Okay so in my previous post I mentioned planning my sister’s wedding and such. Well obviously with a wedding, comes a bachelorette party. I can honestly say at 23, I’ve never even been to a bachelorette let alone plan one! When my sister decided on Nashville, TN as her party destination, at first I was like ummmm what? I was sooo ready for Miami or Vegas! When I did some research, I was shocked to see it is basically the bachelorette capital of the US – and when I got there, I knew immediately why!

Coming from NYC, the flight was not bad at all, about two hours. Also, I should note I flew Southwest and highly recommend it! Great, cheap flight with extremely friendly and accommodating staff.

When we landed, I absolutely fell in love. Like an airport that is clean, people that are friendly…say whaaa?! I was most definitely not in the city anymore! We claimed our baggage and waited for our Uber (another note: Uber is much cheaper down here – and the drivers are basically all super friendly musician transplants from allover!). Everything is so casual and laid-back here, so definitely whip out the flannel and boots and leave the body-con dresses and stilettos home!

Also, everything in Nashville is super close. We stayed near 12 South and 8 South in an Air BnB. If you haven’t tried Air BnB yet, you really must. Nothing like having a home to go back to at the end of the night. I also just feel you really get a better, more full experience. You can walk around and explore and really get to see the neighborhood.

The atmosphere (excluding Broadway) is so quaint yet has a touch of unique Southern flair. Their streets are lined with unique little shops and restaurants. Many of the walls have beautiful murals on them – don’t be shocked when you see people actually waiting in lines to take pictures in front of these murals.

I could seriously go on and on about this place, so I’ll finally get to my checklist of Nashville must-dos and must-sees – bachelorette party or not!

• Edley’s BBQ on 12th and Halcyon!
  • I had the brisket platter (when in the south!) with cornbread, mac n cheese, and baked beans. It was so delicious I ate every single morsel. The bar also serves up some great and more importantly, strong drinks. Definitely a must-stop for some laid-back dining and food.

• Wander down 12th Street
  • Really cute boutiques and unique shops:
    •  White’s Mercantile – home store + clothing store. Really cute things! A bit pricy though.
    • Serendipity – small boutique selling a bunch of Nashville items, similar to White’s but on a much smaller and more reasonable scale.
    • Reese Witherspoon’s Draper James. Okay the clothing line is stunning and appears to be amazing quality, so I wasn’t shocked that the sweaters cost upwards of $200. The items on display such as plates, books, linens, etc., all had that Southern touch and I absolutely loved it. I would call it the Southern Belle version of kate spade. HINT: The side of Draper James has two beautiful murals!
    • S’More Love! A vintage little blue truck that was whipping up the perfect specialty s’mores. They were also parked next to a flower truck. Seriously could this place get any cuter?!

•  MURALS
  • There is art everywhere in Nashville, you just have to find it 😉 Check out some of these murals you should definitely be on the hunt to find.

• Frothy Monkey
  • Coffee + wine bar….what?! They also serve breakfast through dinner! Great big porch where people hang out and sip there beverages (which vary at the times of the day, wink wink). Line was kind of long, so try to go off-hours!

• Five Daughter’s Bakery
  • This place is a dream come true. From the decor to the actual donuts, everything was impeccable. With hanging lights and the cutest mural on the side of the building, this place is just one big invitation. First, upon rounding the corner, you can smell that heavenly smell of donuts. Then your mouth begins to water. They also have paleo, vegan, stuffed, the 100-layer (cronut), and regular donuts!
    • Here were my favorites 🙂
      • Huckleberry (still dreaming of this)
      • Apple Crumb
      • Vanilla

• Jeni’s Ice Cream
  • Literally mouth-watering ice cream. They have vegan kinds, gluten-free, but most importantly, INCREDIBLE flavors. The ice cream was so rich and thick and the flavor combos were so different yet paired perfectly. They are all about keeping it real and natural. You can also buy pints!
    • Some amazing flavors (I can attest to this as I basically sampled the whole line of flavors) include:
      • Brambleberry Crisp
      • Brown Butter Almond Butter
      • Churro
      • Goat Cheese with Red Cherries
      • Middle West Whiskey & Pecans
      • Sweet Potato Eclair

• Biscuit Love
  • I am still dreaming of the food from this place. Oh my God. No matter what time of day you go, I guarantee you will be online for about an hour. And let me tell you, it is so worth it. The food here was actually unbelievable. With huge portions and tastes that cannot be compared, you will leave with your belly full and your smile wide. Heads up you may also spot a few celebs!
    • We split:
      • Bonuts
      • Hummingbird Family Reserve
      • Egg Plate (eggs, grits, biscuit, sausage or bacon)

• The Sutler
  • Great drinks. Great atmosphere. Live karaoke – between good singers and the “had too much to drink and the vodka is telling me I’m a good singer” singers. The cheese dip was incredible and between the few of us, it was devoured in seconds. We did this on our first night as a way to ease ourselves into Nashville. They also have a lounge downstairs that plays 90’s throwbacks on Thursdays. #TBT y’all!

