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| The "Batman" Building, Nashville |
Good morning! Up at 6am for the 3rd day in a row. And to remind you, that is on central time - which is 4am in my time zone. For a girl who works the graveyard shift and normally goes to bed at 5am... let's just say I am running on serious adrenaline this trip! But here it is... Nashville!
My friend Nichole gave me a grand tour of the city of Nashville in the morning. But first... let me tell you something that could only happen to us. Twice. {See my Kentucky post.} As we got off the highway in downtown Nashville something didn't seem right. The low tire pressure light came on and Nichole pulled over to the side. Don't you know we discovered another flat tire!?! Fortunately this one was just flat, and not shredded. A tire shop was just a few blocks away, so we drove over on the flat to see what they could do. In a matter of minutes they were able to plug it and we began our Nashville drive through.
Nichole had to work in the afternoon - so the plan was to drive to a bunch of points of interest and ooo and aaah out the window. This would help me get my bearings... as I would be back solo after I dropped Nichole off at work to get out and really do things. We drove through a lot of the places I've shared below, but one place I didn't get back to on my solo afternoon expedition was Belle Meade. This is the money. Rows and rows of mansions with expansive lawns. Some so big it reminded me of Newport, RI. Which if you're not familiar with the enormity of the "summer homes" there... think back to the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby film - that was filmed at one of those homes. Anyway... it's gorgeous. And if you have an hour to kill around Nashville, worth the drive through.
Before dropping Nichole off at work we had lunch at The Pharmacy. A famous burger joint in the Greenwood area. Their sodas are handmade to order and delicious. I would definitely go back to try more flavors. Their burgers are great. 8 out of 10. {My standards are high - we have Gott's Roadside nearby in Northern CA, afterall.} The atmosphere is a solid 10. I like that much of the seating is at long tables with benches - so parties of 2 or 3 are sat with other small parties... that they may not know. They have an outside, fenced-in courtyard seating area too that would be a perfect space for a little music at night. I don't think they do this, however, because it's a fairly residential area. Their food was definitely delicious and worth the trip.
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| The Pharmacy |
I dropped Nichole off at work and headed towards the East End neighborhood to do a little shopping. At the intersection of Fatherland and 11th is an enclave that houses a wide variety of indy shops. Included in this group is a second hand clothing store owned/operated by Tiffany. Yes, that Tiffany of 80's pop music fame. They make their own line of kimonos, but the rest of the items, I am told, are hand selected by Tiffany when she is on the road performing. They did have some cute items in their little shop. I also went to Red Dog Beads and bought a few random pieces. A couple of wood and coral necklaces, a buffalo-shaped goldstone, an evil eye charm, and a cross charm that I can't remember the name of the stone! Which bums me out, a little. I tried to identify it at home and all I can find that is similar is emperor stone, but I don't think that is what it is. I should just email the shop owner a photo and ask. She was extremely friendly and informative while I was there!
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| Tiffany's Boutique |
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| Shops at Fatherland and 11th |
From the East End I drove to the riverfront and Broadway - where all the country music stuff is. Boots, boots, and more boots. And a few honky tonks. And several tourist trap stores. I roamed around here for a couple of hours. Took a lot of photos. Browsed a lot of t-shirts and coffee mugs, and had a frozen cappuccino at Mike's Ice Cream. I tried to see the Nashville Music Garden, but it was closed for construction. I mostly did a lot of gawking.. haha. It was fun to see all the country music stuff. For the most part, it's not a genre high on my list, but I do love old country music. Johnny Cash. Willie Nelson. Patsy Cline. So I imagined them walking through these streets and seeing these things as they are now.
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| This cracked me up! A Willie Nelson fortune teller! |
And then there is the Parthenon, located not far from Vanderbilt University in Nashville. A full size replica of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Some interweb sources claim Nashville and Athens are sister cities, but Wikipedia does not list Athens as a sister city to Nashville. Either way, it's pretty interesting. Apparently there is an interior section open to the public, but unfortunately it was not open when I was there.
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| Nashville's Parthenon |
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| My hair is a huge fan of humidity! |
My solo tour came to an end as I had to pick up Nichole from work and make our way to my Tennessee yoga class. I feel like I need to qualify this next part... I am well traveled. I travel often and often times alone. I love maps. And I rarely get lost {unless, of course, that is the purpose of my travel...}. But don't you know... I got sooo lost trying to get back to Nichole's work! Part of it was because I was non-chalant when I dropped her off and didn't get a physical address. I figured I would be able to find my way back. Arrogant! I did eventually find her. And fortunately I had given myself tons of time to fight through rush hour traffic - so I was only a few minutes late. But boy... did I feel like an idiot! haha...
I turned the wheel over to Nichole and we drove back to the East End to Curvy Yoga. I can't begin to tell you how excited I was! I have been following Anna Guest-Jelley on Instagram for months. She is a plus-size yoga teacher and a body positive hero {in my book anyway!}. One of the many things I have learned during this yoga journey is that yoga is for everyone. If you ever go to a yoga class and don't feel like you're welcome there.... run! You should never feel unwelcome in a yoga class... they don't get it and you don't want to catch it. Seriously.. yoga is for everybody. And learning this has opened up yoga to me in a myriad of ways. One specifically is learning about modifications for people with bigger bodies. {Bear with me here... I'm going to go off on a tangent.} Just a few weeks ago I was chatting with a friend who is a petite and thin yoga teacher. At one point she mentioned how she wants to get breast implants - she wants some big boobs. Immediate I thought, NO! I told her, don't do it... you're a yogi... I spend more time motorboating myself than I prefer to. Which, if you're blessed with larger breasts and have ever taken a yoga class you can totally understand. Bending over and sticking your face in your chest... and holding it... and taking deep breaths.. into your sweaty bosum. Well... perhaps I've gone too far. But the point is, this is one of those things that is hard for a big gal doing yoga... and something sometimes the skinny gals don't quite understand. And so... Curvy Yoga. I have been taking a "Full Bodied" yoga class in CA and LOVE how the teachers really understand how to make modifications for bodies that have volume. And Anna Guest-Jelley is one of those pioneers in this yoga sector that has empowered me to keep trying.. and listen to my body... and modify where and when I need to accomodate this body.
And so... Nichole and I arrive at Curvy Yoga for a class with Anna. And I'm so excited. I'm excited because I have seen the energy online that Anna exudes. I'm excited because my friend Nichole is full-bodied like me and I want to share this side of yoga with her... the side that teaches you to honor your body. I'm excited because this is state 17 and holee crap I have already been to 17 states to take yoga classes and this is nuts!!! We enter the studio. We grab our glorious props and settle in on our mats. Class begins and it is all that I could have wished it to be. Challenging when I needed it to be challenging and suggestions for modifications when I feel I've reached that challenge peak for that day. {One of my favorite things about yoga is when I am trying and posing and grounding and breathing and think I am finally in that right configuration - the teacher will, very casually in their masterful way, mention - spread your toes or drop your shoulders or turn your right hip towards the front.. whatever it is... I feel like they're always talking to me... and that's just awesome.} Anyway... class was Anna was great. And Nichole loved it and that made it even greater. And then we got to talk to her for a bit after and well, I am so grateful I was able to make her studio a stop on my 50 States of Yoga tour.
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| Anna Guest-Jelley and me! |
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| Nichole and me! |
Nashville, Tennessee was pretty amazing. Rekindling my friendship with Nichole is definitely a highlight of my year. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to live this life and share it with the people that I do. I try everyday not to forget this.
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