Howdy y’all!
I spent this past weekend with my parents in Nashville and let me tell ya, I 10/10 recommend spontaneous trips with your parents. We chose Nashville as a spot for us to all meet because it’s really halfway between Dallas (my home) and Philadelphia (my parents home). It’s a super easy flight for both of us and we have all just fallen in love with the city.
When we were planning out trip, we knew we didn’t want to take any time off work to get together. My parents really introduced these “24 hour vacations” to me and it’s a great way to experience a city without having to feel like you’ve lost your entire weekend. Instead of flying out after work on Friday, we took an early flight out Saturday and fly back Sunday evening. We probably were there for a total of 30 hours haha it’s a very quick turn but when you are super strategic about how to pack everything in you can really get a feel for somewhere without having to spend a ton time or money!
I wanted to share some details of our trip because I have just truly fallen in love with this city and everything it has to offer!!
Getting There
The reason my parents and I have settled upon Nashville as our 30 hour vacation destination is because it is the halfway point between Dallas and Philadelphia (my parents live outside of here). The flights are super inexpensive and if you are trying to plan your own 30 hour trip this is how we did it!
Fly in Saturday morning on the 9 am flight and land around the same time at 11 am.
Fly out Sunday evening at 5 pm return and land around 7 pm.
It is actually the perfect amount of time for a trip and I promise you’ll feel like you got an entire weekend destination! The BNA airport is also a quick 15 minute Uber ride to Downtown Nashville so it is super coinvent to get around without a car.
Where to Stay
We have done a couple of these quick overnights before so we really have gotten a feel for a few of the hotels. The JW Marriott and the Westin are located in a perfect area we usually choose where to stay based on price they are similar hotels and both have different benefits. The JW had a gorgeous lobby and restaurant attached called Stompin Grounds. The Westin has a super fun rooftop bar on the top floor but the decor of the hotel rooms are a little outdated for my taste.
Both are great and I love the location because you are central to a lot of walkable areas but not completely on top of Broadway which is the main belt line road that is super touristy. There are currently a ton of hotels under construction around the area but we really like being in this area because it was super walkable.
Where to Play
If you’ve never been to Nashville you MUST check out Broadway. This is the main strip with all the bars and music and if you aren’t a fan of experiencing the night life, then you can check it out during the day! Music plays all day at the majority of the bars and while it will still be semi crowded, prepare to wait in a shorter line than at night! We visited Tootsie’s this time but my dad and I have checked out the majority of all the bars when we visited a few years ago.
The COOLEST thing about Nashville is all the live music. You don’t have to look far to find it. Every bar has multiple live bands and what is so cool is that you can go up a floor and experience a whole new vibe with a new band. I absolutely fell in love with this city because of the music.
After dinner one night we did also visit this restaurant and bar close to our hotel called Southern Spoon and Saloon it was really fun and not as crazy to visit with parents.
We also walked the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge which connects Downtown to the football stadium. It was such a nice day out I am glad we took advantage of being outside. This was such a last minute thing we did but it brought us amazing views of Nashville and really let’s you get a feel for the lay of the land. It also overlooks a really pretty river? I think. There’s water and it’s pretty trust me it’s a very photo worthy spot!
Where to Eat
There are SO many amazing restaurants in Nashville. You really can’t go wrong with the food pairings here. I would recommend booking reservations at least two weeks in advance if you want to be sure to get a table at a good time.
I also noticed when browsing the menu’s of a lot of places in Nashville that a lot of places have shorter menu’s with a smaller selection. This isn’t a bad thing but something to keep in mind if dining with groups who have picky eaters.
BRUNCH
We all know I love a good brunch place! Things I really take into account for brunch are cute atmosphere and range of selections. We brunched at Liberty Common and boy did it not disappoint. The whole restaurant is so swoon worthy and had amazing cocktails. I ordered an iced latte, spicy bloody mary and a grapefruit mimosa. To eat I ordered the brunch bowl,
- Biscuit Love: Swoon-worthy famous biscuit bar!
- Tavern: Midtown, 2-for-1 drinks on the weekend
- Josephine: 12th Street, on the fancier side
LUNCH
We landed at 11 am and by noon I had a spicy margarita in hand at Saint Anejo. This restaurant we just stumbled upon as we were hungry and looking for somewhere close to the hotel that didn’t take reservations. I was really impressed by their menu and I eat TexMex daily. They have so many unique kinds of margs, my mom ordered the pomegranate one and their house salsa’s are a salsa verde and a spicy tomatillo both were so yummy! This looked like it was a fun popular spot as lots of girls brunching and families were also here. They have patio seating too which is always a must.
- Pharmacy: East Nashville
- Pucketts: Downton, traditional southern food
DINNER
I actually stumbled upon this restaurant with my mom when we were browsing for places and we were both blown away by the flavor pairings on the menu. It’s called Etch and located near Downtown also walkable to our hotel. We ate at a table but they also have an amazing chef’s bar where you can see and talk to the chef’s! We ordered the following and split it three ways. I mean just look at these flavor pairings!! We also ordered the lamb chops and the Etch salad.
- 5th and Taylor: Germantown, New American – we were so sad we didn’t make it here because THREE friends of ours suggested it. It was just too far from our hotel.
- Rosepepper Cantina: Mexican
- Henrietta Red: Seafood
- Lockeland Table: Pizza
- Margot: French/Italian
- Rolfe and Daughters: American & trendy vibes 😉
- City House: Italian with Southern Flare
Shop My Suitcase
For a quick overnight I didn’t bring much but I did bring two extra dresses I’ve recently purchased and have been dying to wear. Linking them below here!
Ok friends! That’s all for now. I think that about covers it for our fast and furious weekend in Nashville. It was such a fun trip, I just love the vibe of the city, and if you’ve never been I highly suggest checking it out! I am headed back at the end of next month for one of my friend’s bachelorette trips and couldn’t be more excited to get my boots back on the ground!
xoxo,
Zoe