Nashville From the Asheville Perspective: 48 Hours in Music City

Hop in your car and head west. In just over four hours, you’ll find yourself in Nashville, Tennessee home of country music and bachelorette parties. We went out recently and explored this city for you. We’ve gathered a list of what we think may just be the most appealing to Ashevillians and like-minded explorers.

oneC1ty

Right when our Subaru full of women ready for a weekend of fun unloaded, we started off unknowingly at oneC1ty. This vibrant urban community is currently being developed with an intentional design for work and life. With easy parking and a fun social area designed in refurbished shipping containers, we were immediately excited. First stop, Avo. Short for avocado, here you’ll find locally sourced and 100% plant-based deliciousness. From their avocado margaritas to lgbt sandwich, we highly recommend stepping off the beaten path to dine here for brunch, lunch or dinner.

Now, the desserts at Avo are divine, yet we were captivated by Kokos, a plant-based ice cream shop right across from Avo, solely separated by a sand volleyball court and a pedestrian walkway. As a mostly health-focused group, we had all tried many many different vegan desserts. Yet, this ice cream we are still talking about. Asheville, get one of these PLEASE!

The Gulch

Our Airbnb was located in the Gulch. Per the suggestions of previous Nashville adventurers, we landed here since it was close enough to the hustle and bustle but quiet enough to get a great night’s sleep. After we carried in our bags and freshened up, we trotted over to L.A. Jackson, an incredible rooftop bar with cozy seating, fun people-watching views and the exact atmosphere we wanted to get this girls weekend started.

If you didn’t know this, just like Asheville, Nashville has some pretty incredible murals. Our favorite is the What Lifts You Wing mural. It was on our list but felt like fate as we spotted it from the L.A. Jackson rooftop bar. Before grabbing dinner, we grabbed our must-have Insta worthy photos with the wings!

While capturing our photos, we remembered Nashville has a pretty large electric scooter collection. One of us rented one and scooted around for just a few moments. They’d be rented again throughout the weekend, yet the most memorable part of this was watching the collections of them pile up at the corners of bars on Broadway as the night carried on.

Dinner was eaten at Milk & Honey where our diverse group of culinary palettes ate everything from poutine to kale salad and pizza. We picked more fun drinks from their crafted cocktail menu and decided next up was Broadway! Yes, we were going to get a little of that crazy Nashville experience into the weekend.

Broadway

The first night in Nashville, we walked from The Gulch to Broadway. Now, if you are in fancy heels, hail an Uber for a less than 5-minute ride. If you packed your walking shoes, you’ll be golden.

We started our time on broadway just exploring bars with multiple levels and lots of various music. We found a few spots with throwback hits, modern favs, and a little country twang in between. Most had huge open windows and rooftops, perfect for not feeling crowded or getting too warm in the heat. We moved around and suggest you do too until you find the spot with the right vibe for your crowd. Remember, last call is 3 am.

Alright, so the last call is 3 am. You are going to be hungry. This is simply the truth. Our crowd didn’t make it quite to 3 am but when we began exploring food options just before 2 am, we realized there were not many. Thankfully, a local bartender told us about The Diner, a 6 level restaurant serving casual to upscale, fries to oysters 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. We slid into a booth and ordered up some breakfast, some milkshakes and lots of water.

On night two, we started off our Broadway adventure with a walk on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge before dining and drinking at Acme Feed & Seed. The bridge offered incredible views, a glorious breeze and a calm perspective greatly varying from the hectic Broadway Street just below. When we walked into Acme Feed & Seed, there was food, drink and a vibe for each one of us. We all ate something vastly different from sushi to tacos while dancing to hits from my favorite 90s movie, 10 Things I Hate About You.

Before our second night came to an earlier end than the night before, one of our foodies let us know about Legendairy Milkshake Bar. This place is crazy! If you are looking for a photo-worthy dessert, this is the place to go! A few of us decided to share one decadent treat while another got two whopping scopes on a cone. The crew had quite a sugar coma and headed back to the Airbnb to enjoy some wine and a lively game of Cards Against Humanity, thoughtfully supplied by our hosts.

South Nashville

Saturday morning, two of us put on our sneaks and walked to the Franklin Juice Bar in South Nashvillle where we sipped on incredible green smoothies to feed our brains before heading to get a dozen paleo donuts from Five Daughters Bakery to bring back to the crew. Our crowd unanimously decided you should order the paleo Almond Joy but truthfully, two of each will suffice since their flavors are on a constant rotation. Not into paleo, good! This bakery is also known for the 1000 layer donut. Say what?

Now, we did originally plan on heading to brunch at one of the many spots with bottomless mimosas but we decided rushing to get ready was not the vibe this group was going for. Instead, we sipped on coffee and tea, ate donuts and then got ready for our wildcard event of the weekend!

Wildcard: Private Karaoke Room

Sunday afternoon after indulging in donuts that we stuck candles in and sang Happy Birthday to two members of our gang, we took to the road and walked our way to Kung Fu Saloon. We reserved a private room for an hour before we arrived. It was only $25! We picked our queue of songs and got to belting it out. For me, this was easily the best part of the trip. From new hits to high school favorites, we sang our hearts out, got sweaty, kicked off our shoes and lost our voices. We dined on high school snacks and adult drinks as we sang and later found ourselves playing ski ball and riding on teeter-totters. The only reason we moved on was that although the tater tots were delicious, this crew wanted some veggies and fruit.

Plan Your Trip to Nashville

Now, what are you waiting for? Grab your gals, your fun friends and pile into a car. Whether you are looking for a wild weekend of late nights or just good food and good fun. Nashville is the perfect mini-vacation spot. Bring your walking shoes and have a great weekend escape! To see some of our highlights from the trip, look up #JJSMACKisBringingSexyBack on Instagram.

Rest Stops Along the Way

Now, it won’t be that hard to make the drive, but if you are five gals crammed into one car, you may want to stretch those legs. Our crew made two stops, but not just ordinary rest stops. In good Asheville fashion, we stopped at waterfalls for a little hike and scenery along the way.

First up was Ozone Falls. Albeit just 0.3 miles, you are climbing down some boulders to get a stunning view of this 110-foot plunge. There are a bottom and a top trail and if you have the time, we would do both. This trail will surprise you as the parking lot is right off a busy-ish road less than 10 minutes from the highway.

Next up was a bit longer adventure but oh so worth it. Burgess Fall is about a 1.1-mile easy trek alongside a stream with various falls. Located just 15 minutes off the highway, we took in some new scenery and were also grateful to find a restroom right at the trail. Now, there will likely be signs sharing a trail closer with you once you arrive at the trailhead, yet there is still plenty to see! We suggest you head off to the left down the path, take in the old bridge, eroded areas and the natural beauty of the cascading falls.

After Burgess Falls, you have just two hours left of your journey. Grab some snacks and turn on your road trip playlist, you’ll be at your destination in no time. If you’d like to add more of different waterfalls, check out this middle Tennessee waterfall road trip.

 


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