My friends Sam, Tanya and I had talked for a long time about going to Nashville for a girls trip, specifically for Tanya’s birthday. We wanted to go for her 30th birthday but it didn’t work out at the time. Flash forward a few years and the three of us had booked plane tickets to Florida for another friend’s bachelorette. Unfortunately, the bachelorette was in 2020 and due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the trip was relocated to Newport, Rhode Island, leaving us with flight credits for the cancelled trip. It was at this point that one of us jokingly said “Well, we could actually plan that trip to Nashville now with those flight credits…” which was a genius idea. We booked the trip for April of 2021 with hopes that the pandemic would be over by then. Sadly, Covid was still an issue but we were vaccinated and felt safe enough to travel.
We stayed at Holston House Nashville – it was a beautiful hotel with a rooftop bar and pool right off of Broadway. It was close enough to walk to Downtown, Printers Alley and The Gulch but far enough away that you didn’t hear all the chaos from the bars on Broadway. Our flight got in around noon so we took a Uber to the Gulch neighborhood and got lunch at Peg Leg Porker BBQ. Uncommon James, the store owned by Kristin Cavallari of Laguna Beach fame, was right around the corner so we stopped in there quick. It was a cute store but a little pricey for our taste. From there, we walked to Tennessee Brew Works, which we loved! They had a great outside area. We sat on the lower deck and ordered flights. They’re a dog friendly brewery if you’re traveling with pups.
While here, I was looking at the map on my cell phone and saw a place close by called 6th and Peabody that looked to be another brewery. After some more research we found out it was the location of Yee Haw Brewing and Ole Smoky Moonshine. It was walking distance from Tennessee Brew Works and on the way back to the hotel so we decided to go. It was such an exciting find! It was a huge – inside was a ton of merchandise, a tasting room for the distillery, a tasting room for the brewery, some food vendors and a lot of seating. Outside also had a lot of seating, plus a stage and a giant pull down TV screen. There were a lot of games like corn hole and basketball, and a food truck. We loved this place and could’ve stayed there for hours! The beers were good and we got some tacos from one of the vendors inside, White Duck Taco Shop. I definitely recommend making this a stop if you visit the city.
The next day we went back to The Gulch, which was an easy 15-20 minute walk from the hotel. We went to Milk & Honey for breakfast and loved it. The breakfast sandwich on a biscuit was so good! We went into a few stores while we were in the neighborhood. We loved the store Two Old Hippies but unfortunately they were in the process of closing so they are no longer there. We took an Uber to Germantown to go to Bearded Iris Brewing. It was kind of out of the way but we wanted to go because one of Tanya’s daughter’s names is Iris and we wanted to get some of their merchandise. Our next stop was Von Elrond’s Beer Hall, also in Germantown. They had great food, a cool atmosphere and lots of good beer. After we ate lunch inside, we moved outside to the beer garden to have more drinks. It was very dog friendly and the outdoor area was huge! This was another of my favorite places in Nashville.
After freshening up at the hotel we decided we should probably check out downtown. I was a little nervous because Nashville had just lifted the limited indoor capacity for bars and restaurants so everything was so busy. We went to Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, one of Nashville’s famous honky tonks. It was PACKED wall to wall on all floors and on the outside balcony. Even without Covid, there were too many people there for my comfort level – we left after one drink. We walked the rest of the Broadway but every place was crowded or had a line out the door – and at this point it was only about 7pm!
Sam had been to Nashville previously for a work trip and mentioned another area of the city called Printer’s Alley, so we decided to check it out. We walked into a smaller bar called Alley Taps and we ended up staying there all night. There was a fantastic band playing when we first arrived called Western Boy. They played original songs and were a family band. The next two bands that came up after were both great as well and got everyone up dancing. We were able to walk back to the hotel from the bar afterwards, which was really convenient.
On the third day, we walked back to The Gulch to get breakfast at Biscuit Love since we heard it was a must do when visiting. We waited in line for about an hour. You have to get there when they first open or even before, or you’ll be waiting longer than that! The biscuits were fine, but I personally didn’t think they were as good as the ones at Milk & Honey. The grits were delicious though and the “bonuts” were very good too. Around noon we went back to Broadway with hopes things might be a little less crazy than the previous evening and we’d feel more comfortable exploring. Our first stop was Downtown Sporting Club, which was a multi-level bar. We started on the second or third floor, I can’t remember which, and people watched while we had a drink. The place was huge and had lots of activities like shuffleboard, corn hole and axe throwing! We ended up going back downstairs to listen to the band playing while we split a bucket of beers. Next we stopped in Honky Tonk Central, another multi-level bar. Even though it was only about 1 pm, it was packed and full of people dancing. We didn’t stay here long but took pictures on the balcony overlooking Broadway. Finally we went to Dierks Bentley’s bar, Whiskey Row. We wanted to get a mimosa tower on the rooftop bar, but like everything else, it was too crowded. We got a drink and watched a musician while we ate lunch but didn’t stay long. We had a bit of a time restriction because Sam and I had a fun surprise planned for Tanya’s birthday in the afternoon.
We surprised Tanya with a Nashville Pedal Tavern tour – I definitely recommend doing this. It was so much fun! The other people on the pedal tavern with us were fun too so even though we didn’t know them, we had a great time. You could either do a Midtown route or a Downtown route on Broadway but since we had already explored Broadway a few times and it had a lot of traffic, we decided to do the Midtown route. We loved it! I was so sad when we were done, I wish it were longer. We didn’t explore Midtown once we were off the Pedal Tavern besides getting a drink at one bar, but it did look like a fun area. We went back to Alley Taps later that evening. We made friends with some random people there and had ourselves a night.
The morning of day four, we took an Uber out to the Nashville Zoo, about a 16 minute drive from the hotel. It was a beautiful zoo, very clean and AZA accredited. I think we were the only people without kids waiting in line to pet the kangaroos but we obviously didn’t want to pass up that opportunity! We spent a few hours here – it was a good place to walk off our hangovers. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Jackalope Brewing. I really wanted to go here because it’s a woman owned brewery. They had so much great merchandise and I liked the beer. The downside of this spot was that it wasn’t really near anything else. We had reservations at a nice restaurant, Geist, for Tanya’s birthday dinner – it was fun to get a little dressed up for a fancier dinner. Later on when we were back at the hotel we wanted to go to Legendary Milkshake Bar but when we got there, the line was ridiculously long and slow moving so we decided to get some fried chicken from Hattie B’s Hot Chicken for dessert/second dinner. We went back to the hotel early and ate fried chicken in bed…honestly a great way to end the weekend if you ask me.
Our flight home the following day wasn’t until the early afternoon so we took an Uber out to Radnor Lake State Park early in the morning. It’s a beautiful park and the trail was lovely. We saw a bald eagle on our hike too! If you’re looking to get out of the city for a bit, this was a great place to get some fresh air.
There were some other things I would’ve liked to do – like go to 12 South, another popular neighborhood – but we didn’t have time. Also, I think I may have enjoyed Nashville a little bit more if we had been there before Covid. I was really uncomfortable with the amount of people in the bars – it made me too anxious. I’ve heard lots of comparisons between Nashville and Austin, Texas, and while I liked Nashville overall, I thought Austin was a cooler city. I had a great time with my best friends though and am looking forward to our next trip (October 2022)!
Have you been to Nashville? If so, let me know in the comments below what you thought!
📍I acknowledge the lands mentioned in this post are the ancestral lands of the Tsalaguwetiyi (Cherokee East), S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and Shawandasse Tula (Shawanwaki/Shawnee) people.
The Adventures of Suze 
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