Here's a quick list of where we went (just in case you don't want to read the whole lengthy post!):
Hotel: DoubleTree Nashville Downtown
Activities: Music City Pub Crawl
Bars: ACME Feed & Seed, The Stage on Broadway, Tootsie's, The Red Door Saloon (in Midtown), The George at The George Jones Museum, The Wild Beaver Saloon
Restaurants: Cabana (in Hillsboro Village), Choices at The George Jones Museum, Saint Anejo (in the Gulch)
Friday
A few of the girls kicked off the weekend early on Thursday, but most of us flew out on Friday. Nicole and I and a few other eager ladies took an early-morning flight. Even with security lines being horrifically long right now, I got through security at Midway Airport in 25 minutes (I was randomly put in the TSA Pre-Check line!). The flight was great, except for when I realized at the baggage claim that my Kindle was still in the seat-back pocket on the plane. Luckily, they found it and kept it safe until I picked it up on the way back home. That was my first time leaving something expensive on a plane, and I hope I never do it again!
Once the Kindle Incident was settled, we split off into separate Ubers (I went with my other BFF Jess who took a 1 AM flight from Los Angeles!) to our hotel. I booked the DoubleTree Nashville Downtown, and it turned out to be a great place to stay. It's centrally-located for tourists (near all of the fun bars on Broadway), and I had a very positive experience with the customer service. I originally booked five rooms (we thought there would be 20 of us at one point), and they had no problem with me cancelling rooms. Three girls stayed in their own Airbnb, so we ended up doing two rooms of four and one room of three. The rooms were spacious enough for all of us and had super comfortable beds. The lobby was also really nice and had a Starbucks in the lobby, which was handy. Since it was a DoubleTree, we also had access to free cookies! COOKIES!!
Our room wasn't ready until about 2:30, so we had a frenzied girl-changing party in the lobby bathroom, put our suitcases in storage, and then walked to ACME Feed and Seed for lunch. This restaurant/bar is located across the street from the river on Broadway and has a lovely rooftop. The staff was also delightful; they allowed our group to move two sets of tables and chairs from the covered, shaded area into the sunny part overlooking the water. We were lucky to get there early, because the restaurant and rooftop filled up quickly. The first thing on the agenda was drinks. Cheers!
Below: The ladies and the Cumberland River
We went to Cabana, which is a haven for bachelorettes visiting Nashville. Although it was a cab ride away (about 10 minutes, closer to the Vanderbilt campus), it was ideal for us. Cabana has intimate seating areas that are perfect for large parties. We had our own TV, music, and attentive server. For extra money, they decorated our cabana with balloons, streamers, fun "scratch-a- dare" bachelorette games, beaded necklaces, and a tiara and sash for Nicole.
Saturday
We didn't have plans until after 1 the next day, so we slept in until around 8:30/9. Nicole and I decided to go for a three-mile run around the Nashville streets. It kicked my ass. Nicole motivated me to run faster, and there were a whole bunch of hills that were tough.
Below, you can sort of see the Nicole tattoos. My sister-in-law had these at her bachelorette party and I had to copy the idea!
Sunday
The next morning, we packed up our things, checked out of our rooms, and took Ubers to Saint Anejo in the Gulch, a neighborhood just south of where we were staying. Although Jess had to take an early-morning flight back to Chicago for her brother's college graduation, she booked us a semi-private room in this restaurant. Our brunch menu included 2-for-1 libations and lots of Mexican-themed brunch fare. I got a blood-orange mimosa (or two) and a breakfast burrito.