• The Gulch
  • Biscuit Love is in The Gulch. It’s a nice area with business building, industries, chain stores, and mom and pop shops. Definitely a lot going on but it is super clean and there is a lot to do, especially in regards to eating! Here we passed a few restaurants that seemed to be popular as well as went to the liquor store and got some coffee.

• St. Anejo
  • Brunch #yasssss. This is also in The Gulch. I have to say not a lot of these places take reservations, and the waits can be pretty long, but I promise they are worth it. I definitely recommend this place for a Saturday brunch. Endless chips + salsa, 2-for-1 drinks that you can mix and match (can’t go wrong with their sangria or mimosas!). The food here was also amazing. Seriously these places need to open up in the north!

• Miss Fit
  • Okay, so since we were here for a bachelorette, us girls decided to take dance lessons. This place offers exotic chair dancing, pole dancing, anything your exotic mind can imagine. We booked the exotic chair dancing. Since they do private parties, we booked ahead of time and got our own studio. The lights were dim, mirrors surrounded us, music was loud, it was honestly such a fun time. The instructor teaches you the dance, allows you to pick your music, and she will even take pictures of all of you afterwards! This was really a lot more fun than I expected to be. Release your inhibitions girlfriends! They also give everyone a complimentary champagne toast!

• Sprocket Rocket
  • Perhaps the most fun thing we did during the trip. Okay so this is basically a travelling bar, where about twenty people are sitting on bike seats and actually pedaling around downtown Nashville. There is a golf cart motor in there, but with so many people, you actually do need to do some work, which is actually a lot of fun and once your drinking you come to enjoy it. There is a bartender in the middle who takes pictures, and serves up drinks for the whole two hours. **NOTE: You bring your own liquor!** We had our group, a couple conveniently from NJ, and a group of people from Long Island celebrating a 50th. It. Was. Amazing. Our driver, who happened to be Ryan Culwell, blasts party music while we drink and pedal and sing at the top of our longs. It is really a site to see, people stop and try to give us high-fives, record us, etc. We get in on the fun too by yelling “paparazzi!” at them. There is also a drinking game called Red Light – at every red light we scream “Red Light!” and have to drink. We also encourage everyone to pedal when they start slacking off hahah. Seriously the best time, and you get to see a lot of the downtown area.
• Pinewood Social
  • Drinks. Dinner. Bowling. Yes you read that correctly. This was a more upscale place, but again upscale in Nashville is like casual NYC. We had some drinks and dinner here as a prelude to our night on Broadway. I got the mac n cheese and a salad – it’s justified since I ate like complete garbage the entire time I was down here! The girls ordered hot chicken, burgers, etc. Everything was in huge portions and looked so so good! Since the wait was so long, we actually just found seats at the bar and were able to order dinner there. Definitely recommend!

• Broadway
  • The infamous downtown of Nashville. This place was a complete mob scene like PACKED like Times Square in NY. I assure you that no locals are hanging out here. But honestly, it was great. I normally can’t stand crowds, but the crowds here were so lively and fun, and it didn’t help the entire street is full of wonder. With neon lights EVERYWHERE and live music coming from every single bar (there were NO DJs), this was the place to be.
    • ACME Feed + Seed
      • Moonshine Slushies! Amazing drinks, go to the third floor rooftop part and drink and dance the night away! The first floor has live music, and the third floor was a bit younger with a DJ and more of today’s hits.
    • Tequila Cowboy
      • Place was packed, they played some strange crossover music but the crowd was dancing and it was fun to let loose and just go with it.
    • Paradise Park Trailer Resort
      • CHEESE FRIES. LIVE MUSIC. I really loved this place especially because the person who was singing sang my favorite song, “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton. I really just love how laid back everything is here. Nothing like going out in jeans and a t-shirt!
    • Other places we stopped in and had fun at or were recommended to see:
      • The Stillery – small little place off Broadway – they saw my sister’s veil and got us a round of shots in celebration! Yay!
      • Honky Tonk – line was LONG.
      • Printer’s Alley – we walked through and saw some bars, but I think they would be best to go to late late night like 2:30/3 AM

Oh Nashville, I had such an amazing time. I absolutely cannot wait to go back. I either need to get proposed to or my friends need to because we need another reason to get back down there! Most definitely my new favorite city. People honestly are probably getting annoying with how much I talk and rave about it! If anyone has any questions about any of these places or want to know a bit more, please comment or reach out to me! I’d be happy to talk – especially about bachelorette planning!