Nashville was… crazy & amazing & fun & moving.

We arrived early on Friday & picked up our rental car. I gave the woman at the rental counter my info & waiting for the spiel, when she handed back my driver’s license, saying, “Honey, you’re preferred!” And if that isn’t a great way to start a vacation, I don’t know what is!

We needed lunch, and found Cledis Burgers & Beer on the way to MDK HQ for a short visit & a couple of purchases. We also visited The Parthenon, Parnassus Books, and (believe it or not) the mall. The Parthenon was closed, which we knew, but it was fun to see it & walk around. Parnassus Books was fun, too, of course. We went to the mall because I’d been searching for some coasters, and I found some on Crate & Barrel that I liked (on sale, too) — the closest location to home is in Chicago. Turns out, the mall was right across the way from Parnassus Books.

We had a car & time… so we went out to Cheekwood, which I’d visited in 2017 when Kym & I were in Nashville en route to/from Florence, AL, for an Alabama Chanin workshop. We enjoyed it, but it was really hot & humid in Nashville — we were all dreading the weather — it was nice, but it would have been much more enjoyable if the temps had been more moderate.

We stopped at the grocery store on the way to our Airbnb and regrouped for a minute. Our hosts guidebook suggested Sadie’s & we could easily walk there, so that was our dinner destination. Wow, was that good — can’t go wrong with great Mediterranean plates to share.

Originally, I was going to return the rental car on Saturday morning, but decided to extend the booking for the duration of our trip. Am I ever glad we did that!

We went to breakfast on Saturday at a place we found called The Farmstead. I recognized the area immediately because I had to ship some posters home last October & the shipping store was nearby. There’s a row of cute little houses, one of which houses The Farmstead, others that are recording studios, and murals depicting artists who have recorded there.

We shared a Bronut (above, left), which was “stuffed with cheesecake filling, batter-dipped deep fried, and topped with blueberry compote.” They had us at “cheesecake filling.” It was delicious! My breakfast was pretty close to an English Breakfast, subbing grits for baked beans, and missing only mushrooms, black pudding, and toast. Dolly Parton was all they were playing. Our waiter told us that she’d been laid to rest the day before in a private ceremony at Woodlawn Memorial Park, and that people could visit — we could visit — it’s just around the corner!

So we did. The crypt is located right next to a window, and the plaque is beautiful. We also found the crypts of Tammy Wynette, Lynn Anderson, and Little Jimmy Dickens, and found Marty Robbins’ grave outside. It’s a huge cemetery.

We returned to the house & regrouped before heading to Broadway!

We didn’t go on a mural quest, but we organically found a few. This one was great because 1) Dolly and 2) Garth Brooks, who Annie saw at Summerfest in June. (She’s had a summer full of concerts!)

Posty’s had just opened when I was in Nashville last fall — I’d passed it on a side street on my way to parking, I think. Anyway, it’s sort of on a corner & also has an entrance on Broadway. We went in & enjoyed a beverage and the band-of-the-moment.

On the way out, we saw this huge framed piece — I thought it was interesting & snapped a couple of photos. I didn’t realize until later that the ensemble was made of “Dolly fabric.” I saw a clip of Post Malone meeting Dolly once and, honest to god, he looked like he was going to faint. haha.

We went to a few other places — Alan Jackson’s AJ’s Good Time Bar, the iconic Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge (rooftop for snacks), and my favorite honkytonk Robert’s Western World, of course. The Bridgestone Arena is located right downtown, so we walked over to our concert venue…

…where I recorded a couple of videos & took a few very bad photos… because I mostly enjoyed the concert. It was a long entry line, but security went pretty quick… we only missed a little of Gregory Alan Isakov’s set, but were there when Brandi joined him for some songs. She & her band — SistaStrings & The Hanseroth Twins among them — are amazing live! We laughed, we danced, we cried… I had tears streaming down my face for the first time in forever… and then she came out wearing a pink jacket & dedicated her entire encore to Dolly (more tears!), with whom she’s performed in the past. (And I’ve seen evidence that Dolly had the same effect on Brandi as she did on Posty.)

On Sunday, we decided to drive down to Franklin, TN… because we could. Our first stop was Puckett’s Restaurant for some BBQ. Puckett’s has quite a few locations, and their Nashville location was on our list, but Franklin was much more chill — and super cute. And delicious! Due to a poorly scaled map, we ended up trekking about a mile out of town to visit The Factory at Franklin — at least 2x “further than it looked” — in full sun & rising temp. I was so glad to sit down inside & cool off with some ice water! The Factory is a pretty cool spot, though, with interesting shops & restaurants. And Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. Oh yeah. And I’m thankful that Kate & Ann went to get the car.

We had dinner reservations at Rolf And Daughters on Sunday night, our last night in Nashville, and it did not disappoint.

Everything was delicious, but the Cucumber Sherbet & Basil Panna Cotta that we split for dessert… OMG. I couldn’t stop thinking about that!

I’m sorry that I didn’t turn around to take a photo of this mural on our way to the restaurant, when the light was so much better. It’s amazing, and huge, and all I could think of was Kaffe Fassett’s Dots, which I’ve been seeing a lot because that’s the fabric I’m using for one of the quilt borders… he also does stripes, though not this bold. Here’s a better pic from the artist’s, Jason Woodside‘s, Instagram. Amazing.

Lastly, I sort of have a music thing going on in my Airbnb these days.

Another not-so-great photo, but there’s a Bluetooth record player, albums on display & to play, music-related letterpress posters, and…

…these prints from Soundwaves Art Foundation — because they’re cool, and also because of Soundwaves’ Mission. I’ve had these for quite a while, but the room finally came together & I had them framed so I could hang them. The image on the left (shall I keep apologizing for my terrible photographs??) is of Brandi Carlile’s The Joke. The one on the right is of Dire Straits’ Money For Nothing. Brandi’s came with a handwritten lyric from the song, “Don’t ever let them steal your joy,” but Knopfler’s/Dire Straits’ did not, so I asked Kate to write “Money for Nothing,” because they hang near each other (and because, otherwise, how would you know?), but it didn’t occur to me until later (obviously) that it should have been “I WANT MY MTV!”