My college roommates and I decided months ago to go on a trip during Fall Break. They are all teachers, so they had a few days off in October for a girls weekend. At first we started to throw ideas out there like to see a movie, sleepover at someones house, day trip somewhere. Then someone suggested we actually go somewhere- a place none of us have ever been before. Somehow Nashville came up in  conversation and we all agreed that yup, this is the adventure we were looking for! It is a city that none of us have been to before, a few of us are obsessed with country music, it was in driving distance to my one friend who moved down South for a job, and it is below the Mason Dixon Line, aka my favorite place to be. We booked our flights a few months ago…but it was a last minute trip. The hotel was booked very last minute, we had no plans of things to do once we got down there, but we knew we just wanted to have fun with each other.

We arrived Friday night in Nashville after a short flight (only an hour and a half from Philadelphia), collected our bags and made our way to the hotel to quickly change and grab dinner in Nashville.I feel like I only ever have bad luck when flying, so I have to suggest Southwest Airlines. Your baggage is checked for free and the staff were so nice on board and in the airport. The flights were also very cheap and fit my budget with enough play money left over. We stayed at Embassy Suites in Franklin, Tennessee, just a short 20 minute drive away from Downtown Nashville. We got a suite so there was plenty of room for all of us and our luggage. We kept joking that our luggage needed its own room because by the end of the weekend the whole living room was cluttered with each others clothes! Since we booked our hotel so late, when we finally sat down to get a room all of the hotels in Nashville were booked.

Broadway, Downtown Nashville

The first night we drove around Broadway, which is a street that has all of the bars, restaurants and night life on it. When we finally got there on Friday night, the bars weren’t serving dinner anymore,  but luckily we found a restaurant at the end of the street where the crowds weren’t that crazy. I highly suggest the Rock Bottom Restaurant, the food was good, but the best part is you can sit on the rooftop for dinner or drinks and see the whole downtown area. After dinner, the exhaustion from travel all hit us and we were ready for bed. It was only midnight, but with the time difference it was 1AM back at home. There was some time zone adjustment (and naps) needed for all of us!

Two of the girls went boot shopping…

I didn’t purchase any but these pink cowboy boots were hard to walk away from!

Transportation

Our one friend drove to Nashville,so we conveniently had a car while we were down there. One of the biggest issues we did not plan for while we were down there is that nothing is close to each other. There is a ton of things to do, but it is tricky to get to places if you do not have a car. Luckily, for most of the trip we did have a car and for the rest we used Uber. It honestly saved our lives when we wanted to get somewhere. Uber is cheaper than using a taxi and the drivers were so helpful in being tour guides when we wanted to find things to do. Be sure to download it before you head down there. The transportation part impacted our plans of what to do each day because each day had to be planned out perfectly so we did not waste time driving back and forth. Parking is also tricky… We luckily found a parking lot at a Church that felt a lot safer behind the Bridgestone Arena… be prepared to pay for parking. We parked in the main lots once…and needed some help getting out of our parking spot!

 

 

 

Packing for a trip down South is always tricky… During the day it can be warm, but at night the temperatures drop. My goal was to just bring a carry on suitcase on the trip. I packed two outfit options for each day and two night time going out outfits. Believe it or not I had the smallest suitcase! Check out my earlier post HERE to find out what I packed!