Given my extreme dislike of all things country, I was not sure whether or not I would survive an entire weekend in Nashville with some co-workers for our friend, Andrea's bachelorette party. I found out, however, that Nashville is actually a pretty fun little town and if you aren't careful, you may leave a little more country than you came!
We left St. Louis after all the other ladies finished their days at school. The drive is about 5 to 5.5 hours, so we didn't arrive until close to 9:00. We checked into our hotel and then took the shuttle downtown to check out a place called the
Wild Horse Saloon.
The name alone was enough to scare me and solidify the fact that I was going to need MANY drinks to get through the evening. Turns out there was one other non-country lover in the group and two other non-country line dancers so at least I had good company while making fun of those who decided to head out to the dance floor.
Good company indeed!
If I am being completely honest with myself, I will admit that it actually wasn't THAT BAD. I guess. Maybe it was the 4ish beers I had (or was it five).
Here's Cindy and Jamie, the two voted "most likely to puke on the trip". Therefore, they were paired together as roommates. As you can see, these two are the ones who decided to introduce shots into our evening.
The shots came in a really cute little guitar that just happened to leave the saloon with us...oops!
I am very sad that none of my pictures of our crew on the dance floor didn't turn out. I am pretty sure I could have done some serious blackmailing with them. We did, however, get a nice group shot with the "wild horse".
On the way back to the hotel in the cab Jamie jammed out on her gee-tar. Is there really any doubt why she was voted "most likely to vomit?".
Once back at the hotel, the party continued until 3 AM! At one point in the evening, my friend Mary brought up the show on NPR called, "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me". Then, Jamie said, "If NPR had a dance, it would look like this". Yeah, we know how to party.
The next morning we all got up and (eventually) met downstairs at the hotel restaurant. Some of us arrived earlier than others and had breakfast. The later group had lunch. Then, we headed to the
Apple Barn--a place with all things apple. Apple cider, apple butter, apple muffins, apple pancake, apple BBQ sauce, etc. They have a little cafe and even their chicken salad sandwich had apples in it! I got the BLT and my bacon was apple smoked. I picked up some apple butter for Jason and Amelia who are both big fans.
And what would a trip to Nashville be without a trip to buy some new boots? Cowboy boots that is! So, I used the trusty iPhone to track down a spot that we could head to for such a purchase. All 8 of us wound up in this tiny little store all trying on boots.
Debbie ended up purchasing these bad boys.
Yes, even I got into the spirit. I actually kind of liked these boots, but am not sure I would admit this out loud, so ssssshhhhhhhhhh.
Jamie seemed more taken by the socks....or maybe this is more of the NPR dance that we missed the night before.
After two boot stores and five new pairs of boots, we headed back tot he hotel for some rest time.
Later that evening before heading out, we all decided that we should tattoo ourselves. The rule was that it had to be easily visible and since I was wearing long sleeves, I opted for my chest. (it was either that or my cheek). I had to get a picture because it looked oh so trashy!
The four cowgirls who purchased new boots!
Heading out for the night. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe, stopped by Coyote Ugly, and then went to the Big Bang for the rest of the night. After returning to the hotel, we hung out in the bar area until it was time for bed.
I was thinking after our little journey to Nashville that maybe Jason and I would return sometime for a long weekend. There is certainly a lot more to explore in this town. I mean we didn't even make it to Opry Land....
But, lucky for Amelia, her mom is no one trick pony! I had another painting idea up my sleeve. This time, we grabbed an old golf ball and a shoe box lid. We threw down some paper, added some paint, and rolled the ball around in it. Amelia loved it so much that we had to repeat the process with every color of paint we had.
In the end, we had a great picture that was loaded with lots of paint. I loved the finished product and placed it in the ever-growing "to be framed" pile!
