Almost two years ago, I went to Nashville for a solo weekend away. I remember thinking that it would be the perfect city for a girls weekend. Not just because there was a bachelorette party on every corner, but because Nashville has the best of all things food, shopping, and duh- MUSIC.
I manage a Facebook group of about 300 bloggers, and we have become somewhat of a huge family (which I LOVE). While many of us have met in various settings like conferences, most of us have only been “internet” friends (for years in some cases). In November of 2019, we threw out the idea of having a meetup to gauge interest and there was a TON. One of our members owns a few AirBNB units (all next to each other) in East Nashville, so we decided that The Volunteer State might make the best option as a destination. Very quickly, we enlisted 30+ women who committed to flying/driving to Tennessee for a weekend at the end of January.
Fast forward to last weekend, and it actually happened! We had 48 hours to bond, eat, drink, sing, dance, and find all the mural walls- and we took advantage of every single minute… (down to tattoos and piercings. Yes, really.)
While I haven’t been to Nashville enough to know EVERYWHERE to go and see, I can certainly gush over what I have experienced. Here are five solid reasons that Nashville should be your next destination for a girls weekend away.
1 | Music City themed lodging.
One thing I LOVE about Nashville is how “on-brand” all the businesses are there, including hotels. There are country music and “rockstar” touches everywhere you look. This was my second time staying at The Loews Vanderbilt and the vibes there always give me all the feels. From random song lyrics on signage, to the cute lil’ jukebox in the lobby, to the other unlimited Music City themed decor- it really makes the experience unique. My three favorite things about The Loews are how personalized they are in each city, how cozy the rooms are, how amazing the room service food is. At Loews Vanderbilt specifically, I’m also a huge fan of the coffee shop downstairs and it’s close proximity to everything. Their staff always makes me feel like I’m family coming home. 10/10 would recommend every time.
2 | All. The. Music.
So, here’s the thing about Nashville. Obviously, it’s a music heavy city- it’s literally referred to as “Music City”. But, what makes Nashville unique is: A) the unlimited options for live music at any given time on any given street, and B) the incredible talent that exists there just waiting to be discovered. Nashville holds SO MUCH music history and that alone makes the energy in the air electric. As a major bonus to our trip, we got to enjoy a live sunset rooftop concert by Menna. It was absolutely INCREDIBLE. Her voice is like butter and her original songwriting had all of us sniffling in tears. This was such a highlight for me.
3 | Photo opps for days.
As a group of bloggers, we obviously had to seek out the best mural walls and IG worthy settings. The great thing about Nashville is that they are EVERYWHERE. From the bright lights of Broadway to the hipster coffee shops of East Nashville, the photo opportunities are unlimited. There is even an entire street (Charlotte Ave) that has a super long wall with one mural after another. You could do ten different photo shoots on one street. We also learned about a cool app called Depalo, where you can find local murals for photo opps and other Instagrammable spots.
4 | Arguably the best food in the country.
I mean, the entire South is known for delicious comfort food. Southern cooking is up there next to heaven. Nashville has all the delicious food on lock, featuring their famous Hot Chicken. You can get hot chicken at many places, prepared and served in its own unique way. On this trip, we had delicious meals at Makeready, Florida Georgia Line, and Frothy Monkey. In addition to full meals, there are several gems around town to get your sweet fix. We visited the flagship Goo Goo Shop in Downtown Nashville and got to create our own Goo Goo Clusters. It was SO fun and so delicious. On the way out of town, we swung by the famous Five Daughters Bakery for the best donuts of all time. (I’m a personal fan of the purist.)
5 | Easily accessible.
Nashville turned out to be a great option for everyone! It was within driving distance for many of us in the South and even the lower Midwest. It was an easy flight for everyone else coming from other parts of the country. If you are getting together a large group that is very spread out over the states, Nashville is a wonderful “middle” spot. (Ps- my best tip for booking flights is to use Kayak.com and view a grid of dates to see what works best!)
There’s too much I love about Nashville for one blog post. It’s got big city spirit while staying quaint and friendly. The traffic is never too bad, and there are endless neighborhoods and corners of the city to explore.
On a more sappy/serious note, I started the Facebook group for established/career bloggers, because I really wanted an online place that could be smaller, more exclusive, and tighter knit than some other groups out there. In our industry we don’t have “coworkers” and we famously often lack camaraderie. My vision has always been for us to help elevate each other both professionally and personally.
When we started talking about having a meet up I had no idea how many people would be interested, I thought maybe ten. 35ish of us flew and drove from all over with two months notice. Not a single person wasn’t amazing and it felt like reuniting with old friends for summer camp. It wasn’t cliquish, it wasn’t unequal, everything was wonderful. I heard over and over again how much everyone needed this weekend, to be with people who understand the most through their work, but without the pressure of working. This was SO needed.I am also so proud of everyone who came way outside of their comfort zone to take a chance In connecting with other women. It can be so scary and daunting and they all decided that connection was worth the risk. (spoiler alert- it always is)
The feeling that people in my little Facebook group are now so close and traveling to see each other makes my heart swell bigger than you could imagine. I am so thankful for each and every one of them and am still riding the high from getting to know so many new great friends. I am literally counting the minutes until we can do this again.
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