makes me want one right now… (it’s 12 pm but that’s neither here nor there).

We ordered Bell’s Oberon (talk about an outstanding beer) while we awaited our pizza. It’s a wheaty orange infused hefeweizen that hit all the right spots (PS PLEASE START DISTRIBUTING TO AUSTIN).

Our pizza was topped with with pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage and peppers. GOOD GOSH THIS PIE WAS PHENOMENAL. Who would’ve thought to get pizza in Nashville, right? Well what was fun about that part of town was that it felt a LOT like Austin.. Hense the great pizza and beer. We ate as much as we could and took the rest home with us which I nommed on in the coming days. Talk about an awesome deal!

On day 2, we embarked on aday full of eating, shopping, eating, shopping, eating… shopping….
Ok you get the idea. We started off in 12 South to try the famous 5 Daughters Bakery which I had been drooling over on Instagram for weeks prior to this trip. I ordered the sea salt chocolate donut filled with rich chocolate cream, and Joel ordered the maple donut sprinkled with cinnamon and filled with vanilla cream. Good gosh these were mighty delicious!

The incredible flaky layers with the intense cream filling would make anyone’s eyes roll in the back of their head.  We were all sugared up to go shopping down and around 12 South where I wandered into this adorable vintage shop with 75% off everything! It was a good morning indeed.

After walking through 12 South, we went to Hillsboro Village around Vanderbilt to do more shopping. We LOVED this part of town – tons of awesome shops and unique finds (and it honestly felt a lot like Austin). Pangea was probably the coolest shop with lots of artisan knick knacks and fun gifts. After lots of shopping, we went to Hattie B’s and waited in a long line in the 100 degree heat for their famous hot chicken. I am not one to ever really wait that long for food (waits at restaurants are one of my top 5 biggest annoyances). We were told by many people that they’re medium spice level is too spicy to eat, so we went with mild .. MISTAKE. The mild was tasty, but it seriously lacked the spicy kick we wanted. We ordered lots of sides, with my favourite being the pimento mac n cheese! We also ordered banana pudding for dessert (which was sort of a mistake because we were soooo stinkin full from the meal but also not a mistake because dessert is never a mistake).

Overall it was a good meal, but not one I would want again, whereas I am still thinking about those donuts from Five Daughters and it’s a month later….

After we feasted on everything fried and covered in cheese, we walked around the Parthenon replica in the park and it was so dang beautiful! We walked to the top, rested our bodies on the cold stone, and listened to a teenage hipster play songs on his ukelele. After the puddles of sweat dried, we went back to our airbnb for a quick nap (which was actually 2 hour whoops).

We went back to East Nashville to check out a few bars that were recommended. The bartender from JoLeah’s wedding works at 308 so we visited him there and ordered some true Nashville drinks – whiskey on whiskey on whiskey. I’m not a huge whiskey person but our friend whipped me up a yummy little cocktail. The intimate lighting, cozy booths, and boozy drinks had me in heaven.

We also checked out Crying Wolf – a very hipster and trendy type of bar with people in their twenty somethings staring at you in judgment and angst as you walk inside. We had worked up an appetite and decided to order their burger and tots which we were told are the best in this part of town. They did not tell us that the animal tots could feed an army. The burger took awhile to make, so we were served the tots first, and I just about ate my way into a heart attack with this pile of fried stuff. I will not post a picture as to not be judged for our barbarian food choices..

But damn, it was good. The burger was also phenomenal – teriyaki style with a grilled pineapple. I couldn’t really breathe after eating it all but we managed to stand up and play a round of pool and hang outside on the big upstairs patio. Joel and I, full of lotsa fried food and whiskey drinks, were as happy as could be.

Nashville treated us well (minus the weather that tested my will to live). Thanks, Nashville, for the eats, treats, sights, gifts, and experience!

BONUS ENTRY*** (This is technically from the next day but we also had Pancake Pantry which was stupid delicious and if you ever end up there, you HAVE TO order the french toast because it will actually change your life. I mean it.)