The Non-Football Side of Nashville

Ah, Nashville, I think I'm in love. I also think I took too many pictures.

After arriving super early Friday morning {2:30am} and getting some sleep, we all woke up and set out to explore as much of Nashville as possible.

We set off across Vanderbilt's gorgeous campus in search of a little restaurant called Fido Cafe based on a recommendation from a friend. I will go way more into this amazing restaurant in a separate post but just know that if you're planning on going to Nashville, you need to go here for the brunch. Amazing.

After brunch we decided to keep exploring around Vanderbilt and discovered just how massive that campus is. You would think that with only 6,000 students, they would have a smaller campus than most colleges. Nope. That place is huge.

Eventually we made it over to the athletic side of campus and peeked in on the football stadium. Then I noticed that the stadium was wide open and free for the taking. So naturally, we went straight down to the field to check it out.

We had walked a million miles by this point so we started to head back to the hotel until I saw a sign directing us to the Parthenon Replica. Yup. Had to see it. Plus, the steps were in the shade and very cool so it was nice to get out of the sun and take a little break.

Then it was back to the hotel for a couple of drinks before heading out to Broadway. After looking at a map of where Broadway is, it's killing me to see how close we were to the Ryman and I didn't even get to see it. Next time Nashville, next time. Anyway, our first stop on Broadway was The Stage where Patrick ran into a friend from Columbia and I ran into a friend from Charlotte.









From there we headed over to Honky Tonk Central. 



Check out these views from the 3rd floor!

& then back up Broadway to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. This is where I proceeded to call my parents in Paris and my mom started going on about how someone she knew was also at Tootsie's {thank you, Facebook check in's for that one} and then I ran into her on the stairs while talking with my mom.

Oh!

Also ran into this fellow.

We all headed back to the hotel at this point to shower and get ready for dinner/going out. We had drinks before dinner at Holland House Bar & Refuge while we were waiting on our table at Pharmacy {another restaurant that I'll go into more detail on in another post}.

Dinner ruined us however. The food was so delicious and filling that by the time we were done eating, there was no more room for drinking and we were super tired. Patrick and I tried so hard to stay out to a "reasonable" hour Friday night but we called it at night around 11. I know, I know, but it was a long day! Plus, we had a big day of football ahead of us and needed to rest up for it.