Road Trip - Atlanta

After Nashville, we hit the road and headed for Atlanta - another city I'd never been before. Although our time in Atlanta was limited {we got in at 11:00 p.m. and left the next afternoon}, I enjoyed getting to see the city and doing some exploring. We decided to take full advantage of the one night we had there, so we headed out to the bars in the Buckhead area. We'd been recommended by several people to see Buckhead, and I'm glad we were. From what I saw, there was ah-mazing shopping, fine dining and a fun nightlife. The next day before hitting the road yet again, we visited the World of Coca Cola. It was so interesting to learn about the history of the quintessentially American brand, as well as taste all of its different products sold throughout the world. Unfortunately, we only had time to walk through an outdoor art fair before we left so we could make it to our next destination without having to drive into the wee hours of the morning. This meant no time for shopping, which was a total bummer, but lucky for me the shopping in the next few places made up for it! All in all, my brief stay in Atlanta was a success, and only left me craving more. Until next time, A-town!

My friends attempt karaoke...painful.

Our last minute hotel, Twelve, turned out to be so amazing!

Night view from our hotel balcony.

Day view from the balcony.

The beautiful park outside the World of  Coca Cola.

Coca Cola conveyor belt! 

Tasting room where you can taste Coke products from all over the world! 

And before you leave you get a free Coke in a glass bottle:)

Got quite a few keepsakes/goodies here. 

Road Trip - Nashville

As I mentioned in my last post, I was gone for 11 days on a semi-cross-country road trip. If you've never been on a road trip, I highly recommend it and strongly urge you to hit the road if you have the opportunity. Two friends and I decided to be adventurous and get in a 'last-hoorah' sort of trip before the real world rudely slaps us in the face {aka before we start working full-time for the remainder of our lives...}. It was truly an amazing experience to be able to see and explore so many places I'd never been before. It just goes to show that we have some pretty awesome cities here in the US, all of which have unique and exciting things to offer. I love exploring new places and seeing different traditions, ways of life and quirks in different places, so this trip was one eye-opening, spontaneous and enlightening experience after another for me. 

We visited five cities in total - Nashville, Atlanta, Amelia Island, FL {this was more of a relaxing vacay stop}, Charleston and Charlotte. Have any of you been to these cities? Which one was your favorite? Can you guess what my favorite stop was?

Have any comments or questions about my trip, or want any recommendations if you're going to these cities? Post them in the comment area below!

Well, here's the first installment of my road trip posts. First stop...NASHVILLE!

This city is unlike any other I've been to. I mean, in what other city can you hear live music in any and all restaurants/bars beginning at 11:00 a.m.? None...that's the point! I could go out seven days a week here if it meant free live music every night. That is unheard of! The place to hit for the {mostly country} music scene? Broadway Street. It's a row of one honky tonk after the next, which is a guaranteed rowdy time! 

Other than Broadway and downtown Nashville, the Vanderbilt campus area offers a variety of independent boutiques with adorable clothes, jewelry and home goods. My favorite store was Posh, which is the perfect mash-up of high and low-priced items. For a boutique, the store is huge and requires a decent amount of time to look through all the inventory. But it's well worth the time. Plus, you might even encounter a celeb while you're there! The Posh employee who rang me up said that Carrie Underwood was in the store the previous day doing some casual shopping...I was one day late!!!

Other unique-to-Nashville things we did:

-Saw Trace Adkins and Eric Church {who messed up the lyrics to his two #1 hits, which ensured an entertaining show} perform at the Grand Ole Opry

-Honky tonk-hopped from Rippy's to Tootsie's to Second Fiddle to Honky Tonk

-Dined at Whiskey Kitchen where we saw Josh Kelley!

-Bought three-for-one cowboy boots at Boot Country on Broadway

-Walked around the Grand Ole Opry Hotel....literally breathtaking

-Ate at Pancake Pantry and Fido in the Vanderbilt area, which are both must-dos

-Shopped at Pangaea, Posh and other adorable boutiques

- Took a little cruise through the Vanderbilt campus

-Met a couple up-and-coming country hopefuls at the honky tonks

And here are the pics to show you all these things:)

Passed through Louisville en route to Nashville.

We had to stop here...

Upstairs at Rippy's

Front row/backstage seats at Tootsie's

Getting ma boots at Boot Country!

Posh had the coolest interior decorations

Posh

"The Mercedes of cowboy boots"...or so we were told

Coolest cowboy boots ever

I'm officially 'country'

Eric Church

Little side-trip to the Girl Scout Center

New bracelets courtesy of Nashville:)