I have become a fan of short trips.  These long trips we take with the family end up being lots of work for me.  Not much of a break if I’m doing all the work, packing, laundry, cooking….. you name it.  So when I had lunch with Paula and Alex (to celebrate Alex’s 17th birthday) us girls decided a girly road trip up to Nashville was in order. This way Alex could look at Vanderbilt University and see if it appealed to her as she heads into the college selection time of her life!  All she wanted to do was see the campus, walk around and see the lay out of the school…hey I can walk and since I’ve been around Vandy for years, I can show her the basic layout of the campus (it’s not complicated).  She did not want an official tour or to meet with admissions yet so this was a perfect quick trip for the three of us!  Walk, eat, giggle, have fun…yep I’m all about those things so we found two free days and headed up the road for a quickie!

Paula drove the “Princess” van and we had such a good time chit chatting on the drive up.  We ran into NO traffic in Chattanooga (miracle) nor Nashville.  We stayed at the Vanderbilt Marriott, which is located very near the campus.  We got checked in and headed out on our walking tour.  We had arrived at 3:30 (CT) and we walked nearly 2 hrs.  The only thing we didn’t plan on was the heat wave hitting Nashville that day!  OMGoodness, it was a scorcher.  Later that evening we were told it had gotten up to 105°… yikes!  

Well we survived the heat, got back and cooled off   and went out to an early dinner at BB King’s Blues Club.  Had some surprisingly good Cajun food and got to hear a really good blues band. We walked around downtown,  something I had never done, nope, not something my Nashville family was ever interested in doing, too touristy!!

Here we are on stage at BB King’s…..

…..and waiting for the shuttle bus back to the hotel after our country music stroll…
The next morning, Alex and I went for a run from the hotel through Centennial Park.  We had a really good time and she was so fun to run with.  Wish my kids would jog with me! 

We got back and headed out to the Pancake Pantry for breakfast. We always recommend this place for breakfast as we’ve been going there for years.  It’s a King tradition. Looks like it will be a Jones tradition too the next time they visit Nashville!   Some of the best bacon in the south!  And the pancakes are to die for! Here’s Paula’s selection….


Paula’s food truly looked beautiful when it arrived.  But I was proud of my low fat breakfast with my sugar free pancake syrup that Paula thought was awful and uninspiring……I can live “healthy” with that!! 
We went to a neat vintage shop and bought a few things.  Paula is now the proud owner of a delightful 1960’s hat that is truly precious on her!  Since I thought she looked like a cupcake, we decided a trip to Gigi’s cupcakes was in order.  Does she look like a lemon cupcake or what! Cute as a button…..
We checked out the Parthenon in Centennial Park.  Here are my girls in front.     
Paula snapped this photo which is my absolute favorite photo from our girly road  trip.  Alex is smiling and it reminds me of our run around the Parthenon that morning!  I know I will treasure this photo. I  Love it so much!! 

We headed home after a brief visit at The Hermitage where I was a docent oh so many years ago.  Paula and I decided we needed a Starbucks when we got near Chattanooga.  Well, her Garmin GPS decided we were only 4 miles from one so we got off the interstate and followed that thing all the way up Lookout Mountain!  It took us to Rock City for Pete’s sake.  How could that be the closest one in all of Chattanooga!   
One last photo in Rock City then it was home to Hot-lanta!! What a blast.  I think more girly road trips are in our future for sure.  I don’t think I’ve smiled as much as I did on this trip in a long time!   Love my girls!