Hi guys! Happy Saturday afternoon!
I’m currently blogging from the lobby of the Union Station in Nashville, TN where Brad and I are spending the weekend.
The Union Station is a historic hotel owned by the Marriott.
Check out our room!
And here’s the bathroom.
Overall, I really like the room. It has obviously been renovated recently. We don’t have a great view and the bathroom is a bit tiny, but that’s kind of what you get when you stay in a historic hotel. The hotel was originally a train station that opened in 1900 and didn’t become a hotel until the 1980’s.
You can definitely tell this place used to be a train station.
Check out the lobby!
I’m sitting at the little table for two in the bottom of the photo typing away.
You can’t see me in the photo, silly! I’m sitting there now and I took this photo about an hour ago. 😉
We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Prime 108, this morning, but more on that later.
More beautiful views of the lobby…
We got into Nashville at about 6:30 last night, caught a cab to our hotel, freshened up a bit and walked down to Broadway, the main strip.
We had dinner at Jack’s Barbecue, which has a location on Broadway.
I had the regular sized smoked turkey sandwich (they have a larger size) with apples and cucumber salad. Weird side combinations, I know. But it was exactly what I wanted. The smoked turkey was incredible — juicy and tender. The apples were so delicious (mental note: make stewed apples soon!). The cucumber salad left a lot to be desired. My grandparents make their own cucumber salad with white onions (this version had red), vinegar, salt and pepper. This salad needed a lot more vinegar…like A LOT more vinegar…and a lot more salt and pepper. But that’s just my opinion.
Brad had the brisket with macaroni, baked beans, and corn bread. I tasted everything (of course) and here’s the verdict: the brisket was wonderful, as was the baked beans, the macaroni was good, and the cornbread was just okay. I prefer a recipe based around cornmeal, while this version was kind of cakey because it contained a lot of white flour.
Overall, dinner was great and then it was on to the bars and the music. There were so many places to choose from!
Robert’s Western World drew us right in. It was hoppin’!
This place is an authentic honky tonk.
For all of you non-southerners/non-country folk, a honky tonk is a no-frills bar that usually features loud and live country music bands. Beer is the house wine and the patrons are usually a bit rowdy.
Don’t worry. Brad and I can hold our on.
The band was really good, but very twangy as far as country music goes.
I was actually surprised that Brad enjoyed it as much as he did, I being the one who likes country music.
Brad was the kind of guy in high school who pretty much only listened to alternative rock, while I grew up on a healthy dose of Garth Brooks, Dr. Dre, and Nirvana.
I’m very well rounded. 🙂
This particular band was The Don Kelley Band. They mostly played covers and had an absolutely amazing guitarist — by far the best guitarist I’ve ever seen live.
Side note: This was an excellent choice for an outfit. It was comfy enough for the plane, but was appropriate for hitting up the bars as soon as we arrived.
My partner in crime
After Robert’s we headed down the street and landed in the Whisky Bent Saloon where Smoke N’ Guns took the stage.
This was by far, the best act I saw last night. We *think* the bartender told us these two ladies (Alecia and Lindsey) are the backup singers for Miranda Lambert (because it was loud and we couldn’t hear well). I can totally see that because they have a similar style. I LOVE Miranda Lambert, so of course, I loved them.
They sang mostly covers as well, plus a few of their own. I had such a great time listening to them. We enjoyed them so much, we sent a round of whisky to the band. We let the bartender choose and her choice was Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, which I think tasted like Goldschlager. Cinnamon kind of masks the flavor of everything.
I have a no shots policy. So I took a small sip to taste it and passed it to Brad.
We made a few friends and reinforced Brad’s claim that I’m a magnet for people to tell me random personal things about themselves. It’s true. It happens quite often.
Eventually, we headed down the strip to visit a few more music venues. We even went in to a karaoke bar, which I declared lame and refused to participate. I’m such a wimp.
It was a late night and a good time was had by all.
More to come…