24 Hours in Nashville: An Impromptu Sisters Trip

Two weekends ago I ventured on my first solo trip away from my babies. My sisters were working together to photograph a wedding in Nashville that Saturday afternoon. So we planned an impromptu sister trip on the front end of the weekend. Since we all live in different cities these days, it’s rare for us to get quality time just the three of us together. Growing up, we’ve always been really close and it’s safe to say, they are two of my very favorite people in the whole world. And when all three of us are together, the fun is pretty much non-stop.

“Who do you trust more to lead us back to the car, me or Kati?” my sister Marinna asked me.

They had just met me at the terminal exit and we were attempting to find our way to the parking garage. They joked and laughed easily together, bickering back and forth about whether they parked in lot P or Q. “Um, no offense, but definitely Kati” I replied. Marinna has somewhat of an unspoken reputation for not being the best with directions. Our 24 hour trip to Nashville was off to the perfect start and I was soaking it all up.

Eventually we did find where they had parked the car and headed off to grab some lunch. Kati had been to Nashville a few weeks prior so she had some ideas on what we might enjoy. She had booked us a cute little AirB&B near the 12South neighborhood. We were happy to partake in all things touristy around that area for the afternoon.

But first on the docket was some hot chicken from Party Fowl. We were so hungry after a morning of traveling and Kati promised we would not be disappointed!

What the restaurant lacked in ease of parking, it made up for in boozy cherry limeade slushies and hot chicken. Side note if you ever go there: they usually offer a free valet service. Once we got inside, it didn’t take long before we were seated and the waiter had taken order.

Marinna decided she was craving a hot chicken sandwich. Kati and I both chose the bacon-fried tortilla chips topped with (mildly) hot chicken, jalapeño, white beans, cheese, avocado, green onions, lettuce, pico de gallo, and sour cream. Yummmmmm. It was absolutely delicious, though, be warned – the “mild” spice level really has quite a kick to it. We were practically licking our plates by the end despite all vowing to “save room for dinner” later that evening. I definitely think I will keep it on my list of places to go again next time I’m in town.

After lunch we went by the AirB&B to drop off our stuff and grab our raincoats. Then we headed out for a little shopping.

The 12South district has a lot of great swanky stores to explore. We ducked in and out of a few of them, trying our best to avoid the pouring rain. All three of us crowded in dressing rooms at each stop. We doled out opinions and cheered each other on for “splurge” purchases. There was even a spontaneous dance party at Outdoor Voices with a few of their employees. Marinna coached us all through some new hip dance moves. Trying to learn to “floss” was pretty hysterical and I can confidently say I did not master it AT ALL.

Before heading back to change for dinner, we popped into the Frothy Monkey for an afternoon coffee. I always love a good latte and it wasn’t anything too fancy (which I was happy about). It did the trick and gave us a little energy boost to power through to the evening. Back at the AirB&B we chatted about random things and lounged around for awhile. We had reservations for dinner at a place we had each been to before but never together. Apparently it was the weekend of the CMA awards, so Nashville was a little crazy and it took us a while to get to downtown via UBER.

The most eagerly anticipated part of the trip for me was our dinner at Pinewood Social.

I had been introduced to this restaurant several years before by some very dear friends of mine. They have excellent taste in good food and even better taste in fabulous cocktails and I remembered everything being amazing. My sisters and I dove straight in and ordered some of both!

Everything we ordered was incredible. The drinks were ON POINT. Probably the most surprising for me was how amazing the hummus tasted since I’m not usually a huge hummus fan (but when the waiter says you can’t pass it up – trust him!). We all decided the sandwich would have been better ordered for lunch because it was in tough competition against the other things we ordered.

After dinner our UBER driver rolled up with neon lights lining his windshield and some heavy beats thumping. He spent the whole drive telling about himself as an entrepreneur, at one point waving a wad of cash around and telling us he sleeps in his car to save money. It was all pretty wild and needless to say we were glad when we reached our destination and bid him farewell.

That night we all stayed up past our “normal” bedtimes.

For awhile we tried to decipher each other’s enneagram types and then moved on to our husband’s types. We took turns reading the descriptions and agreeing/disagreeing over it. There was a lot of reminiscing and a lot of laughing. We confided in each other, shared thoughts on our lives and marriages, and reconnected on a level that only the best of friends really can.

The morning came all too soon and it was a little sad to be parting ways again so quickly. We decided to grab breakfast before they dropped me off at the airport.

So we headed to Five Daughters Bakery for some famous croissant-style hundred layer doughnuts.

Let me tell you, these were quite possibly the best doughnuts I have EVER eaten in my life. In fact, I haven’t stopped thinking about them since then. The ones we tried included: the purist, the chocolate sea salt, and the vanilla cream. Oh My Word… melt in your mouth goodness. Each one was completely different and unique. I even got a couple to bring home for the boys (they are lucky I didn’t eat them en route!). This place will be on my MUST VISIT list for every single trip to Nashville in my future for sure.

After breakfast, we loaded up and headed back to the airport to drop me off. We talked about how much fun we had crammed in such a short period of time. Just before we parted ways, we vowed to try and make this a new annual tradition. Not necessarily Nashville, but another sister adventure in the near future.

Overall it was an amazing weekend.

I did miss my boys but it was so good for me to get away for this trip. Travel and adventuring and hanging out with my sisters is such good self-care for me. I’m already excited for next year!