How I Had an Un-Optimized Weekend in Nashville, and Loved It.
I traveled to Nashville, TN with my husband this past weekend for a little getaway. You might be wondering how the title of this post came to be. I recently heard a Tim Ferris podcast with Derek Sivers who talked about the joys of an un-optimized life and it struck a cord. Sivers made the point that not everything in our lives needs to be optimized. In fact, sometimes it’s better to let things play out organically rather than planning every last detail.
I am a reformed over-planner after a previous trip in which the stress of making sure we stayed on the itinerary was causing me to miss out on having any real fun. By intentionally not optimizing every minute of this weekend in Nashville, we were able to stumble on some really cool stuff.
Feel free to share this post with someone who is interested in taking a trip to Nashville!
Day 1: Friday
We arrived in the rain on Friday afternoon. Our first stop was lunch at HEARTS cafe in East Nashville. We scarfed down a delectable kale & broccolini salad and followed it up with a muffin like the normal people we are.
Next, we checked into our cute Airbnb in East Nashville to re-group and figure out a dinner spot. We ended up at Assembly Food Hall downtown. I love a good food hall and Assembly was no exception. The variety of restaurants and live music were impressive. I had a Pastor Quesadilla from Chilangos Tacos and then Cookies & Creme cookie dough from NoBaked. Would strongly recommend both.
A highlight of the trip was seeing Joy Oladokun perform on Friday night at the Brooklyn Bowl, one of two plans I made for the entire weekend. The Brooklyn Bowl is an intimate venue and we stood only a couple rows back from the stage. Joy and both of her openers were fantastic, and it felt so right seeing a live concert while in Nashville.
Day 2: Saturday
My second plan for the trip was a reservation at 5th & Taylor for Saturday night. That meant everything else was up in the air. Coffee is always our first order of business every morning and Saturday we ended up at Barista Parlor. Not only did I have one of the best oat milk lattes in quite a while, but it was the perfect place to spend our morning. We were able to watch the Aston Villa match from my laptop while munching on a bomb breakfast burrito and a blueberry muffin (it’s only now that I’m realizing how many muffins I ate on this trip). There was also a Porsche car meet-up and vintage clothes pop-up happening.
Afterwards, we made our way to The Gulch to check out some shops. We stumbled upon Patagonia’s 50th-anniversary party happening at their store. They gave out free food and drinks, had live music and free raffle giveaways, and were showcasing a bunch of local non-profits. Not only was the event fun, but the sense of discovering it by accident was just as exciting.
It was at this point that we finally made the pilgrimage to Broadway. Sometimes I don’t want to do the super touristy things but this was not one of them. When in Nashville, go to the honky-tonks. I selected Layla’s, because how could I not? We sipped on Hecho tequila sodas (great discovery!) as we listened to live country music.
Before dinner we perused Music City Vintage which had a great selection of t-shirts, jackets, and shoes. As previously mentioned dinner was at 5th & Taylor. It’s vibe is New American with a Southern lean. We enjoyed N/A cocktails, grilled greens, and fried chicken with mashed potatoes (when in Nashville).
Day 3: Sunday
After a morning run, we went to Elegy for coffee and breakfast to-go. We ended up ordering the exact same thing as we did at Barista Parlor: a breakfast burrito (but this one had hash browns and maple syrup in it), a blueberry muffin, and oat milk lattes. With the essentials secured, we made our way out of Nashville and back home.
