We were up and off the dock early for a quick 3-hour cruise to Nashville. Pulling in, we spotted the skyline. Immediately I compared one of the buildings to Scooby-Doo. We all laughed because it looked just like him. I looked it up and it was the AT&T building, and some people refer to it as the batman building.
As soon as we got tied up at the Lock 1 Marina (which was just under the pedestrian bridge leading straight to Broadway), we moved everything typically stowed in the cockpit, to the cabin. I'd read that this area can have frequent theft from the transient population and tourists, so we didn’t want to take any chances. We left Dixie out of her kennel as bark security.
First stop: The Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. We spent over three hours there soaking it all in! The new Dolly Parton exhibit was so fun to see. There was a whole wall dedicated to Luke Combs, which made me so happy to experience with my mom since he’s her favorite. We also got to see small displays of Kane Brown, Ella Langley, Shania Twain, Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw. We finished our museum tour with a quick spin through the gift shop.
From there, we walked to Category 10, Luke Combs’ four-story restaurant. Parts of the road were blocked off due to the filming of Nashville 911. There was a live band playing when we arrived, featuring singing by Angel Edwards. Audience memebers could Venmo her directly to request songs, which was a neat idea! Roo wanted to hear "You Look Like You Love Me", so we sent in the request. The band went on break right after, but they promised to sing our song as soon as they came back.
During the break, the restaurant lead line dancing lessons on the dance floor. My mom, Roo, and I all jumped in to learn a new dance with a big group of people. It was so much fun! We laughed and stepped all over each other, but we kept at it, dancing all the way through several songs.
When the band came back, Angel announced, “Lisa, your song is next—I hope you’re still here!” Roo and I went right back to the dance floor. Roo danced and sang her little heart out with Angel. It was the absolute cutest thing. Such a sweet memory.
We wrapped up the night with ice cream from Mike’s Ice Cream and a walk back to the boat. On the pedestrian bridge, we overheard a group of women talking about wanting to go on a sunset cruise. Ben joked that we should offer them a ride for $40 per person. They overheard us and said they'd pay that. I chimed in, “We have two dogs, though...” They laughed and said, “We don’t care! We love dogs and miss ours.” Then they told us to be safe and went on their way. Ben got the idea that maybe we should start a little side hustle when we stop in cities- post a sign offering boat rides for $50 per person (no food or drinks provided). Moose immediately added, “Yeah, then once they pay, we just take them on the tender.” We got a good laugh out of that!
We hung out at the boat the rest of the evening.
We woke up, got ready, and walked over to Pancake Pantry for breakfast. There was a short 15-minute wait to get a table. Roo was complaining about a tummy ache (she gets like this from time to time), and I told her it was probably because she hadn’t eaten yet.
Despite the short wait, we had a delicious breakfast and then walked back to the boat to hang out while my parents packed up to head to the airport.
Later that day, our niece who lives in Nashville came to check out the boat with her friend and joined us for dinner. We walked down Broadway just after 5 PM and I was surprised to see that almost every door was already checking IDs. The party starts early in this town! Our niece suggested we eat at Prince’s Chicken inside Assembly Food Hall, which was really good. For dessert, we stopped for No Baked Cookie Dough.
On our walk back to the boat, we admired all the neon signs, music pouring out of every open window and doorway, and the steady stream of people everywhere. We waited to make sure our niece got back to her ride before heading in for the night.
The next morning, we walked to 417 Union for breakfast. Poor Roo was complaining about her tummy again. I took her to the bathroom while Ben ordered her a waffle, which was waiting by the time we got back, but she just didn’t feel like eating.
We debated our plans for the day since rain was moving in and we wouldn’t have enough time to walk back to the boat before it hit. We decided Ben and Roo would take a Lyft back to the boat to rest, while Moose, Bear, and I would explore a little more.
The three of us walked to the souvenir shops on Broadway and then caught a Lyft to the Grand Ole Opry. We looked around the gift shop, used the restroom, then made a beeline across the street to the mall to escape the pouring rain.
Moose needed new shoes because his well-loved Crocs finally gave out. We wandered the mall for a few hours, picked up a few things, and eventually made our way back to the boat to relax for the evening.
Nashville has been fun, but I imagine it would be much more fun without kids. Ben wasn't a fan at all. Girls' trip!!
❤️GMM❤️
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