the story of a mother daughter trip to Nashville, by Grace Hedenberg

This is the story of the drizzly July weekend when a mother and daughter from St. Louis took a weekend trip to Nashville to celebrate their birthdays together.

It started out on a Friday night like this: one suitcase, two excited girls, three boxes of books (more on this later), four bags, and a full tank of gas. Mom lined out a schedule for the weekend, directions, and times things were open ahead of time. It turned out to be really helpful. We listened to lots of music on the drive. We stopped for dinner after about an hour and a half of driving and I got a bacon and chicken quesadilla. Delicioso! When we made it to our hotel at last, it was 11:00. Our room seemed super spacious because we're used to sharing that size hotel room with four more people!

Our first full day started out at the famous Nashville attraction: The Loveless Cafe. Upon arrival we were told the wait was an hour and forty-five minutes.  Hoping this was an exaggeration, we decided to stay. We shopped a little and sat down with books we had in our suitcases.  After almost two hours, our buzzer buzzed! We ordered a sampler with 3 meats and 3 yummy sides. My favorite was the Barb-B-Q. It was good food, and it was close to almost worth the wait. At least we can say that we've been there. 

When we lived in Knoxville  there was a book store- our favorite- called McKay's. Once we figured out there was a McKay's in Nashville, we knew we just had to go!  On the way in we had three boxes of unwanted books. After an hour of browsing, we came out with one overflowing box of treasures and still eight dollars to spare! We even got treats for Katie, Luke, and Drew. Katie got a Strawberry Shortcake book and the boys got two Skylanders and a Pokemon book. I'd say it was a successful trip! 

After McKay's we went to downtown Franklin. There were numerous cool little shops with adorable and pricy merchandise for sale. My personal favorite store was "Lulu." It was full of home decor that was a mix of modern and vintage with a little shabby shic- my favorite style. After Franklin, we headed out to dinner to eat salads, pasta, and bread. On the way to our hotel for the night (we were tired!), we stopped for a little clothes shopping. I got the boots I'd been wanting, a necklace, and a sweater. Birthday money is so much fun! Our hotel room that night was pretty snazzy. It had a big bouncy couch, a pretty glass shower, and a huge king sized bed. 

Sunday morning started with breakfast at the hotel and a stop at Starbucks for coffee. Mom says hotel coffee is not that great. Since we're interested in country music, Taylor Swift, and what country music stars do, we visited the County Music Hall of Fame. The absolute coolest thing we saw was the lyrics to "Tim McGraw" that Taylor Swift wrote in her handwriting in orange pen!  We also saw her custom made guitar, some of her awards, and a model of her tour bus. They also had an exhibit that let us feel like a country music star recording music. I designed an album and sang at a mock recording studio. 

Also located in the Country Music Hall of Fame building is the Hatch Show Print shop where they make prints and you can buy them. The actual printing shop was not running that day, but we got to see where the prints were made. I got a Nashville poster for my room. All the prints are bold and colorful and they decorate at least a dozen shops in downtown Nashville alone!

In Nashville there is plenty of walking, people of ALL kinds, and fun! Things I've noticed about Broadway Street: half the places are bars with live music, at least half the shops are hat and boot shops, and the other half are souvenir shops with key chains and T-shirts. I loved downtown Nashville!! There was so much going on that I could have just spent the day watching everything and I would have had fun. We walked around for two hours and stopped only because we were hungry for lunch.  

Mom and I went into Second Fiddle and that might have been one of my favorite parts of the trip!  The live music was awesome!  I don't even know how to describe it other than "awesome"! Four men were onstage playing requests from the small audience. Turns out that Sundays at noon are not the most popular time to go to bars. Mom and I had soda and listened for about five songs. I didn't know many of the songs. As we left the bar, I slid a couple of dollars into the tip jar.

After working up an appetite exploring downtown Nashville, we were ready for some lunch. Mom suggested the delicious restaurant that she and Dad had gone to the year before, Urban Grub.  We had macaroni and cheese with smoked bacon and jalepenos and it was goooood! There were some cute little shops on 12 South where we got a picture to frame. Our last stop there was Las Paletas, a popsicle shop. They had all different kinds of popsicles. Some flavors were pretty classic, like strawberry. Others were not so classic such as the hot chocolate and chili. I  got a butter pecan popsicle- so good! Mom got a chai popsicle. 

We ended the weekend with a trip to the Opry Mills Mall. There was a teenage girl singing on a stage in the middle of the mall. She sounded just like Lady Antebellum. That only happens in Nashville! The drive back to St. Louis at the end of the weekend wasn't as bad as we dreaded because of "The Blend"radio station, a Panera roast beef sandwich, and a trip to a gas station for Twizzlers and drinks.

Overall, the trip was awesome! I would have /could have stayed for a week, it was just that fun!! Thanks so much, Mom, for the trip and thanks, Dad, for staying home with the kids while we were on our adventure.

Mom's addition to this story-

This gal was an awesome travel partner!

Easygoing, appreciative, and great company. No matter what I suggested we do, she was all smiles and ready to go. She did not complain during the five- hour drive there or home, the two- hour wait at Loveless, or the drizzly rain. There were more "thank you's" and hugs this weekend than I could count. She also surprised me with some birthday gifts for me that she had been saving for our weekend away- a candle with a crocheted bag surrounding it and a handmade bunting, bracelet, and earrings. She's a sweetie.

Also, my apologies for the numerous selfies in this post. I know they are not the most flattering pictures! :) When you are traveling as a group of two, though, pictures together are tricky. We have the one non-selfie picture because a nice couple saw me taking Gracie's picture and asked if I wanted to hop in too.

It was a wonderful weekend- one that I will remember for always. Gracie and I think that we just might try to make this an annual birthday tradition. I smile picturing taking trips with her as a teenager and even into adulthood.