The next stop on our road trip was Nashville. It took around five and a half hours to drive there although we drove in and out of 2 different time zones and through 4 states so all of the times on our phones kept changing...who knows really how long it took. We stopped at White Castle for lunch...the girls wanted to make sure we had that real mid-western experience, but we were kind of gutted when we found out they were out of veggie burgers...fish burgers and cheese fries it was. I drove the majority of the journey to Nashville and we didn't die, it was a little strange, but I only grabbed at the window to reach for the gear stick once so I am taking that as success.
Our air bnb in Nashville was our own little apartment and it was adorable, just enough space for the 4 of us to comfortably hang out, it was a shame that we weren't staying an longer. We headed to The Hop Stop which was a bar specialising in local beers...I am not a fan of beer so I wasn't too bothered that I am not drinking alcohol on this trip. I ordered my first ever hot dog...vegetarian of course and Chicago style (even though we were in Nashville)...and you know what, it was pretty damn good. Seeing as we hadn't had our daily sugar dose of the day we headed to Jeni's, an ice cream parlour not too far away from where we were staying that a friend of Sydney's had recommended. I am not 100% sure what I ordered but I know that it included brown butter almond brittle ice cream and it was sugary and so so tasty - definitely recommend.
After some rest we were ready for our only full day in Nashville and to be quite honest none of us really knew what we wanted to do. Everything sounded pretty touristy or involved a lot of alcohol and so we just decided to take the day as it came. The only thing that Ryan really wanted to try was some Nashville hot chicken, there were so many places that sold this staple dish but yet again we listened to the food gods of the TV world, this time in the form of Adam Richmond. Now usually I would take anything this man says as gold...however this experience was slightly different.
We went to Princes Hot Chicken Shack, clearly a local favourite as we got there at noon when it opened and the place was already full of people waiting on their orders. The only thing on the menu for me were chips, so chips and ranch dressing it was...I didn't mind, a light-ish lunch. We ordered and sat down, we then waited an hour and a half for our food which if it is some crazy good chicken I guess it might be worth the wait but I was just waiting on chips and I was hungry. It was then that we realised that no one else in the restaurant was eating, everyone was getting orders to take away, maybe they have to prioritise those. Liz had ordered mild chicken strips and Sydney and Ryan both ordered medium chicken (wings or a quarter of a chicken...I don't remember) We were all relieved when the food arrived, but seconds after chowing down on some chicken was when the sweating kicked in. Liz instantly put the chicken down and claimed defeat, she would also just be eating chips and the pickles we had forgotten about. Sydney and Ryan powered through for a while, trying to figure out if the pain would go away and the heat would become enjoyable.
They were both sweating inside out and looked ridiculously uncomfortable...neither of them finished their chicken or the spicy soaked bread that lay underneath it. Instead they downed some sugary juice, ate some pecan pie and then we were out on the hunt for frozen yogurt or something to cool them down...not to mention the air conditioning sucked in that place so even though I wasn't eating hot chicken I was still uncomfortably sweaty. We decided that must have been the reason everyone ordered take out, no one could handle being seen eating that in public, it looked fricken painful. It was also questionable as to what spice level they had, they had both ordered medium (on a menu that went from mild to XXX hot) but everyone was having trouble understanding anything Ryan said so who knows. After re-watching the Nashville episode of Man V Food that featured this restaurant, Adam Richmond never ate any of the chicken or said it was incredible himself...instead we had listened to some woman, a mere stranger, tell us that it was a miracle...guys I think Sydney, Ryan and Liz would agree its a miracle they all survived.
We drove for a little while until we came across a place that sold Sno Cones. For me the mango and peach snow cone was a delicious and refreshing afternoon snack but for everyone else it was essential to the relief of their insides...I couldn't be happier about not eating animals. There was a mini golf course next door and so we decided we would have a chilled game of mini golf. It was incredibly hot and by the time we finished we were all feeling a little sick, most likely dehydration, we got ourselves some water and played some arcade games before driving into downtown Nashville for a look around.
We walked along Broadway, every bar had live music and although it was still pretty early everyone was drinking, dancing and singing along. Sydney didn't manage to eat anything else for the rest of the day, the hot chicken had really messed with her stomach, but all I had eaten was chips and pickles so I was ready for some food. We found a bar in downtown Nashville (one that managed to let under 21's in even though it was 6pm) we listened to a live band and I ate some quesadillas. After a little more of a walk we stopped at this pretty incredible sweet shop and picked up some toffee pecan popcorn for a movie night.
I imagine that Nashville is a great place to visit if you are on a hen night/stag do/bachelor /bachelorette party or if you are over 21 and want to get smashed with your friends...unfortunately that wasn't really what we were looking for. Thanks Nashville for the HCI (hot chicken incident), the live music and some great laughs...maybe some other time.
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