Nashville Day 3: Overstuffed in Opryland

On our third and final day in Nashville, we woke up at 6:30 AM to grab breakfast at the hotel (Hyatt Place), which offers free continental breakfast for all guests. We wanted to get an early start on the day so we could experience more of the city before we had to check out at 2 PM. I was still full from the night before but ended up having banana foster's pancakes.

A friend had mentioned that the Opryland Resort might be something we would enjoy so we decided to take her advice and go, especially since it was back up to the high 60s that day. We ended up using LYFT for the first time and it went much smoother than I expected. Plus, I used a coupon code that gave us $5 off our first 10 rides so it ended up costing us less than $12 plus tip each way.

The inside of the resort was beautiful. There were 5 different botanical gardens and a giant Christmas tree. It was a great way to kill some time. I'm definitely glad we went but it was really no different than the botanical gardens at the hotels in Las Vegas.

I wanted to grab one last meal before check out (god only knows why), so we headed back to the hotel around noon, quickly packed and then walked to The Stillery. It looked like they had some amazing pizza from what I saw on Yelp. I ordered a plain cheese pizza and a Strawberry Gorgonzola salad with Goat Cheese instead of Gorgonzola and Drew ordered the Catfish & Chips. Like every other meal in Nashville, it was HUGE...or as Anthony Melchiorri likes to say..."YUUUGE." (No disrespect, I love Anthony Melchiorri and if you don't know who he is, google him and watch his shows; especially Hotel Impossible.)

The pizza was definately as good as it looked but I had to box most of it up. We got back to the hotel just in time to check out and drop our bags off with the concierge. Our flight wasn't until 6:20 PM so we decided to head back downtown to get some gelato and buy a few souvenirs. The gelato was out of this world...I got the praline and cream and banana pudding. We then sat on a bench by the waterfront to enjoy. What a stark difference in weather from the previous two days. There were even a few people sunbathing on the lawn.

We soon found out that our flight had been delayed for an hour so we spent some extra time shopping around and then headed back to the hotel to sit down and relax before heading to the airport. Overall, we had a great time in Nashville. Although we couldn't find much to do considering we don't like museums or bar crawling, the city had some of the best food I've had in my life and two nights was the perfect amount of time to experience it all.

Nasvhille Day 2: Stuffed to the Vince Gills

On our second day in The Music City, we woke up at 6:30 AM to grab breakfast in the executive lounge at The Westin. We wanted to make sure we had an early breakfast since we knew we were going to have a huge lunch and then dinner later as well. I would have skipped breakfast altogther but I guess we had FOMO and wanted to take advantage of our free breakfast.

After breakfast, we headed back bed for several hours. There wasn't really much we were interesting in seeing while in Nashville and we were happy to get a chance to relax. By 11:30, we set out in the freezing cold to Hattie B's for lunch. The wait was over an hour long but it was well worth it. I ordered the chicken tender plate with fries and mac n cheese and peach cobbler for dessert. Drew ordered the tenders and waffles along with bacon cheese grits and fries. I had expected the chicken to be spicier than it was so I ordered the medium. It definitely wasn't too spicy but I do actually like to be able to taste my food so it was perfect for me. I'm sure I could have handled the hot, although probably not the extra hot.

I had never seen Drew eat so much! The meals were huge and worth every last bite. I wasn't expecting to like the mac & cheese because I'm not a huge fan of Pimento but it was surprisingly delicious. I also wasn't expecting the peach cobbler to be as good as it was. It was $3 and I figured, why not try a bite or two? I ended up eating the whole thing...ugh!

By the time we walked back to our hotel, I was frozen solid. I got right into bed with my clothes on and was still cold an hour later when drew came back from watching the end of the Pats game in the lobby. However, we needed to pack up so we could head over to Hyatt Place.

Once we got there, we grabbed a drink at the bar and then went for a short walk to the Goo Goo Shop to buy some treats. On the way, we noticed a pedestrian bridge and took a walk up to view the river, the Nissan Stadium and the beginning of a sunset. We had made dinner reservations for The Southern Steak & Oyster for 8 PM but were still so full, we popped in and asked to change our reservation to 9. They happily obliged.

We then proceed to head back to our room at the Hyatt to watch some more Netflix before getting ready for dinner. The restaurant was only 2 blocks away which was perfect because I didn't want to wear my heavy winter coat. We both ended up ordering the chili dusted sea scallops with sweet corn cotija grits, shaved brussels sprouts and bacon tomatillo chipotle sauce. It was beyond delicious, very creative dish. Towards the end of the meal, I had never been more full in my life and couldn't even finish the last few bites as hard as I tried. I don't know why but I still wanted to order the bananas foster bread pudding to bring back to the hotel with us. I mean how could we not?

