Nashville Is Not What I Thought

When my sister was planning our route from Cali to Massachusetts I participated very little. By the time I got back from Spain, it seemed as if most of it was already sorted, and to be honest, I was glad. Don’t get my wrong, had it been up to me to plan it all out, I gladly would have. Planning trips is one of my vices, and it's happened many times before where I was looking up flights and planning/researching for travel, instead of studying or preparing lessons as I maybe should have been. But with this one, I really couldn't even think of where to begin. And since I came home and immediately got sling-shot into working and life, I really appreciated not having to think about organizing a cross-country trip as well.

However, it's for this reason I have not really known where we're going or what we're doing almost the entire time we’ve been traveling. Until now!

One suggestion I gave, when we had a moment of planning together, was "NASHVILLE!" We were going to be crossing through Tennessee to get to Charlotte, North Carolina, home of Elevation Church (my pick for the trip, which was in stark contrast location-wise to the Mt. Rushmore my sister picked and the Massachusetts she’s moving to), and the only thing I really knew about Tennessee was NASHVILLE! So, we looked at our route, and saw it would be possible to stop here. And now, we're here! Although, I've gotta tell you, as much as I enjoyed myself last night on Broadway Street, Nashville is not at all like I expected it to be. In fact, when I told my sister how I imagined it, she laughed because she thought I was joking. Then, she proceeded to laugh even harder when she saw my reaction to the city, because in that moment she realized I was actually being serious with my idyllic description.

Here's how I imaged Nashville was going to be...

In my mind, Nashville is a darling town, with a long avenue, where on either side of it, for as long as you can walk, there are places (bars/restaurants) on either side, and there is different live music coming out of each one of them. People -- not too many, just enough to fill each place comfortably so the artist has a nice crowd to play to, but no one feels too packed in -- are walking around everywhere, because hello, it's a pedestrian avenue (!), and they’re filtering in and out of the different establishments, strolling easily and happily through the hot, humid, southern summer air, and embracing the fact (yes, fact) that their shoes are covered in dirt from the pedestrians-only avenue they're wandering around on. And you know what? If there happen to be people riding horses amid the pedestrians on their no-cars-allowed-over-here avenue, even better!

That's it.

That's actually what I expected Nashville to be like. And I'd like to credit this incredibly-off and ludicrous image to the show, Nashville, because that's how it made Nashville seem to me. But, I also haven't watched it all the way through, seeing as I left the country, so I can’t external-locus-of-control my way out of this one. Clearly my imagination ran far, far away with me. Which I’d never have known had we not gone, but since we did, my rose colored glasses were not just broken, but shattered, and the truth was revealed to me in one fell swoop. Because instead, here's what we've discovered so far:

Nashville is a big city. Like, a really, really big city. I don't know how many people live here, and can't be bothered to look it up in this moment (I thought it would take more energy than typing all this extra junk out..), but it's a big 'ol place. There are actually skyscrapers filling the downtown area, making for a pretty impressive skyline. (Although, after being in Chicago and St. Louis...) Sure, there are some beautiful old-ish buildings in there, but it's an actual, real, proper big city. Oh, and that pedestrian walk I imagined? The one where everyone is just like 1940/50's American happy walking around? Yeah, it's a long street, a wide street, a cars-are-allowed-kinda street. And not only that, but it looks like the Red Light District on country music steroids.

Yes, the whole street in lined with establishments in which [country] music can be heard, but I'm pretty sure Nashville is where all the [remaining] neon lights and bright, flashing signs in the world have come to reside. It was a blinding sight at first when we came around the corner. Fantastic, wonderful, engaging and exhilarating, yes, but also very, very, very overwhelming and shocking. Think downtown Chico, CA, on a Thursday night, but on hyped-up country cocaine!

