Our 2025 Nashville Trip - Day 3

Our third day in Nashville was our last full one there before we moved along to Pigeon Forge.  We squeezed in a ton, so prepare to settle in for a bit, friends…

Tuesday, April 1

Tuesday morning, we slept in until 8:30 our time which was 7:30 Nashville time, we got ready, and then we headed out.  Our first stop was The Gulch for a big breakfast at Biscuit Love.  We lucked out and got a parking spot right on the curb just by the famous “What Lifts You” mural, and there was no line to take a picture at the mural, nor was there a line to get in the restaurant.  The last time Brian and I were in Nash in 2017 we had to wait in a long line to take a picture with the mural and we had to wait about 30-45 minutes to get into Biscuit Love, so we were shocked!  And happy!

Since there was no wait at the restaurant we decided to go ahead and take pictures at the mural because it was fully in the shade which makes for the best pictures.  We were lucky enough to find some people who were walking by, and they were able to get a picture of all four of us together.

After that, we headed to Biscuit Love.  There were only a few people in front of us, and we were thrilled because we were all HUNGRY.  The kids both opted for waffles along with eggs and bacon, and Brian and I both got eggs, grits, bacon, a biscuit, orange juice (for Brian), and coffee (for me).  We, of course, also had to order some bonuts (biscuit / donuts) for the table.

We were all stuffed when we were done, so we decided it would be nice to explore The Gulch to walk it off.  We hit up many of the murals in the area, a couple of which Brian and I had never seen, and we also walked in and out of all of the little boutiques in the area.  I was hoping to find a cute Nashville sweatshirt, but I had no luck.  There were so many cute things to see, though.

After that, we drove to the 12 South area of Nash, which is fairly close to The Gulch, and we made a stop at the Nashville mural and the Draper James mural before heading inside Draper James to look around.  I’m a huge fan of Emily Ley’s and I’m an affiliate partner for her products, so I totally fangirled when I opened her new cookbook and saw that it was a signed copy.  Had I not already had a copy, I would have definitely purchased one!

After Draper James, we walked in and out of all of the little boutiques – some local, and some bigger like Stoney Clover (Olivia and I wanted to buy everything in the whole place, but we were strong and left empty-handed) and Alice + Olivia.  Olivia, of course, had to take a picture outside of Alice + Olivia.  :o)  I continued my quest to find a sweatshirt, and I was sad that I couldn’t find anything that I liked.  Well, I take it back… I did find a cute basic tee that said “Support Live Music” but it was $70 so I politely put it back on the rack and went on with my day.  Hahahaha.

We finally stopped in the quirkiest little shop called Serendipity and they had the best stuff – lots of Taylor Swift stuff and random funny things.  Olivia loved the cat Taylor Swift album covers, and we also all died when she pointed at those pink and yellow socks and said, “Hey, Daddy, you should get those.”  LOLOLOLOL.

By the time we were done at that shop, we were all in need of a little break, so we headed back to the Airbnb for about 30 minutes to relax.  Getting around Nashville was easy peasy and our Airbnb was so central to everything that it was a piece of cake to zip over there as needed. 

After our short break, we decided to go back downtown since the weather was so gorgeous.  It was finally warmer and SUNNY!

We had to eat dinner early since we were going to the Grand Ole Opry later in the day, so we decided to skip lunch since we’d all eaten a big breakfast.  However, we were all getting a little bit hungry for a snack, and we couldn’t resist Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream when we saw it downtown.  Their brown butter almond brittle ice cream is one of the best flavors I’ve ever had in my whole life.  I get it every single time we go.  And we don’t have a Jeni’s at home, so it’s always nice to have it when we’re out of town!

Right across from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream was a giant shop called The Nash Collection, and I was SO excited because I knew I was finally going to find a cute sweatshirt.  I had told Brian the whole trip that I was envisioning a black sweatshirt with giant white letters that just said NASH instead of Nashville or a white sweatshirt with giant black letters that just said NASH, and I’ll be darned if they didn’t have EXACTLY what I had envisioned.  I think I may have manifested it.  Lol.

They had the cuuuutest stuff, and I wanted to buy the whole store, but I ended up sticking to a sweatshirt, a t-shirt, and a koozie.  I was so excited that they had exactly what I wanted.  I never buy souvenirs for myself other than a tacky frame for our travel gallery, so this was a little overboard for me.  Haha.

