Nashville On My Mind

"I could see a change a comin',

I left my home town a hummin',

With my ol' guitar a strummin',

All the songs that I had wrote,

I was on my way to Nashville."

-Dolly Parton

Howdy y'all!

My family and I just got back last night from a wonderful little vacation to Nashville, Tennessee!

My little sister and my brother in law (along with my two adorable nieces) call Nashville home, and we hadn't visited them yet!

So we decided early on in the semester that we would go to Nashville for spring break.

My sister also just gave birth to my brand new baby niece over a month ago, so I was so excited to go meet her!

Can I just say...

I freaking LOVE LOVE LOVE Nashville!

Our entire family fell in love with this cute little "hipster country" town.

I caught myself telling Nick several times throughout our trip that I would NOT be disappointed if we had to move to Nashville one day.

Before I go on a tangent about my love of all things Nashville, I'll share some photos of our trip!

Nick loves road tripping.

I despise it.

We compromised and decided to rent a car and road trip it to Nashville, and fly back.

After all is said and done...

I still hate road tripping, and road tripping with two children is not as fun as it sounds (haha.....).

I did enjoy this gorgeous Texas scenery within the first few hours of our trip.

I can't believe that this is what I get to call home!

When we got into Memphis, we saw these three crosses sitting on the side of the road.

This photo does it not justice.

It was glorious.

We arrived in Nashville at 4 in the morning!

We decided to power through the night and drive while the kids were passed out and asleep.

We took quick power naps, and woke up bright and early to start our first day in Music City!

Here's a recap of our first day in Nashville!

My first time holding my new niece, Lucy!

So much cuteness going on!

I can't even...

My other niece Lyla and Dannika.

I'm so sad we don't live near each other, because they really loved playing together.

They got along SO well!

We went to a cool little local, "hipstery" coffee joint called the "Bongo Java Roast".

It was just walking distance from my sister's house.

I had a DELICIOUS matcha Korean style shaved ice with red beans.

It was so freaking good!

My brother in law is a doctor (a physiatrist to be exact) and assistant professor to residents at Vanderbilt Hospital.

He took us on a tour of his work space.

Such a cool hospital!

I had to throw up a "Gig 'em" sign in front of his office.

After all...

Vanderbilt is someone we play against in sports in the SEC.

#aggiepride #BTHOVandy

After touring Vanderbilt Hospital, we had lunch at a local hot dog joint by their house called "The Dog".

I had a "slaw dog", and Nick had their Coney Island style dog.

Both were ridiculously delicious, and the owner even gave us some complimentary homemade potato chips!

John Rich (from the country duo "Big & Rich") live in my brother in law and sister's neighborhood.

They live in a mostly historic part of Nashville, and on some streets there are strict guidelines about not changing the appearance of the front of the homes to keep within the "historic feel" of the neighborhood.

Well John Rich built this totally weird looking, Los Angeles style home smack dab in the middle of this gorgeous historic neighborhood.

The residents were not happy about it...

And, in my opinion....it's just an ugly house...

Here's the gate to his house... 

There was a sign on the side of it that read, "No Trespassing. Violators will be shot."

whoa.

Still cool to see a celebrity's house, and even cooler that my sister lives in the same hood!

Proud Aunt...

Uncle Nick giving Lyla some cash for her piggy bank.

To end our first day in Nashville, we went and had some good ole fashioned Tennessee style BBQ at Eadley's.

It was DELICIOUS!

Such a cool vibe!

After dinner, we headed to Jeni's ice cream shop for dessert.

I had this wildberry lavendar ice cream.

It was simply DIVINE!

stay tuned for the rest of our trip!

I'm currently listening to Johnny Cash and dreaming about Nashville....