Literally, there are people EVERYWHERE. The sidewalks on both sides are full of people in varying stages and levels of drunkenness (and consciousness), people are woo-hoo-ing, hollering, shouting, and loudly expressing themselves all over, really/relatively good music floods out of every door you walk past, and there actually are some horse-drawn carriages strolling down the street mixed in with all the cars and skyscrapers. Some even have drunken, rednecks and/or cowboys hanging out of them woo-hoo-ing and hollering at whomever their drunken self decides upon. It’s quite a sight.

{{ Via: fineartamerica.com }}

We popped into a country music and trinkets shop so Katie could get some postcards, and proceeded to ask the two older-ish women behind the counter for some food/music recommendations. The one lady who apparently is the music buff of the two, told us that at the end of the strip, there’s a place that’s three levels, and you can order food then carry it to any level you want. She also informed us that on the roof you can see the river, and that, “On the third floor, they’ve got the football game on, and you can watch it!” But really, no text will ever do this moment justice, because the look in her eyes, the excitement her face relayed to us, and the way she said “you can watch it” made it seem like the game being on and the possibility of us watching it there, in that particular place, on that particular level, on this night, was like the biggest secret in town for now. It was so cute, and I wanted to reach right across the counter and pinch her little cheeks!

However, in spite of this super-duper hot tip we got from the lady, we ended up popping into Tequila Cowboy, because we were hungry and the music sounded good. And honestly, I will always be grateful for the actual fact that we walked into that bar/restaurant when we did. Because, we were approaching the front of the room/stage to find a place to plop ourselves, the singer, who is a self-proclaimed redneck from Arkansas (and just scored a record deal a few months back), is standing on the stage, having just finished a song, and asking, “How many proud Americans do we have here tonight!?” with his drink in the air. And then, when the right side of the room (his right) wasn’t loud enough, he proceeded to step down from the stage, and walk to the massive, circular bar that’s in the middle of the room, and get on top of it, and continue to ask the question until he was satisfied with the cheering response of all those proud Americans. It was so, so southern, and so, so perfect. (I do have videos, which I will share later.:)

And as if that wasn’t good enough, after he returned to the stage, asked about five more times how many proud Americans were there, and then did some drinking, he went on to ask everyone to raise their glasses and give a toast to all the soldiers. And then a toast to all the veterans, “Doesn’t matter which war – First World War, Second World War, Korea, Vietnam,” and then another one to all soldiers. Oh, and he asked who was from the south, and who was from the north. The south is so alive still! And so, so “American”.

A conversation we’d later have with a shop owner on the other side of the street, a place full of hippie and hipster deco and clothes, would end up telling us the shop was closing in a month, because, “All of Broadway (the street, my dreamy pedestrian walkway-turned country-style Red Light District) is turning into either boot shops or bars.” It’ll be interesting to return to Nashville at some time in the future and see how trashy that street has become. It’s already a little trashy, so I can only imagine where it’s headed. Don’t get my wrong, I loved it so much, and in a way, it was exactly the Nashville I expected, but that doesn’t make it the classiest place ever. Whiskey, beer, and boots are the main theme, sorry to say “class” isn’t usually associated with all that.

Further investigation of the city would reveal that it’s got, like everywhere, it’s hipster places, it’s normal-looking American neighborhoods, and it’s other points of interest. And, a drive down Broadway in the daylight would reveal that it is just about as different looking as day and night themselves. So, lots was learned. And really, loved. Oh, and I got a tattoo at Black 13 before we left town. The photo montage my sister managed to capture while it was happening was pretty freakin’ funny, too. And I figure that since I already shared it on Instagram (addadventures) and Facebook, I might as well share it here, too. So, you’re welcome in advance for the laughs you’ll have at my expense. ;)

I realize I need to go back and CouchSurf sometime, but for now, this is my Nashville experience, and I’m good with it! Thanks for all Music City, you were nothing at all like I expected you to be, and yet strangely, you were. :)

Sending sweetness to you all, adventure to abound, and as always,

Blessings, Love, Light & Wonder from Above!

-Allie-Sun <3