Spring Break Kick Off- Girl's Road Trip to Nashville

Lily Grace and I left early on Sunday morning to kick off  Spring Break with a girl's road trip to Nashville.  Our agenda, all things Taylor Swift in the city where she got her start. 

We had the absolute best time!!!!!  We stayed downtown at the beautiful JW in the heart of things.  We hit the ground running just a soon as we arrived.  We got in everything on our list and then some.

We both agree that the best part of our trip was the Bluebird Cafe where Taylor was discovered. (and where we made new friends waiting in line for over two hours to get in for open mic night)

Gracie, I can't tell you how special that trip was to me.  The laughs, fun and experiences are memories I will hold close to my heart.  And we will always have "Slowpoke, Cowpoke from Longpoc!"  

We are back home to wash clothes, pack another bag and grab Matt and Jackie.  We are off to Chicago to round out Spring Break with another Sweet 16 concert request, Tate McRae at the House of Blues.

We stopped by the lips mural next to Fidos.

Lily Grace loves Greek mythology so of course we had to swing by the Parthenon.  Yep! In Nashville

Some of the beautiful art on display

We loved the Athena statue.

This is also where some of the Percy Jackson movie was filmed.  Here's a couple of the pops and the original script for the movie.

Of course we got in some shopping.   We were able to hit the beautiful Green Hills mall which was our favorite as well as the Opry Mills mall.

Beautiful downtown view from our suite

Of course Lily Grace had to get her pic made in front of this green mural.  Green, green, green- the girls does love this color.

Washi tape mural

We made it to the Nashville wings mural.

This piece outside the art museum reminded us of Honey.  She loves roses.

We walked Music Row of course.

We promised Matt we would stop by the Johnny Cash museum and send him a pic.

She couldn't wait to get inside and see the Taylor memorabilia.  

I won't lie, Hee Haw got me a little excited.  It was like my childhood in that cornfield.  I totally remember watching that each weekend growing up.  

And seeing the Taylor's Red guitar, her trip was complete.

Her antics did keep us laughing.  

We waited a little over two hours to get into the Bluebird Cafe.  It's where Taylor was discovered when she sang her original song, "Tim McGraw."  The cafe only holds 75 people and it's a Nashville bucket list stop for most everyone who visits.  We actually had someone who didn't make the cutoff try to buy our spots.  We met another mother daughter duo from New Jersey who we chatted with along with a couple behind us while we all waited.  It was open mic night.  Inside the Bluebird you will find communal seating and sat with a girl performing for the first time.  Lily Grace got her autograph just in case her career takes off and we can say we saw her start.  There were 18 acts that night from all over the United Sates and as far away as Canada.  While some were memorable for different reasons, Gracie and I enjoyed them all as well as their courage to get up there and sing.  They sang their own original songs. Covers aren't allowed on open mic night.  We ate, listened, laughed and had an absolute blast.  The wait was definitely worth it.  We couldn't imagine this trip without having gotten to do this.  Even Matt was at home texting us anxious and hoping we would make the count since this experience was really high on our list.

Favorite memory

And there she is, a young Taylor.  It's amazing to see all the artist who have gotten their start here or stopped by to play.  The wall is full of artists. 

Each  morning Gracie and I would head up to executive lounge for breakfast and in the evening's we would head back for a late night snack over the city lights.  I swear this girl and her antics kept me laughing.