The city of Nashville is one that I’ve enjoyed visiting ever since my first trip back on the night of my college graduation. But, then again, I just love the feeling of big cities in the South. And that’s because although they are huge metropolitan areas that are home to things such as large international companies, and although they operate at the same speed of other major cities around the world, they are somehow able to still able encompass the feeling of hospitality and community like other towns around the South.
This latest trip to Nashville, however, was much different from my previous trips for one reason—I didn’t visit during summer months. In the past when I’ve visited, it has been warm (actually, downright hot), which made exploring the city super-easy. But, like often times in the South, cooler temperatures affected what we did and how we did it. Lucky for us it wasn’t too cold. The temperature was in the lower 50s and we were blessed with a sky full of sunshine, but there was enough wind to force us to keep our jackets on all day long.
The temperature, however, was not too cold for us to take part in one of Nashville’s greatest attractions—the Country Music Crawler. In celebration of our friend’s birthday, the group hopped on a pedal bar bike, along with a bachelorette party and another couple, and did a two-hour pub crawl all around downtown, BYOB in hand. We pedaled our way through Broadway and other notable neighborhoods as we blasted the music of our choosing from our mobile devices to the speakers available on board. During the tour, we stopped at two different bars to hop off and take a few shots before continuing on. The pedal bar was a great way for the girls in our group who had not been to Nashville to get a glimpse of the city. The pedal bar bike seats 15 people and individuals pay $30, although a private bike is available for up to 15 people for $300.
However, thanks to the cool weather, we spent most our time indoors—usually enjoying one of the many culinary experiences the city has to offer. On this trip, I got to try two new restaurants that should be on every visitor’s radar. The first was Virago, a hip Asian-fusion spot that was brought to Nashville by M Street (a world-leader in hospitality collections with establishments ranging from restaurants, such as Kayne Prime, to nightlife). Virago is known mostly for their specialty sushi rolls, although being a local hot spot would be how others described it. It’s location in the trendy neighborhood of The Gulch automatically makes it cool, but it’s the modern interior design and young professional crowd that make it the place you want to be on any given weekend night. Be sure to reserve a table for your party well in advance, or you’ll be stuck waiting at the door for at least an hour. Our group went crazy for the rolls known as “the bomb” and “the fire crunch,” and we each ordered specialty cocktails that we couldn’t stop praising (I fell hard for the strawberry baburu). One of the restaurant’s biggest perks is that once you finish dinner, you step outside and are immediately thrown into a social scene of country music wanna-be’s and other industry professionals who are all out to have a good ole’ time.
The second restaurant I have to recommend is Milk and Honey, which, coincidentally, is also located in The Gulch. We dined there for Sunday brunch and were all in agreement that we couldn’t have made a better choice. The restaurant is reminiscent of a modern European bakery, thanks to its simple and clean design. Milk and Honey offers a variety of lattes and coffee, freshly brewed by their baristas, and a selection of baked goods, including cakes and macaroons. The food menu, however, was less European and more “sophisticated Southern comfort food,” which we were all on board for! I had the crispy chicken biscuit and couldn’t get enough of their housemade honey Sriracha sauce that they pair with several of the dishes. I enjoyed this restaurant so much that I’ll definitely make a point to return the next time I’m in town.
Although the pedal tour and our dining options were highlights of the trip, the most exciting aspect was my introduction to a new hotel concept that could easily change the way the travel industry does lodging, Sobro Guest House. The idea is to drive down cost of a stay by doing away with as much personnel as humanly possible. The front desk does not exist at Sobro, so there’s no receptionist or concierge. But in this time when smart phones serve as our lifelines for pretty much everything, we really don’t need that staff to ensure a pleasant stay. Once your room is available for check-in—ours was ready around 3 p.m.—the guest who’s phone number is connected to the reservation will receive a text message with the room number, a code to get in the front door and a code to get in the actual room. From there, it was simple getting in and out of the building. Each room is decorated a little differently, but all are contemporary and worthy of a photo. Nightly rates start at $259 a night and you can extend your stay for up to a month. The room came with the basics that most hotel rooms have, and there were courtesy phones located in the hallway to use if you needed to contact a representative of the hotel. The next morning, we simply gathered our things and departed before 11 a.m. Not long after we received another text thanking us for our stay and giving the us option to store our luggage if we needed to. Our experience was so good that I’m eager to find more options like this hotel as I plan my trips for the year. It really could be the lodging choice of the future.
Megan Pinckney (@shadesofpinck) is a retired beauty queen turned lifestyle blogger who loves exploring the world and writing about it.