Top 10 Things to Do in Nashville

Seriously, it just doesn’t get any better than a girls’ trip to Music City! We had the most amazing time and found ourselves excited to go back and see/do more– rather than our usual “Let’s go somewhere new!” Who are we?! Apparently, Nashville girls. There is SO much to do in Nashville and with just the 3.5 days we had, we crammed in a lot. We checked off most of the items on our list, but still left feeling sad and wanting to plan another trip back to Tennessee.

We drove to Nashville because 1. we love a good road trip and 2. we wanted to take more shoes and outfits than an airplane permits. It was an easy drive. If you’re traveling from Western PA, like us, we highly recommend going through Ohio and the panhandle of WV, rather than south through WV. This was recommended to us and we can confirm it is a much smoother, easier drive! (Ash went through WV for a trip south last year and it is more windy roads and no cell service for hours.) The Ohio route only adds about 15 minutes, is all highway, and we had so much fun along the way!

So, what are the items you need to check off YOUR list when you visit Nashville? Oh, girl, we got you…

10. Country Music Hall of Fame

We think that if you are visiting Music City you have to pay your respects to country music by visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame or The Grande Ol Opry. We only had time for the Hall of Fame, but the Opry is on our list for next time. In fact, we just missed Carrie Underwood performing at the Opry by a few hours (insert sad face). The Hall of Fame is a must-see if you re trying to find a way to fill up an afternoon before heading out to Broadway in the evening. You can spend hours looking at all of the country music history and there are a lot of fun artifacts from current country artists too. We even recorded a song in one of the mini studios for fun!

9. Hattie B’s

We were told so many times that Nashville was famous for their hot chicken and the place to get the best hot chicken was Hattie B’s. When we arrived in Nashville we got in right before a big storm so when it started raining, we figured we would keep it close to “home.” As luck would have it, we were hungry and less than a block from one of 4 of the Nashville locations. We decided that it was a perfect time to dive into some hot chicken. We both got the mild Chicken sandwich, which was amazing and still had a little kick; Er got the coleslaw for her side, and Ash got Pimento Mac & Cheese! We recommend for less of a wait time going to one of the locations off of Broadway; we have been told people have waited in line for up to an hour for their chicken sandwich on Broadway!

8. Liberty Common

We may/may not have read that this place was super cute inside and that sort of persuaded our decision to visit. When we got there, we quickly realized that this was the cutest brunch location and their food was equally amazing! Ashley got the American Breakfast and Er got the Fried Chicken Biscuit with crispy fries.

7. The Hampton Social

The home of the famous “Hey there, Nashville” flower wall. This is THE brunch spot of Nashville. We were given the recommendation to visit this restaurant by a few different people– and quite a few of our friends who are Nashville locals. We weren’t disappointed! There is also a parking garage attached (Hampton Social validates up to 3 hours), so we had an easy time getting parking. When we walked in, this flower mural was the first thing that caught our eye. We were escorted to the second level where we enjoyed brunch with a beautiful view. We split an appetizer of Crab + Shrimp Bruschetta, Ashley ordered the Coastal Wedge for her entree, and Er ordered the Spicy Rigatoni. We also ordered drinks which were a Glittery Rosé called “I Glittery Can’t.” (Er asked for her’s to be non-alcoholic and they accommodated that request)!

6. 21st Avenue South

Believe it or not, we just kind of stumbled upon this gem. We had a recommendation from a friend of Ashley’s to check out a boutique on this street called Dress Up Nashville. Once we got there, we realized there were a lot more boutiques we were interested in checking out; some of our favorites included a store called Molly Green (which had the cutest blue booties and Er will forever regret not buying them) and the best Altar’d State we have ever been in (seriously, the girls there were absolutely amazing and it had a beautiful aesthetic). Needless to say, the mission “find a cute dress for Broadway” was successfully completed right here on 21st Avenue (see the dresses we chose below in the pic at Aldean’s). This is also close to Tribe Kelley, but it is still temporarily closed. 🙁

7. Five Daughters Bakery

Every single person we talked to told us we needed to go to Five Daughters Bakery, so we had to at least try it. Well, as it turns out, we tried it twice. The best donuts in the world!! If you look at Erin’s donut on the right, you can see a little bit of what makes these donuts so special; they’re 100-layer donuts!! The flavor and dough are both amazing and there are so many unique options to choose from. If you are in Nashville, do yourself a favor and visit. The line is really long certain times of day, but totally worth it! We both loved Blueberry Lemon (seasonal), Ash liked Vanilla Cream, and Erin liked the Quinn. There are 3 locations in Nashville, 1 in Franklin, and 2 in Atlanta.

8. The Gulch

We headed to the Gulch, cute and trendy area of town Ash had been before when she came to watch the Steelers play. It is also the home of the famous #WhatLiftsYou Nashville wings! We stopped in Kittenish (Jessie James Decker’s boutique) and lululemon after taking a photo with the wings. Be aware that there is almost ALWAYS a line for the wings. All of the cute photos above were taken inside Kittenish!

6. No Baked

Ashley’s sister, Kaitlyn, told us we had to try No Baked. We were close by when she texted Ash to remind her about it, so we stopped in. O. M. G. This was the best cookie dough and it was served up just like ice cream! Ash isn’t a big fan of ice cream, but loves cookie dough, so this was the ideal dessert spot! You can get double and triple scoops, as well, but we were satisfied with just a single scoop (see above). Ash had the Confetti Sugar Cookie and Er had the S’mores! Don’t leave Nashville without stopping here!!

2. 12 South

We just loved our day spent at 12th Avenue South! So many people told us to visit it and now we understand why! The shops and boutiques are adorable and the murals are gorgeous! We stopped for so many photos during our walks up and down 12th South! This is the location of Reese Witherspoon’s boutique, Draper James. It also is where you can find Stoney Clover Lane (the place you see on Instagram all the time with the colorful cosmetic bags and pouches!)

1. Broadway

Of course the best part of Nashville is Broadway! We spent every evening here– and part of the daytime once too (see Ford truck/flower photos)! There is live music at every bar– virtually all day and all night! We loved that Broadway was like one big fun concert!! The bars were a little crowded, many of the popular ones having lines, due to the holiday weekend. We still made our way to many of them and had an amazing time singing and dancing the night away! We still have many others we want to visit next time, but for now, these are our favs!

1. Miranda Lambert’s Casa de Rosa (top floor dance party!)
2. Jason Aldean’s
3. Justin Timberlake’s 12/30 Club
3. Blake Shelton’s Ole Red

On our list to get to next time:
1. Florida Georgia Line
2. Tootsies
3. Acme Feed & Seed
4. Nudie’s

A Few More Recos

You know we have to give you just a few more tips before you head to Music City. We love coffee, and though we had the occasional Starbucks, we had to try out the coffee shops recommended by locals. We tried both The Frothy Monkey and Crema. Crema was by far our favorite! The coffee was SO good and unique!! Crema is a must-stop coffee shop in Nashville! Get the season special if they have one! Ours was amazing and came with edible flowers!!

We also wanted to go to line-dancing lessons at Wildhorse Saloon, but didn’t get a chance to! We definitely want to check this out next time. Ashley’s sister and friend did this and said it was so fun!