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Nashville
Last year, I traveled pretty much every weekend for weddings as I transitioned my business from Baltimore to New England, and every time Russell would drop me off at Logan airport to make the trip to BWI, I’d promise him that we’d spend my Southwest points on a fun getaway for us. He’d nod, hug me, and wish me good luck. Winter is a great time to get away and explore before wedding season really kicks in, so one chilly day in January I was riding the T and looked into flights to Nashville. We’d recently watched a great episode of Master of None where Aziz takes a first date to Nashville, so I thought- why not this married couple!? I found two non-stop round trip flights, and booked them (the spontaneous side of me loves Southwest’s change policy!).
A few weeks later, we found ourselves in Nashville on a Friday night, ready to hit the town. I brought along a Fujifilm XPro 2 camera because I wanted something light, and discreet to keep on me, and I loved it’s low light ability. Our travel style is to attempt not to over plan, but research a little so we know where to wander. The first place we went was Skull’s Rainbow Room in Printer’s Alley because I love a good boozy cocktail. What we didn’t know is that we arrived just in time for an amazing burlesque show (no cameras allowed).
Saturday morning we work up bright and early, ready to take on the town. First up, Russell and I headed to the Country Music Hall of Fame where we learned about the origins of Country music, and there was a special exhibit on the collaboration between Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. We’ve never been big “country music fans”, but I’ve grown to love the earnest, soulful sound of bluegrass, and I left with a new appreciation for the roots of it all, from Patsy Cline to Willie Nelson. Adjoining the Country Music Hall of Fame, is the new headquarters of Hatch Show Print, one of the oldest print shops in the country. These two graphic design nerds loved taking the tour to learn about type-setting, and early visual means of communication. There is such a sense of music imbued in every industry it seems in Nashville from graphic design for concert posters even to the abandoned buildings that stored records.
Russell and I love to eat, and a well thought out menu means a lot to us, so we made a late lunch reservation at Husk. We were super excited to try this new take on Southern-American comfort food, and my shrimp and grits did not disappoint. Russell’s apple brandy manhattan or somesuch (it got a little fuzzy after that) was quite delicious too.
After all that good eating and drinking, I was starting to get a little sleepy so we walked down to Crema for a little caffeinated wake-up. These guys really take care with their coffee, and I found myself wishing I’d left more room in my suitcase to bring a bunch of beans home. What a beautiful space to relax and recharge. You might be starting to see a theme in the kinds of places we seek out when we travel. I take notice and really enjoy when a shopkeeper, a hotelier, or a restaurateur has a vision for the experience they want their guest to have, and curate their space accordingly. Russell and I both really enjoy places that take the same level of care (if not more!) with sourcing their products with high quality ingredients, and have a relationship with their suppliers. I like to know that the places I spend money take pride and are passionate about the quality of the things I consume, be it food, or goods.
We ended our day shopping for records, and jeans. Third Man Records is owned by Jack White, and he hand selects new artists, and historic records to release on this label. In the store attached to the recording studio is phone booth style listening room, and a really specialized, narrowly curated selection of music for sale. It’s part record store, part White Stripes museum shop of sorts. We walked out with Blind Willie McTell’s album, Volume 1 from 1920s-1930. Take a listen, I think it’s so neat to hear voices, and stories of the past coming through our speakers. Lastly, we hit up Imogene and Willie before they closed for the night I’d been stalking their collection of American Made denim on Instagram for a while, and was excited to try on, and bring home a pair of these beauties. Their shop is in an old service station, and the staff was ever willing to help as I tried on about 10 pairs.
That night, we ventured out to the Honky Tonks on Broadway. Robert’s Western World was recommended by a friend, so we stopped by there first and the music and showmanship did not disappoint! We visited a couple of the other spots on the street, but this was by far our favorite for ambiance, and music. Each Honky Tonk had it’s own vibe, style and crowd. Some were more commercial, some where all about the classics. Sunday morning we toured the Ryman Theater, and you could really feel the ghosts and the spirit of the amazing music that has been performed there. When our plane took off the following afternoon and headed back to Boston, we promised each other we’d come back. Nashville has so much good food to eat, great music to listen to, and interesting characters to ask about their stories. We barely scratched the surface, but what a great way to spend the weekend!
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