Penny's Passion: Weekending - October 6, 2017

Monday, October 9, 2017

Weekending - October 6, 2017

Happy Monday friends!  Did you have a nice weekend?  Mine was a total blast!  My friend, Debbie, and I took a vacation day on Friday to start a weekend of fun.  And fun we had!

We left my driveway early Friday morning and headed to Nashville.  We had a couple things on our to-do list that we really wanted to get accomplished.  One of them was to get chicken at the Loveless Cafe.  The last time we were in Nashville the wait for the restaurant was longer than we had time so we just grabbed a pulled pork sandwich from the Ham and Jam shop.  The sandwich was fantastic, but chicken is what they are famous for so chicken was what we were hoping to get this trip.  

It was around 1:00 pm when we parked at Loveless and the wait was only one hour.  They handed us a pager that worked over their entire grounds so we headed to the little out buildings to see what they had for sale.  Just about the time we were finished looking in the shops, the pager buzzed and we hurried over to the restaurant.


When the waitress arrived to take our order, she presented us with a plate full of biscuits.  YUM!


Debbie order the hot (spicy) fried chicken and I ordered the regular.  Our quarter-of-a-chicken plates came with two sides and I chose fried green tomatoes and their famous hashbrown casserole.  Talk about delicious!


After we were thoroughly stuffed, we got back in the car for the 30 minute drive to our hotel.  We had a room at the new 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Nashville and were excited to see it.  The minute we pulled up, the bellman had our suitcases out of the car and was escorting us to the lobby.  I'll be doing a separate blog review on the hotel.  But for now, let me just say it was fabulous!

We freshened up a bit and headed out.  It was a short walk to Broadway and the cornucopia of honky tonks.  The main attraction for us that night was going to be the Ed Sheeran concert, but we had a little time to have a drink and enjoy some live music.  Just walking up and down Broadway is an experience.  Music spills out of every open door and you have your pick of places to enjoy.

Soon it was time to head down the street to the Bridgestone Arena for the concert.  To say we were a bit excited would be an understatement!


James Blunt opened and got the crowd pumped up for the main attraction.  Ed came on and captivated his audience throughout the entire performance.  It never ceases to amaze me how he can come on the stage all by himself, with no band, and play such  a phenomenal concert!  Love that guy!!



After the concert, we journeyed back to our hotel.  One of us may have bought a new pair of cowboy boots along the way.


It had been pre-decided that Saturday morning we would sleep in and take it easy.  We had to get checked out of the hotel by 11 and just made it.  Our goal for the day was to get in The Bluebird.  We had both tried, and failed, to get reservations but we knew they took a small number of first-come, first-serve people.  Before headed to The Bluebird to wait in line, we detoured to the 12 South area for a little shopping and lunch.

Another thing on our to-do list was to visit Draper James.  This little boutique is Reese Witherspoon's creation and absolutely adorable!  The minute you step in the door, you are offered a glass of sweet tea complete with a striped paper straw.



We were both very proud (and felt a little Southern) to carry out the light blue and white shopping bags.


We had just enough time to grab a bite to eat at Burger Up before heading to The Bluebird.  Eric and I had eaten at this cozy little corner place the last time we were in Nashville and I was all too happy to eat there again.  Debbie and I shared the kale salad and Ramsey Pimento Cheese Burger.  The jalapeno bun gave this burger just the right amount of heat.  So good!


You can't really leave the 12 South area without stopping by Sprinkles Cupcake ATM!  We took a salted caramel cupcake to go in case we needed a snack later.


Then it was on to try our luck at getting in The Bluebird.  If you are a fan of the show Nashville, you know exactly the place I'm talking about.  I've never seen a single episode, but Debbie is a big fan and I'm always up for stuff like this.  I'm going to do a separate post on this adventure, but I will share with you now that it was a smashing success!


Reservations are hard to come by, but for each show a small number of people can get in if you wait in line.  We were determined, so we showed up WAAAAYYYY early to wait in the walk up line.


Not only did we get in, we also made new friends from Canada, Josh and Erica.  Stop back by on Wednesday for a full review.


Sunday was fairly uneventful because we were driving back to St. Louis.  I'll leave out the part where my tire was low on air and we had to go to three different places before we found a place the air pump was working.  Oh, and it was POURING rain.

Overall, this was a stellar weekend!  I'm so blessed to have friends in my life that are up for these types of adventures!  Weekends like this are how memories of a lifetime are made.

Check out what others were up to this weekend.

9 comments:

  1. You've never watched Nashville? Girl, you got a show to binge watch now! ;)

    I love love love the Loveless Cafe, and not because its my last name, ha! I love their barn area too and if I lived down there (or money wasn't an option) I would have loved to get married there. The food is delicious and worth the wait.

    I have one more trip to Nashville I'd like to do so I can see a show at the Grand Ole Opry, tour the Country Music Hall of Fame and see 12 South area and get a pic with that famous nashville sign. One day!

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  2. How fun!! I've been to Nashville once and I really want to go again. Cincinnati has one of those hotels, so I'm curious to hear about the one in Nashville. Yay for getting into the Bluebird; I do know that's difficult! My mom and sister would have LOVED that. haha

    Yay for Ed Sheeran. I so want to see him live again. He's just amazing.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  3. Oh wow you were on the go the whole time! Hope you had some time to catch your breath before getting back to the grind! You know I never thought about Ed up there all by himself. I don't know how he does it either but he does it amazingly! Love him!

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  4. Looks like an absolutely delightful weekend in Nashville! Ed would be a blast to see, but it sounds like you did a ton of fun things on Saturday too! I can't wait to hear more about getting into The Bluebird! And I would love to shop at Reese Witherspoon's store!
    Beth
    The Beth Next Door

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  5. I'm so glad that you had a great weekend! I have never watched Nashville, but have heard that it's a good show. That cupcake ATM sounds so cool.

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  6. Oh my goodness! Sounds like such an amazing trip! I'd love to visit Nashville sometime. It just sounds like a great city with so much to do. And Ed Sheeran - ahh, I'm so jealous. :)

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  7. Sounds like you had an awesome weekend! The food looks delicious :)

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  8. What a fantastic weekend with loads full of yummy food!

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  9. Stopping by from Johannah's Meet & Greet! So fun to "meet you". Nashville is just an hour west for us...such a fun city with so many things to do and AMAZING places to eat!

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