**This morning we heard the sad news about the Tornados that went through Nashville last night. We were just there enjoying all it had to offer. WE BELIEVE IN NASHVILLE and know they will come back Better and Stronger. Support Nashville and go there and see what makes Nashville so special.
“You will always be……the sister of my soul, the friend of my heart.” Anonymous
This was a girls trip for a bunch that have known each other for over 30 years. We have been through good times, bad times, growing up times, practically ALL the times. The kind of times that changed us forever. There have been seasons of life where we may not see each other over months or even for years. But when we get back together, it all falls back into the place. Right where we left off. My friend Sherri, came up with the cool idea that we should all go to Nashville and see Dolly Parton at the Grand ole Opry. Now I haven’t always been the biggest country music fan but I am a huge fan of mostly ALL music. So I thought, why not! A legend like Dolly, playing at the Grand Ole Opry. I couldn’t miss it! We planned it for almost a year. It was Dolly’s 50th anniversary. It was going to be Epic. Watch out Nashville! Here’s our 3-day adventure. I will list all the addresses and stops listed in this post at the bottom. So keep reading! (Don’t forget to subscribe if you would like the complete list!)
DAY ONE-BROADWAY
We made it to BROADWAY! Just not the one in the Big Apple! This was the Broadway in Nashville, known as the Honky Tonk Highway. The minute we hit Broadway, we could suddenly hear the strum and the twang of the guitar luring us in. You could just feel the Nashville magic in the air. The beautiful sunny day was drawing us up to the Rooftop of the old ACME FEED AND SEED. What a view! Up there you can capture an entire view of the downtown area, Riverfront Park and the Cumberland River. Since, Nashville is now famous for Bachelorette parties the ACME serves a special drink called….the bridesmaid’s tear. It was a hot sunny day so we just settled on a good old BPR. (Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer) $3! You can’t beat that!
Once we got the lay of the land, we decided to go find Legends Corner for a picture. There we were, right there with all the Legends!
As the smell of food filled the air, we moseyed on down to the famous, Robert’s Western World. I know it sounds like a clothing store but that it is not! It’s another Honkey Tonk known to have hosted many famous country artists of the past. But what it’s also known for it it’s Fried Bologna sandwiches. So of course, we had to try one out.! “When in Rome”…. But let me just warn you, Robert’s is always packed. They don’t take reservations and it is a hot place to go. When we arrived it was only 2 pm! The band was playing and the people were all singing “Delta Dawn what’s that flower you have on?” Pitchers of beer all around and yes, the fried bologna sandwiches. I will have to say, Not Bad at all. Thinking back on it now, I wish I had one of those grilled white bread sandwiches filled with lots of thick smokey melt in your mouth meat. Not a healthy choice…. but it sure was hitting the spot. That ice-cold beer washed it down nicely if I do say so myself! We stayed and enjoyed the music before walking to our next destination.
Later, we headed on down to a hotel that we kept hearing about…..The Bobby Hotel Even if you aren’t staying there, you should stop in! They have a beautiful lobby that looks like something out of a magazine. And the Bathrooms…. Just go check them out! They are So Cool! I don’t want to ruin it for you, so stop by and see for yourself. You will want to take pictures!! After making a stop at the bathroom, make your way to the roof. You won’t believe your eyes but there is a GREYHOUND BUS up on the roof! Such a cool place to hang out, have a drink and catch up with your friends. If you don’t find enough music at ground level, I heard they have live music up on the roof certain days/nights of the week.
Very close by, was the Ryman Auditorium. This place is History, -hallowed ground! It’s where country music first got its start. I wish now that we had scheduled a tour there. We knew we were going to see Dolly Parton at the Grand ole Opry, so we weren’t thinking we would need this tour also. If I had it to do over again, I would totally add this to my list. Don’t be like me, don’t skip the Ryman tour! Let me know how it is. I guess this is another good reason I need to go back!
As the rain was starting to set in, we had a tour planned called the Hick Chick Tour. It was so much fun y’all. We met up with our Guide Christy (She’s the Best) at Dick’s last resort. The Hick Chick tour is a Honky Tonk Pub crawl. They take you around to some of the latest and greatest cool bars. Christy gave a lot of history about the area. We heard some great music and enjoyed some drink specials along the way. (Be sure to show the bartender your wrist band that says Hick Chick Tours or you won’t get the discount.) Watch out for those shot skis! They can be too much fun. We sang some of our old favorite songs from the past and then we hopped on …..The Joy Ride. It’s free. You know this JOY just had to take a pic!
DAY TWO-DOLLY DAY!
It was the day we had been waiting for! The day to see Dolly play at the Grand Ole Opry! We were so excited. One of girls on the trip arranged for us to stay at The Gaylord Hotel Grand Ole Opry, Thanks Sasha! It’s an amazing hotel that is like a land of its own. Food, shopping, spas. Everything you need is right there. This made getting over to the Opry super easy. Since we knew we had time to kill, we decided to go find one of Nashville’s most famous Murals, “Wings”. It was so cute. There is a long line so go early. This area called The Gulch. It has many neat shops and eateries, so we enjoyed most of the morning there. We then ventured around and checked out a few festivals before heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and then Dolly. For convenience, We had dinner at the hotel just so we wouldn’t get stuck in the traffic going to the Opry . The food at the hotel is NOT CHEAP. So keep that in mind if you stay there. On a positive note, The Gaylord has shuttles that will take you over to the Grand ole Opry. This was a great perk. (more on the shuttle ride in a bit!)