Since it was still early and also because I was too full to walk all the way back to our room, we stopped at the bar in the hotel to grab another drink. I ordered the white sangria and the bartender had accidentally made extra so he gave me two for the price of one. Score!

P.S....I have no idea who Vince Gill is but I figured there must be a country singer with Gill for a last name...and, according to Google, he just so happens to be a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. How fitting.

Nashville Day 1: Brrrrreakfast & BBQ

A few months ago, Drew and I booked another trip on a whim when we heard flights were on sale to Nashville...roughly $44 or 3,200 Rapid Rewards Points per person, each way. Considering we already had Barcelona booked, we wanted to give ourselves at least a month in between the two trips so we settled on the end of October.

When staying at a hotel, I always like to get there as early in the day as possible to make the most of our time. I always think it sounds like a good idea until the day comes and we only have a couple hours of sleep before we have to head to the airport. Nonetheless, we opted for a 6 AM flight and were there before 8 AM. Although cabs charge a flat $25 fee for the short ride from the airport to downtown, we decided to take one to our hotel. Lyft is the more popular, wallet friendly option in the city but I hadn't quite hopped on the bandwagon yet.

Drew still had a free night to use at an SPG property and I still had my annual free night at a Hyatt Category 1-4 Property through my Hyatt Credit Card so we decided to stay at The Westin Nashville for our first night and Hyatt Place Downtown for our second. The hotels were only a 10 minute walk away from each other so it worked out perfectly.

As expected, a room wasn't ready for us at 8 AM so we left our suitcases with the concierge, bundled up, and walked over to grab breakfast at Biscuit Love. It was in the low thirties...almost 20 degrees colder than in Boston! Anyways, I heard that the earlier you get to the restaurant, the better as lines can get super long. We only ended up waiting for about a half hour before reaching the counter to order. We both opted for the Blackstrap Hash and we also decided to split an order of Bonuts (fried biscuit dough in the shape of a donut hole with lemon mascarpone and blueberry compote).

It was probably one of the best, yet most filling, breakfasts I've ever had; setting the precedent for the rest of our trip. After breakfast, we walked towards Broadway to do a little site seeing and browse the various souvenir shops. I was shocked to see bars open with live music so early.

We had booked a Discover Nashville tour and needed to be back at the hotel by 1 PM so the tour bus could pick us up. I was hoping that the tour would help give us a good idea of things to see and do for the rest of the trip, but to no avail. The bus stayed mainly in the downtown area and didn't spend much time showing us around.

The majority of the time was taken up by a visit to The Ryman Auditorium and The Country Music Hall of Fame. We drove by a few other sites, such as the Parthenon, but weren't given time to get off the bus and walk around. We are definitely not museum people, so this was a bit of a let-down. We did know in advance that the tour included tickets to the Ryman and the Country Music Hall of Fame but we still figured we'd enjoy the rest of the tour. However, the tour was more like transportation service to the two sites instead of a tour. Definitely not worth the $65 tickets in my opinion...especially considering we could have walked to those two places, IF we wanted to. Granted, I know we're in the minority in terms of not liking museums so for those who want to see those two attractions it's still a great tour. I will say that the Ryman wasn't that bad...we watched a short, 3D animation history of the auditorium and were let out with just enough time to take a picture or two of the auditorium; short and sweet. Although, fair warning...Drew claims he fell asleep during the presentation. When it came to the Country Music Hall of Fame, we were both bored out our got-damn minds but tried to kill time by taking pictures.

By the time the tour guide dropped us back off at our hotel, our room was finally ready. They upgraded us to a deluxe corner room which was quite large and expertly appointed. SPG properties have the most comfortable beds and pillows ever!!

Before heading out to dinner we stopped by the executive lounge to relax and grab some hors dourves...they served sodas, coffee, nuts, dried fruit, a deli spread, flatbread and some bbq brisket.

We had a long day and didn't want to take a nap in our dirty clothes so we decided to grab an early dinner at Martin's BBQ which was about a 10 minute walk down the street. I ordered the pulled pork shoulder sandwich with a side of cornbread and mac n cheese. The sandwich was AMAZING...the sweet pork was perfectly balanced by the tangy slaw. The mac n cheese was also to die for whereas the cornbread, which came in the form of a pancake, was not as sweet as I would typically like. However, it paired nicely with the other items on my plate.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and up to the rooftop bar for a drink. It was beyond freezing at that point but I had to go outside to take a few pictures. Once we were sufficiently frozen, we decided call it an early night and headed back to the room to watch some Netflix.