A little getaway

Friends! Way back in February I packed up the dogs and took them on a road trip to Nashville for the weekend. I saw the Nashville Antique and Garden Show advertised somewhere (social media, probably) and decided I needed to get out of town for the weekend. I feel like I need to get out of town every weekend and go exploring, but that’s a different story for a different day. It was the first time I’d been away on an overnight trip in a couple of years. We had such a great time and I want to share our trip with you all. I really can’t wait to get back out there and start traveling again. This only sparked my need to see the world! But we’ll start with Nashville, for now. LOL.

I booked an AirBnB for our stay. When traveling with dogs, a short term rental is really the way to go. Apartments are hard so I always try to find a house. I ended up staying in East Nashville in this AirBnB, and while it was more of an apartment it was in a residential neighborhood and wasn’t an actual apartment building. I loved the neighborhood so much I almost didn’t go downtown to the show! But I did end up going—I mean it was the whole reason I was in Nashville!

I found an AirBNB in east Nashville that was cute as a button! I haven’t spent much time in Nashville other than when my brother lived there but we mostly hung at his house and I visited him and his family. We did things in their area just outside of Nashville proper. Anyway, I didn’t really know where to stay or anything about the city itself. I wanted to be close enough to downtown without being in downtown itself. So I found that cute apartment and booked it and said to the girls ‘let’s do it!’. They didn’t care one way or the other. They were along for the ride.

Tickets were not that expensive, $30 I think for the basic ‘you get into the show’. There were different levels of tickets, obviously as there always are, but by the time I found out about it those VIP tickets were already sold out. There were lots of programs and talks/discussions with key players in the antique/design/gardening world, but those were the tickets that were sold out. I didn’t mind. I just wanted to walk around the convention center and get out of town for a few days. So that’s exactly what I did!

We took the interstate down to Nashville so we could get there quicker. If you know me, you’ll know I love a good back road but time was of the essence. It did end up raining on us part of the way there, which is never fun when you are climbing the plateau. But we made it to Nashville without incident. We got settled into our home away from home and decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. I had researched some restaurants that allowed dogs on the patio and ended up finding the perfect spot a few blocks away, The Pharmacy Burger Parlor. They even gave us our own little closed off section of the patio! And surprisingly, for February, it wasn’t cold out.

Saturday dawned and I knew I needed to hit some thrift stores in Nashville! I scoped out a goodwill near-ish to downtown, with the intention of hitting some thrift stores and then going to the Antique Show. I actually got the thrift store before it was even open (that whole hour difference will do you in every time). So I found a French bakery and got myself THE best pistachio latte ever. And a “Paris deLuxe” sandwich-a baguette with salted butter, ham, and brie. It was devine! And by the time I decided on what to get from the bakery, the thrift store was open!

If you know me and the way I thrift, you know that I have to walk the entire store and look at everything. And try everything on. It’s the only way to determine if something is worth purchasing. There was the one time I was going to buy a dress without trying it on. It was THE perfect dress, but once I tried it on, it was hideous. Lesson learned. I am so glad I didn’t skip the trying on portion of thrifting. Anyway. I walked the entire store. I put back the Kate Spade shoes for $10. But I did get a Barbour reusable glass with a lid (no straw, but I had some metal ones at home, so no problem). I also bought commemorative Kentucky Derby high ball glasses. And Ina Garten’s autobiography (for $1! All because it didn’t have a dust jacket on it). That’s correct. The recent autobiography by Ina Garten that is on the NY Times bestseller list. At the thrift store. For $1!

By the time I finished there, I wanted to do a drive by to see if I could find the Music City Center where the antique show was held. So I did a little drive around downtown and found it! Then I needed to get back to the rental and walk the girls. Friends! The neighborhood we were staying in? SUPER cute! I didn’t take my camera with me, unfortunately, so I don’t have any photos to share. It’s probably a good thing at any rate otherwise we’d probably still be there with me taking photos of every single house.

