Hey, hey Girlfriend! Let’s chat Nashville. As you may have seen if you follow along over on IG, I went to Music City this past weekend with a group of bloggers. It was my first time really traveling in 2020 outside of small trips with Luke for outdoor activities. We have to be so careful because of Luke’s job and it truly has made it difficult to travel. Honestly, traveling is tricky no matter what in 2020. So here is my take on Nashville for a girls weekend during a pandemic.
Nashville Girls Weekend Guide (The Covid Way
Where to Stay:
First things first, stay somewhere like Bode. I think what I appreciated most about this place is that you never felt like you were too close to others. No lobby to walk in and out of. Everything is easily accessible with stairs and you truly don’t have much contact with anyone else staying on site at all. There are outdoor common areas which make it easy to socialize Covid as well.
This is the Hub, aka central point of Bode. You can get coffee, snacks, and souvenirs here. It also happens to make a fantastic place to hang out and play games (which they have out for guests to use… non-Covid times of course). I truly can’t wait to come back so I can fully use this space post-Covid.
As you can see our space was HUGE. Four bedrooms, four baths, one huge common area with a communal dining area and full kitchen. Two of the rooms had bunk beds too which is so fun! The kitchen was also fully stocked with pots, pans, and silverware + utensils. You could actually live here for an extended period and not feel displaced.
I actually think this would be a fantastic place to host your wedding party before wedding if you wanted to go out the night before the wedding because it was within walking distance to downtown, restaurants, pedestrian bridge and more! Also great for a guys or girls weekend in Nashville as well.
Reach out to them on instagram via dm and tell them I sent you! They’ll give you 15% off your booking.
Where to Eat:
Ask someone why they went to Nashville and 8/10 times they will say the food. That’s for good reason ya’ll! The food in Nashville is hard to beat. While I didn’t go out a TON on this trip, we did get to experience a few new to me restaurants that I’ll round up for ya.
Hampton Social:
Full transparency, this place is definitely one of those places you go for the atmosphere more than the food. While my food was delicious I could have gotten the same meal for half the price at the Omni in Asheville if that says anything. Just throwing that out there. My salad was $30. I almost croaked. Might I recommend going here for drinks before dinner somewhere else? Get the atmosphere and the pics without the price tag girls. Trust me.
I got the lobster roll without the bun. The lobster was delish, but not $30 delish. Also, the drink pictured top is much better than the one pictured bottom. Half the group got the Glitter drink because of the allure and thought it was awful. Just FYI. Don’t waste your $14 on that unless you LOVE gin drinks. I think mine was called Fresh off the Boat? It was off the menu, but our server recommended it to me when I sent my first drink back. It was basically a Moscow Mule (which I love!) with strawberry which was fantastic.
Restoration Hardware Cafe:
Another place to save your wallet and just get drinks is RH Cafe. The menu is limited and honestly there is better food to be had in Nashville. Go for the Glam and drinks and then go get some yummy food for half the price somewhere else. I would only go here on a super special occasion. I’m also very frugal when it comes to food and if I’m spending $20 on grilled cheese and fries… it best be the best I’ve ever had. This just wasn’t ya’ll. Good, but not that good.
Make a charcuterie Board:
Kroger was so kind this trip to send us lots of snacks and Amanda from @type.a.style made the most stunning board for us to graze. We ended up staying in this night and it was so good to have something light and fresh rather than lots of heavy food. How yummy does this look?
Nada:
Our last dinner as a group was at Nada. Nada is a taco and cocktails Tapas spot that is absolutely delicious. I wish we had been able to get better images, but it was 8pm and super dark inside. I honestly love moody lighting for dinner out and it was such a great way to wrap up the trip. The food was delicious. I think my favorites were the Ceviche and the jalapeno cornbread. Both were so good. I can also attest that their margaritas are top notch!
Green Hills Cafe:
This one was a random addition. I had originally planned brunch with my friend Amanda from Pretty Little Style Blog at Hattie B’s, but we weren’t able to get in. We ventured out to Green Hills and had brunch at Green Hills Cafe and it was so good. All I wanted was hot chicken and I got it. This was so good and I was so thankful to have my first comfort food meal of the trip.
Where to Shop:
Being from a small area, I appreciate big city shopping! So for this trip I have a few recommendations. I’ll be adding a best of Nashville post soon because honestly, some of my faves were not included in this trip. Let’s chat my experience from last weekend though.
Molly Green:
Molly Green is a Nashville brand that’s right up my alley. Total 70’s vibes. They put together a private shopping event, but sizes were quite limited. Afterwards a small group of us went to their Hillsboro Village location to shop and it was absolutely precious. Will be sharing a haul of what I got from there later this week.
Kendra Scott:
Kendra Scott was so kind to put together a private shopping event for us before their shop opened. It was such a nice way to start the day and shop socially distanced. I’ve been shopping with Kendra since 2014 and honestly love how classic and versatile their pieces are. I picked up some precious earrings that I will share in my Nashville haul with you guys on IG stories.
Activities:
Activities in Nashville can be tricky. I’m going to share one that you can do socially distanced with your group, but want to give some tips along the way as well.
Music City Crawler Peddle Tavern:
The Music City Crawler has both peddle taverns and party barges. I personally think the peddle tavern is better for a girls trip. It was such a fun experience that I honestly wasn’t excited about, but ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip. Perfect for a girls weekend in Nashville.
Paige the bartender was a hoot and kept such a fun atmosphere for us. She was great. My one recommendation though would be to not get off at the bars. Me and my girl Katie stayed back because honestly the bars on the stops were too crowded for our comfort. It was more fun honestly staying on the ride, watching people, and drinking our BYOB drinks. Yes, you read that right! It’s BYOB!
Book a reservation with them here.
Other Activities to try:
Go to the Parthenon and have a picnic. This is such a stunning area and great place for photos! Highly recommend.
Take a walk down to the Pedestrain Bridge. Such a stunning view. Walk across the bridge and get the best views for skyline pics. 10/10 recommend.
Have girls night in and order pizza. We actually did this and it was so fun! It took the stress off the first night from having to get ready and go somewhere.
Head out to Natchez Trace for a hike and some stunning views. This park is absolutely stunning. A great way to take in the beautiful nature that Nashville has to offer.
Do a Mural Tour. I’m going to round these up for you soon, but a great way to pass an afternoon is hopping from one neighborhood to another and taking in all the fun mural art. Great if you’re into pics too. East Nashville and 12 south are the best areas for these in my opinion. (The wings are over-rated ya’ll!)
I hope this was helpful for you guys in planning your next girls weekend in Nashville! I absolutely love Nashville and probably always will. Up until 2020 I went about once a quarter for work-related events and missed it so much. Luke went to Belmont and it’s a super special place for him too so we always have a reason to go back.
Thank you so much to Bode for sponsoring accommodations for the trip. I truly can’t express how wonderful our stay was. Remember to tell them that Lacey from @wearetheglittergospel sent you when you book your next stay and they will give you 15% off!
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