Jane & Katie Take Nashville

Following the conclusion of the Blissdom Conference, my blog friend-turned-roommate Katie and I stayed in Nashville for the weekend, so that we could explore the famous mecca of all things country music. It was a great decision, because Katie was so much fun, and I was so glad to have extra time to hang out with her.

But before we could hit the streets of Nashville, Katie and I had to find a place to recycle all the garbage we’d been hoarding in our hotel room. (Our hotel didn’t offer any type of recycling, can you believe that?) Thank goodness I’d had a roommate who didn’t think I was crazy for saving the recyclable trash!

So once we’d made a feeble attempt to save the planet, we headed downtown.   Wowzers.  Downtown Nashville was definitely different from any other city I’ve explored!   Right in the middle of all the downtown businesses you have Broadway and 2nd Avenue, both of which are very country-music-themed streets.

We wandered down 2nd Avenue, past the Coyote Ugly and other “saloons”

Then headed up Broadway, the main street lined with Honky Tonks where most of the not-quite-famous musicians play:

I loved the architecture along this street, along with all the colors, and the variety of signs:

Our only real stop on Broadway was Hatch Show Print, an awesome print shop where they’re still working the old-fashioned printing press, hand-cranking new prints while you shop.   If you’re curious, their website has a ton of detailed info on the printing process.  (It’s really cool!)

Every where you looked in the print shop, there were rows and rows of old stamps that they still use to assemble the poster designs.

We bypassed all the boot stores and the touristy junk shops, choosing instead to wander down to the river.  Did I mention that the weather was a sunny and beautiful 60+ degrees?

Of course it wouldn’t be a proper city adventure for me if I didn’t drag Katie to a coffee shop.  We left the touristy area behind, and headed up a hill along the river into a more “normal” part of town.  There, nestled between a nondescript building and a gas station/convenience store, was one of the best-rated coffee shops in town:  CREMA.

The coffee shop rocked.  Both the cappuccino and the espresso macchiato were delish, the staff was friendly and knowledgeable, and the repurposed items in the decor were fab.  But that’s a topic for another post.

Coming to Nashville from blizzard central, aka Montana, I think Katie enjoyed the warm weather even more than I did.  But after sitting outside at CREMA for an hour, our feet hit the pavement again – this time heading towards the State Capitol.

The view from the top was ok, but not nearly as breathtaking as I’d expected.  Of course, it was January, so the trees flanking the nearby hills weren’t lush and green.

At the foot of the Capitol, Katie and I remembered to get a few photos for posterity.  I balanced the camera on a post across the street, set the timer, then raced across the street to quickly pose with her.  We repeated this process several times, and surely confused the passers-by.

We continued to wander, past some more fabulous architecture.  I wish I could remember what this building was:

While I was getting the above shot, Katie was busy snapping some photos of her own – like this one:

In the courtyard of the building there was a great statue commemorating WWI:

Finally, as the sun began to set on the city, we wandered back to our hotel. We’d seen all that could be seen on foot downtown, and we were pretty exhausted – not from the walk, but from the conference in general.  So we made it an early night.  And that concludes this episode of Jane and Katie Take Nashville!

And speaking of Katie, be sure to come back again tomorrow for a fabulous giveaway from her shop!

PS:  If you actually want to read about the stuff I learned at Blissdom,click here.