Ready to go see Dolly Parton at the Grand Ole Opry
She’s still got it! High Heels and all. 
Lady Antebellum was a special guest
We arrived at the Grand Ole Opry with a whole crazy crowd of people. There were people from all over, young, old, gay, straight……all there, for one thing, Dolly Parton. As I mentioned in the beginning, I wasn’t really a major Dolly fan before going. But this little 74-year-old lady came out on the stage with her majorly high heels and glittering jumpsuit. She looked beautiful, she sounded great and she really knew how to put on a show. I was hooked. Everyone was buzzing with excitement. It’s like she has this way with people that just emits Joy. This was our Trouvaille Moment. I really wasn’t expecting it to be So Good or that she would be so lovely. We need more DOLLY in the world. She was just so genuine and nice. Dolly for president! It was a great show. The shuttle ride back to the hotel was a bunch of very excited ladies. We had so much fun! Several ladies on the shuttle started singing “working 9-5, what a way to make a living”, before you knew it the WHOLE bus was singing it together. Like we had planned it! We couldn’t stop laughing and singing. Dolly did not disappoint!
DAY 3: 12 SOUTH
On our last full day in Nashville, we wanted to go check out the 12 South area of town. It’s a trendy little area with hip clothing stores, outdoor booths with people selling jewelry and art. There were also many good restaurants. So we scheduled a Secret Food Tour. Since the Food Tour was later in the day, we decided to stop off for the famous Beer flights with Donuts at Donuts and Dogs! They pair the most unique flavors of doughnuts such as; “South Beach”, it has a raspberry/mint glaze, with dehydrated raspberry lime wheel garnish and a pipet of 4 years aged rum with the select craft beer to accompany it. While we were at it, who could pass up a dog called “The Elote Loco, which is a chorizo dog with Mexican street corn. It was SO DELISH. We also had to try the Reuben Dog. This was a HUGE mistake. We shouldn’t have eaten before going on a food tour. Ugh, we were stuffed and had no idea just how STUFFED we were going to be later in the day!
From the minute we met our tour guide Shawn, we knew we were in for a treat. He is quite the Historian. He took us all around the 12 South Area. We walked the private neighborhoods where some of Country Music’s greats live and work. He showed us a famous spot where many of country music’s legends have recorded some of the best songs of all time. I’m not going to give you a lot of details because if you do the tour I don’t want to ruin it for you. We also check out Reese Witherspoon’s store, Draper James. This is where our t-shirts came from, Women Better Together. There are several murals in the area you aren’t going to want to miss. But the Food was the Star of this show, and boy did we have some good food. You will not regret doing the tour, unless you were like us and went and had donuts and Beer prior. Yes, HOT Chicken is on the list! Yes…..this Hot Chicken was AMAZING!
There is so much more we wanted to do. These are just a few of the highlights. Below I will list the addresses and info on the places I wrote about here in the blog. But there is SO MUCH MORE…… I compiled a complete list ( by neighborhoods) of some of the best Happy Hours in Nashville, a guide to all the Murals and many other not to miss highlights. If you are heading to Nashville soon, you are going to NEED this list. By subscribing to my blog, I will send it to you FREE for a limited time. So please be sure to sign up!
There is one little side story about our shirts. It’s a Draper James shirt (Reece Witherspoon’s store) that says, Women BETTER TOGETHER. We have a little mantra that we tell each other all the time,” Women who don’t support other women are going to Hell!” It’s our little saying we use when we’ve been done wrong or kicked when down by other women. Let’s build each other up. Not tear each other down.
I hope you find these tips helpful if you are heading to Nashville. Let me know if you tried any of these tours or found something new. I would love to keep the list up to date. There are three things I really regret not doing. One I mentioned before The Ryman Auditorium tour, going to a show at the Listening Place, and seeing a show at the Bluebird Cafe. Reservations have to made well in advance for these, so if you are a good planner go ahead and do that right away.
THE DETAILS YOU NEED from this post: If you like this list please subscribe to my blog. I will giving away a more detailed list of cool places, Happy Hours and Murals broken down by Neighborhoods you won’t want to miss. Don’t go to Nashville without it! Subscribe now for your FREE List.
THE LINKS AND NUMBERS FOUND IN THIS POST
Hotel: GAYLORD OPRYLAND RESORT-2800 OPRYLAND DRIVE
1-844-631-0595
*ACME FEED AND SEED (HONKY TONK FOOD ROOFTOP)
101 BROADWAY ( famous for the drink called a bridesmaid’s tear)
LEGENDS CORNER: MURAL 428 BROADWAY
ROBERT’S WESTERN WORLD (HONKY TONK, FRIED BOLOGNA)
416B BROADWAY
*BOBBY’S HOTEL. (ROOFTOP/GREYHOUND BUS)
230 4TH AVE NORTH
HICK CHICKS TOUR ask for Christy! www.hickchicktours.com
THE JOY RIDE golf cart free 615-285-9835
The Green Bus free
THE GULCH-
*Mural *WINGS-on side of Taziki’s 230 11th Ave (lines are long)
DONUTS AND DOGS
2127 BELCOUT AVE
The Secret Food Tour: www.secretfoodtour.com
Ask for Shawn. He is the Best!
Use Code: SFT15 for 15% off.
Thanks for joining us on the Journey !
Love this and all your posts @joysonajourney!!!
What a fun girls weekend! Y’all haven’t aged a day 😘 Such a crying shame about those tornados but I’m sure Nashville will get back on its feet soon. Lots of women there! 💪