Happy Holidays y’all! I was so grateful to be able to take a week off from the grind and road trip my way to Nashville! It was a long drive (12 1/2 hours, to be exact), but totally worth it. This is my second time visiting the city and I made sure to find some more cool places to check out this time! Read below to see where I explored!
Before we even get started, I have to show off the fabulous hotel we stayed at, The Graduate! I was stunned with how upscale this hotel felt, especially compared to the cost! No detail was missed here and it featured gorgeous custom touches, such as a gold guitar mirror and bathroom sconce and plush, colorful carpet! I wanted to take everything home with me for my own house!
This hotel also has their own coffee shop, Pointdexter, which was super convenient (and cute!) and a rooftop restaurant, White Limozeen. I’ll discuss more about White Limozeen below, but the coffee shop made a great iced latte and has season drinks as well! Plus, if you stay at the hotel, you get a free cup of coffee each morning.
Like I said, fabulous! Below are also links to my outfits:
Day One
Biscuit Love | After we arrived at Nashville at 1am (literally, 1am. We were exhausted), we slept in a bit but were able to grab brunch at Biscuit Love, which was just as good as it sounds. They have a variety of breakfast/brunch items, all featuring southern classics. I ordered the Lily, which is biscuits baked into French toast. Who would of known something like this existed! It was definitely on the sweeter side, but it was delicious and a perfect way to kick off the morning! They have multiple locations, but we stopped at the one in The Gulch on 11th Ave.
Liberty Common | When looking up places to eat, SO many people overwhelmingly recommended Liberty Common. I even made a reservation way in advance just in case. It turned out to be a super intimate and well designed restaurant with a good menu! They had a variety of food to pick from, but I ended up settling on the Liberty Chicken Sandwich (Nashville hot chicken, a classic). Make sure to ask for a booth while you’re there, they’re too cute to not sit at!
Shop my pink, fuzzy jacket here! (It kept me surprisingly super warm despite being a light jacket)
Hampton Social | When we were finished with dinner, it was cold and raining! Luckily, we parked next to restaurant and I had a brand new umbrella in the car. We thought we were lucky until I found that the umbrella wouldn’t stay open! We spent at least 30 minutes to get that dang umbrella to work until we gave up and, instead, went right next door to Hampton Social. This place was intimidating as it’s a 3 story place with a restaurant and bar. Since we just ate, we went to the top floor, the rooftop bar. It was pretty empty that night (probably due to the weather), but it had a great view and seemed like a great place to watch a game!
Day Two
Franklin Juice | Wow, we’ve been eating pretty bad lately. We decided it would be best to opt for a healthy meal and checked out Franklin Juice. It turned out to be a cute little shop that was stocked with tons of juice and smoothie options! I opted for the Pitaya bowl and it was delicious.
Belmont Mansion | Evan and I decided to do something fun before we went on this trip and pick out a couple things to do for each other. One of his ideas was to take me to the Belmont Mansion, which was a great choice! I had no idea about the history on the Belmont University campus, but the mansion right in the middle of campus is where it all started. The tour guides there were really informative, telling us how the mansion was constructed and the impact it had in the Civil War. Not to mention it’s always cool to see historic items that are over a hundred years old.
Hearts | We had some time to kill before we went to the place I was surprising Evan with, so we stopped at Hearts to grab a quick coffee and snack. It was a cute place that had a diner-is feel, yet it was more of a cafe. I really enjoyed sitting next to the window and watching the cars go by while having a hot latte. I also got a sausage roll to eat and it was amazingly good! I can only imagine how good this place would be for dinner or drinks.
Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage | I was SO excited to check out Andrew Jackson’s home, The Hermitage. I hadn’t realized his home was located close to Nashville and actually stumbled upon it while looking up Christmas themed places to go to. Ironically, The Hermitage hosts a holiday themed night once a year, and it happened to be scheduled for a night while we were visiting Nashville. What’s cool about this event is they give evening tours which give a more intimate view into Andrew Jackson’s life. The craziest part is that the home is almost completely preserved since the time of his death, meaning every piece of furniture and the details there are original. I really enjoyed seeing all the history of his property and learning about one of our most famous Presidents.
Before you leave, they also have a wine tasting room at the visitors center with wine that’s now made on the property. You can even buy an Andrew Jackson bottle of wine to take home with you!
Peg Leg Porker | I had no idea of this place, Peg Leg Porker, but Evan’s brother said they had great whiskey. Turns out, they don’t sell whiskey at their restaurant (you have to go to a liquor store to find it), but they have great pork! Like really really great pork. And sweet tea, for that matter. I highly, highly recommend stopping by here if you get the chance! I got a pulled pork sandwich with mac and cheese and cole slaw. Sorry I didn’t take a photo of it, but it was so good!!
