Since Ryan and I both love country music, beer and warm weather, Nashville seemed like the right place to be to celebrate my thirtieth birthday. We made the nine hour trip by car, stopping in St. Louis to get a closer look at the arch. The drive down went well (and faster than I thought it would). We did end up arriving right at rush hour so that delayed our arrival into the city. Our hotel was three or so blocks from the downtown/Broadway area. We spent the first night at a couple of bars. Ryan wore his shirt from Single Speed Brewery, which had the state of Iowa on it. This ended up being a great conversation piece with other bar goers. We met some nice people and stayed out until bar close, which happened to be 3AM!

The next day was my birthday. We both slept in until mid-morning! I woke up to find some kind birthday messages from some of my favorite people back home. This definitely made me miss them! If only it was possible to have a big ole party down in Nashville! Once we got ready, we had lunch at Acme Feed & Seed then ventured to the Country Music Hall of Fame. The museum displayed a ton of attire of country music artists of the present and past. I really enjoyed the hand-written song lyrics displayed. Fun to see the work in progress of some classic songs. Afterwards, we headed back to Broadway to have a few drinks and listen to more live music. We went back to the hotel and I freshened up and changed into my new red dress ... with cowboy boots ... of course! For supper, we decided to venture to the Gulch neighborhood for sushi at Virago. The sushi was yummy and my craving for a mojito was quenched ... twice! When we got back downtown, we decided to "bar hop" ... literally stopping at one bar, having one drink and moving on to the next one. This allowed us to experience the different bars, hear a variety of music and try some different beers. It ended up being really great! We, yet again, stayed up way too late! It felt a bit like I was turning 21, not 30!

On our last day in town, we ventured up to the Grand Ole Opry. We found that this is not an easy place to find! Our GPS led us to OpryLand, which isn't exactly near the Opry. After driving around for awhile and making our way through multiple mall parking lots, we arrived. Argh! The tour was fairly neat, however, taking us backstage, through the dressing rooms and onto the stage. Standing on the famous stage circle floor makes you stop and think about who has all stood here and performed (along with the feet of a ton of tourists!)?! That evening we wanted to lay low so we went to The Listening Room Cafe in SoBro. The Listening Room Cafe is a low-key venue that features singer-songwriters (similar to the well-known Blue Bird Cafe). I love hearing original songs, especially in a setting like this. The first gal who sang was funny and down to earth. Her husband was part of her "band", and they both were excited to have a night out after having a baby. Near the end of her performance, she disclosed that her dad was Vince Gill. Pretty crazy, right?! The guitarist with her also was a songwriter who wrote some of the current hits on the radio (Don't Ya by Brett Eldredge and Something in the Water by Carrie Underwood, just to name the two he sang for us). Songwriters often go unrecognized for the great work they do. Maybe they like it that way, though?! No fans were attacking him while at the Listening Room! ;) Besides the music being great, the food was just as good. We both had a smoked pork steak. So good! Ryan said he is going to try to recreate the recipe for us sometime! Hope he nails it, so we can have it again!

The weekend went by quickly but it was truly great. I love traveling with Ryan. Taking us out of our daily routines makes us relaxed, happy and spontaneous. Even though we see each other daily, we are never at a shortage of things to talk about. No talk about chores, work or the cost of the trip. Instead it is about us experiencing a new place together. There's just something special about it that makes us bond even more! There's some serious bonding happening when in a car together for 18 combined hours! Hehe! On the drive, I thought some (I had the time to, right?!) about the last 10 years, my twenties. They really were some memorable years ... ones that included meeting some amazing friends, having tons of fun in college while honing my passion and gaining independence and learning who I really am. At 30, I can say I am healthier, humbler and happier. Oh, and older. :)

Nashville, the Music City