We found a cute little gift shop and ended up stopping there to pick up some gifts. I left the girls outside where they could get some love from everyone who happened by. I could see them through the window and they made out pretty good in the love department. By the time we made it back to our little apartment, I almost didn’t want to go back downtown. I had just about talked myself out of it but then I reminded myself the reason we were in Nashville was for the antiques! The convention center wasn’t that hard to get to. It was almost a straight shot from where we were staying, but I hadn’t factored in the parking situation. I presumed there was parking at the convention center. And there was but it was pricey. I wanted something that wasn’t going to cost me a lot. So, as I was circling the convention center trying to find parking, I accidentally turned onto Broadway! YES! That Broadway. As soon as I turned the corner I knew what I’d done and I couldn’t turn onto another street for a couple of blocks. So I sat in traffic and watched everyone walking from honky tonk to honky tonk. Anyway. I finally found parking that was reasonable and not too far away from where I needed to go.

Friends. As soon as I walked into the show, I was sooo glad I decided to go. It was stunning. Just absolutely stunning. From the moment you walked in, everything was perfect. There were so many amazing booths. Each with their own unique collections. I mean. There was a gold plated crocodile head, for goodness sakes! I think this was the turning point for me when I think of antiques. I’ve always been a thrifter and buy a lot of used clothes and household items, but to see this level of sophistication was inspiring. I came away with so many ideas swirling around in my head.

I walked around the show a couple of times, just taking my time. Looking at things, vignettes, displays. I took some photos. And then I decided to walk around downtown, meander my way back to my parking spot. I walked over to Broadway, intentionally this time, to see it from a different viewpoint. I didn’t go to any honky tonks though. Just took a few photos and then continued away from the hustle and bustle.

That was our last night in Nashville. I decided to go to the grocery store and grab something to cook back at the apartment. I even splurged and bought a bottle of wine! The girls and I relaxed and watched TV and went to bed early. I wanted to take the back roads home and knew we would need to leave fairly early to give ourselves plenty of time. I had staked out a couple of places to stop, the Hermitage being one of them.

The Hermitage. Friends. What a powerful place. We got there early and I made sure the dogs could go with me, and sure enough they were allowed on property. We walked around looking at the buildings, reading the signs, taking pictures, and trying to imagine what it must have been like. There are no words. We rambled on and on, looking, taking photos. I think the most powerful part of the whole journey, for me, was the slave cemetery. They don’t even know how many slaves were buried there. And up until about 2 years ago, they didn’t even know where the cemetery was located. They have placed rocks as markers where they think each of the graves are located. Friends. That is powerful stuff. If you find yourself in the Nashville area, it’s worth the trip up to the Hermitage. We didn’t even go in any of the buildings. The dogs weren’t allowed, understandably, and I didn’t want to leave them outside unattended while I went in. I didn’t need to go in anyway. I understood what I was looking at and visiting.

Right next to the cemetery, is fields upon fields that are still planted and harvested by a local farmer. I met one of the security guards while I was roaming around. He told me what they planted and harvested, but I can’t remember now what it was. It wasn’t corn or tobacco. The two big ones that come to mind. Anyway. We chatted for a few minutes about the deer on property and how they still have hunting available as a lottery system. And that the Wounded Warrior Project will bring in Veterans to hunt the property too. He also gave us the okay to go off leash while we were on the back of the property. The dogs really appreciated that since they’d been cooped up for most of the time we were in Nashville. We did a lot of walking while we were in the big city, but they hadn’t had a chance to stretch their legs unrestrained.

Anyway, we finished walking the property. We saw a site that could have been the location for slave quarters. They had the areas where the houses would have been staked out. Y’all. The houses were so small. It got to me to thinking about how I travel now. When I was younger I traveled to get away and do nothing. But then as I got older and traveled more, I started to find things that weren’t as touristy as some things. And when I visit new places I like to go in with an open mind and heart. And this trip really proved to me why I do that. I learn so much. I think more about things and not just breezing through something. I like to stop and take a look around and try to imagine what it would have been like to live in that place, in that space. I am so thankful I decided to take the back roads home and visit a piece of our history.

‘til next time
-k
xoxo