Friday, September 16, 2011

Just Me and You, Travel for Two

Nashville, Tennessee is an especially enticing place, there is no doubt this is one town that will leave you wanting to come back for more long after your trip is over. I have been to Nashville twice and each time I leave I am dieing to come back again. In May, Leon and I took a trip to Nashville and not to hear country music as most people would assume. We went to see a concert featuring Bullet for My Valentine, Three Days Grace, and Avenged Sevenfold. I know what you're thinking, not exactly my kind of music, right? You'd be correct. However, being the wonderful wife that I am I agreed to go with Leon to this concert in exchange for staying in Nashville for the rest of the weekend and listening to country music. Sold! It didn't take much persuasion to convince Leon. So, we bought tickets and off we went to Nashville. I'll admit, the concert was pretty good and I did know a lot of the songs the bands played, especially Avenged Sevenfold. I ended up knowing almost every song they played thanks to Leon always playing their music in the care. I even did my best to fit in with the crowd, who was mostly wearing black t-shirts with images of skulls, death angels and other "dark" images splattered across them. However, I only wore a dark colored tank top and jeans. That's as far as I would go. But, I did earn some MAJOR brownie points with husband and I may have even earned a few cool points too!

While we were in Nashville we stayed with my sweet friend and sorority sister Amy Latimer. She and her boyfriend, Shawn, were nice enough to let us spend the entire weekend with them at their condo that was just blocks away from downtown Nashville and all the excitement of Broadway (the street in Nashville with all the bars, restaurants, shopping, etc.). Friday after the concert we walked around and listened to several different bands and enjoyed some lively music from several street performers as well. Saturday we ventured out to Centennial Park (I think that was the name) were there was a life-size replica of the Parthenon. There was also an art fair going on in the park and we wondered around and looked at all the neat art work that was offered and we enjoyed some delicious food from all the various food trucks that were there.
The food trucks were what Amy was most looking forward too! We also enjoyed a free concert in the park that featured several local, up-and-coming musicians. The main person we wanted to watched was Sara Bareillis, who sings the country song "Outside My Window". She put on a great show and afterwards we went back to condo and relaxed for the afternoon.
Saturday evening we walked back downtown and Shawn and Amy took us to this wonderful local restaurant called Demos' Steak and Spaghetti House (http://www.demosrestaurants.com/menu.cfm). Now, you might be thinking this is a slightly odd combination, but you would be way wrong! The neat thing about Demos' is you can order a steak AND pasta together, well, on the same plate but separated. You get the idea. So I order a 7 ounce sirloin and alfredo pasta, which also came with a side salad and a roll. Let me tell you, this was one delicious meal. I was absolutely stuffed when I left. It was a good thing we walked around for a while or I would have gone straight to sleep after that wonderful meal. After dinner we visited several more bars and stopped in at a few places Shawn knew people playing in the band. Shawn is also an amazing artist and musician. He has an awesome voice and can play the guitar with the best. Check out his song "Boots" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBaAGQa0n4k). Amy put together the video for the song and did a great job! Just thought I'd put a plug in there for these two great friends. 

Anyways, the variety of bands that play in Nashville are great and offer something for everyone. There is everything from traditional country, classic country, blue grass, and even a few bars that play pop and rock music and of course a karaoke bar or two as well.
Needless to say we had a great weekend in Nashville and hope to be able to go back again sometime in the near future. Sunday morning we packed up the car and said our goodbyes and headed back home to Montgomery. On one of our rest stop breaks we stopped at the Alabama rest center near the Alabama/Tennessee state lines. We took a few pics of the rockets that are located there on the grounds and the other interesting items that were there. Just a little interesting tid bit to round out our trip.

If you've never been to Nashville I strongly encourage you to make a stop there some day. There are a lot of great places to see and visit while there. If you read my previous blog titled "Nashville" (http://amandaandleon.blogspot.com/2010/04/music-city-crazy-town-whatever-you-want.html) you can read all about my trip to Nashville in the Spring of 2010 and see what else Nashville has to offer.

Here are a few more pictures from our Nashville trip. Enjoy!

The view of downtown Nashville
from Amy's condo.


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