Chilly air and cloudy skies cannot dampen the atmosphere in Nashville. While many people were grabbing Black Friday deals at the stores, Russ and I took advantage of having family “puppy-sit” Abbey and Billie and we set off to explore.

We started off on 4th street and initially planned on visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame. We got a bit distracted as we hit South Broadway as music flowing from each establishment lured us into store after store. I believe Russ was thankful that we live in our Little Guy Max with our limited space or we would have been walking home with armloads of shopping bags! Even window shopping can be exhausting and we quickly  worked up an appetite. We came upon Jason Aldean’s Kitchen and Rooftop Bar and had lunch. Russ learned to never walk away before giving his drink order 😉

South Broadway at night is like a cowboy’s Vegas. Flashing lights, music and crowds galore. We met up with my sister and her husband for dinner at Rodizio Brazilian Steakhouse. They had all been here before, but it was my first time. Upon arrival, we were given a wooden stick with a green block on one end and a red block on the other and instructed to set it with the green block up to keep the servers coming, the red block up to take a break and to lie it on its side when you are ready for the check. With the “meat faucet” set to green, about every 2 minutes server after server approached our table with a different type of expertly prepared steak, chicken, ham, pork, or fish. They shave it off a giant skewer right at your table. There are side dishes available at a buffet station – but I never made it that far. I did, however, save room for dessert (priorities!!!). The chocolate cake was heavenly….

We could not go to Nashville without seeking out Antique Archaeology. I am guilty of bingeing American Pickers from time to time. It’s located in a really cool building with a lot of shops. There is limited paid parking across the street but the downtown trolleys also stop there. We walked by the storefront at first, as did a bunch of other people as we all wound up wandering around the interior of the Marathon building. Access to Antique Archaeology is from the exterior but it is easy to miss. If you go, it is located right next door to Bang Candy Co (which makes amazing peanut butter fudge, by the way). Inside Antique Archaeology, we saw many items that we have seen on the tv shows. They have a lot of merchandise such as mugs, tshirts, hats, etc with their logo on it for sale as well.

The highlight of the week though was Thanksgiving. Russ and I have spent many years far away from family during the holidays so it was extra special to be here. A full house, lots of food and we even had sunshine – what more can you ask for!

Until next week –

Kerry