We left the shop and hightailed it to The Ryman Auditorium after that because we had already purchased tickets online, and we were running out of time before we needed to be back at the Airbnb to change and get ready for The Opry.

Brian and I had already toured The Ryman, but the kids had never been, so we thought it would be a cool experience for them to see it.  They typically allow you to stand on stage in that famous spot where hundreds of musicians have stood, but unfortunately, that day they were setting up for a Blake Shelton show that they were recording, so we couldn’t go on the stage.  They did, however, have the famous microphone upstairs to take pictures.

We got to see a bunch of outfits worn by famous artists, and our favorites were the dress worn by Dolly Parton, the dress worn by Carrie Underwood, the dress worn by Miley Cyrus, and the dress and shoes worn by Taylor Swift, of course.  And we also found a painted rock in there as well.  Isn’t it cute?!

After our tour, we swung by the gift shop, and then we hightailed it back to the Airbnb to get changed and freshened up for dinner and The Grand Ole Opry!!  

I was excited that it had warmed up because I was able to wear my cute leather dress and silver boots (boots originally purchased for The Eras Tour!!!!) and Olivia was excited because she was able to wear her Taylor Swift guitars shirt, her sequin skirt, and her boots.  Olivia received lots of compliments on her outfit and one person who later walked by us at the Grand Ole Opry said, “Now that is how you dress for The Grand Ole Opry.”  Haha.  We had to take lots of cute pictures together before we left the Airbnb, including one with Dolly, of course.

For dinner, we drove to Pinewood Social as we’d stumbled upon it in our research, and it sounded intriguing because it was an upscale-ish dining place but it had a bowling alley inside.  The bowling alley is in the back and it’s separated from the main dining area so you don’t hear the noise, but there are wall-to-wall windows so you can see in there.

When we arrived, Olivia and I had to grab one more picture ;o) and then we headed inside.  We had to wait just a couple of minutes for our table to be ready as they hadn’t officially made the switch from lunch to dinner (they close for a few hours in between).  While we waited, we sat in the lounge area and the kids played mini cornhole on the table. 

When we were seated, Brian and I ordered cocktails – a “Poster Child” for me (vodka, grapefruit, alpine liquor, vanilla, and bitters) and an, “Inside Baseball” for Brian (Chattanooga high malt bourbon, vermouth, scotch, and falernum).

I wasn’t terribly hungry after our large brunch and ice cream, so I opted for the blackened chicken sandwich and a salad, and Brian got the bistro burger.  My chicken sandwich and my salad were both incredible.  Who knew two simple things could be so good?!  I need to figure out how to make chicken that delicious.  And salad.  Haha.

After we were done there, it was time to make the drive to The Grand Ole Opry!!  When we arrived, we had some time to mill around for a bit, so we stood in line to have our picture taken with the big guitar, and then we walked around the gift shop for a bit. 

The show ended up being great even though we only knew a few of the people performing.  First up, was Rhonda Vincent (who my dad loves), followed by Tucker Wetmore (never heard of him LOL), followed by TAYA who is an up and coming Christian singer with a beautiful voice (she made me tear up), followed by Collin Raye (who I listened to a little bit when I was little), followed by a short intermission, followed by Taylor Hicks (who I LOVED and voted for a thousand times on American Idol way back in the day), followed by Hailey Whitters (who I’d never heard of), followed by The Cleverlys who were AWESOME.

If you’ve never heard of The Cleverlys (I had never heard of them prior to this), they are a bluegrass/country band, but they sing popular pop, R&B, alternative, and other genres of songs in the style of bluegrass.  For their first song, they sang the song “By the Way” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Then they sang a song called “She Ain’t There” by The Zombies, and they ended the whole show with “Low” by Flo Rida AKA “The Apple Bottom Jeans” song. 

Y’all.  When they started singing “Low,” the crowd went WILD.  We had a big group of teenagers in front of us, and I thought they were going to fall out of their chairs they were so excited.  It was so funny and so good and everyone sang along.

The kids enjoyed their first Grand Ole Opry experience a lot, and it was such a great time.  They both love music as much as Brian and I do, so I figured they would!

When the show was over, we headed back to the Airbnb, got into our PJs, got the kids in the bed, and then it was lights out for one and all!  We were exhausted!

Happy Monday, y’all!