Day Three
White Limozeen | I worked so hard to get a reservation here! I would recommend making a reservation 2 weeks in advance if you want to come here, tables fill up quickly! I made the mistake of not doing this and had to check multiple times on their website to see if someone cancelled. Luckily, someone did! White Limozeen is the rooftop restaurant at the Graduate hotel, so it was super convenient to just take the elevator a few floors up for brunch! For starters this place was absolutely gorgeous inside and out. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to sit inside or outside since it was equally nice! We ended up sitting outside though since the sun was finally out for the first time in days.
They have a really extensive menu of food and cocktails, including a few seasonal plates and drinks! I ended up getting the ‘A Room for the Lonely’ drink (mainly because it has coffee in it and I need my morning coffee, one way or another) and the hot chicken salad. Both were absolutely delicious, and I think this makes it one of my top recommendations of places to go in Nashville. Did I mention I love this hotel?
12 South Neighborhood | When we went to Franklin Juice, I immediately recognized the street from my 2015 trip to Nashville. It definitely has expanded and looks to be a really trendy place to go shopping and eat! We ended up walking up and down the street to check out stores like Draper James, White’s Mercantile, and Five Daughters Bakery. There are a ton of places to go on this street, so I recommend to just take a stroll down here!
Barista Parlor | This was another place I kind of just stumbled upon. After all that shopping and walking around, we really wanted some coffee to warm us up! I did a search for coffee places in the area and found Barista Parlor right up the road. For some reason, it can be hard to find coffee shops open past 4pm in Nashville, or at least I felt this way. Their coffee was pretty good and at a hidden location right by The Gulch.
Superica | We kept passing by Superica and it was literally across the street from Barista Parlor, so we decided to see if Nashville Tex Mex could compete with how it’s done in Texas. It was a great contendent, but, coming from San Antonio, I think Texas wins. Nonetheless, they had great frozen margs and enchiladas/tacos. In particular, I got the spinach enchiladas which are typically a fave of mine. So if you’re looking for good Mexican food in Nashville, make sure you stop here!
Diskin Cidery | Another place that Evan surprised me with is Diskin Cidery, which is a local (and delish)! I’m a die hard cider fan, so I was really excited when he took me here! The atmosphere is really chill and they play some good tunes while waiters come and take your order. I loved that they do cider flights so that I got to try a variety of flavors they have! They honestly were all really good (I tried almost every flavor), but my hands down fave was the Babe Magnet which features strawberry and lime. It was so good that I brought a pack home! #noragrets
Day Four
Radnor Lake State Park | The next morning, I wanted to surprise Evan with hiking at one of the parks in Nashville. After doing a quick search on Google maps, I decided to check out Radnor Lake State Park, and I’m so glad I did! For starters, the drive over to there is absolutely beautiful. There’s so many beautiful homes with lots of trees and land. When you actually get there, the parking can be a headache (there were surprisingly a ton of people going in and out), but it’s fairly easy to get started on the trail! I highly recommend coming here if you want to get outdoors, the surrounding nature is beautiful and I love how long the trail stretches around the lake.
Butchertown Hall | Ah, I’ve had dreams for years about coming back to Butchertown Hall!!! Back in 2015, I came here for brunch and tried their Steak a la Panche and I’ve never had steak the same again. I literally would crave this plate from time to time because it was that good. Walking back into this restaurant was the greatest feeling, except they got rid of that plate….. I wanted to cry when I found out, but I was able to order the Steak and Eggs which was also pretty great!! I’m hoping that maybe if I come back again someday, they’ll have the Steak a la Panche, but until then, this place is still amazing and highly recommend it. Their meat is phenomenal, I promise!!
Marathon Village | Another gem I visited on my last trip to Nashville! I love visiting the Marathon Village since there’s a bunch of local businesses that are fun to shop out, all while inside the old Marathon Motor building. I love that they include plaques and actual machinery used when the building operated as a manufacturing facility. If you have spare time, it’s a really cool spot to check out!
Hawkers | We were really beginning to wind down at this point and getting ready to pack for our road trip back the next day. I was randomly craving Asian food, so we found Hawkers on Yelp. When we got here, it was a long wait (about an hour), but definitely worth it! The restaurant has a really hip and trendy vibe to it with neon lights and colorful art, which made me feel like I was in New York. The food and drinks were even better and absolutely delicious! We ordered the Pork Belly Baos as an appetizer and I got the Pad Thai (classic) as my entree. Both were amazingly delicious!!
Day Five
Hattie B’s | One last spot we HAD to check out before leaving was Hattie B’s. I heard nonstop raving about their hot chicken, and since Nashville is known for their hot chicken, I knew I had to try it. We actually attempted to go the day prior but since the Titans were playing, there was a crazy line our the door. Instead, we actually stopped at their Memphis location on the way back home, although I’m sure the experience is similar or the same as a the locations in Nashville. I must said the chicken, sides, and tea were really, really, really good!! My mouth was drooling when my food came out (and I ate every. single. bite!).
I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip to Nashville and hopefully have some ideas of places to go if you’re in the area! If you need more inspo, feel free to check out my Nashville Trip board on Pinterest!
xx, Rachelle
