Travel - Nashville in Springtime
April in Nashville is lovely! I spent a couple of sweet days with my youngest daughter in our state capital, now, her home. Take a gander at what we got up to during out mom/daughter weekend.
When I arrived at Lizzy’s, we went to a local Thai restaurant, The Smiling Elephant, for dinner. Go. There. The pad Thai was delicious! We spent the evening catching up and watching “A Complete Unknown” for our movie night. The next day, we hopped over to East Nashville for some yummy food.
but first, brunch
Saturday morning, we enjoyed a delicious brunch at East Nashville’s, Audrey. This petite, yet scrumptious take on an omelet, arrived at my place setting in a piping hot cast iron skillet.
get the hash browns!
I ordered a side of hash browns, which was a trio of crunchy potato goodness. I believe they cook them with cornmeal, making them extra southern.
cheers!
I had a delightful mimosa to celebrate our togetherness. We were also joined by Lizzy’s boyfriend, Scott, for our first time at this cozy eatery.
inspired
If you go their website, you’ll read about the inspiration for this restaurant. This quilt and the logs are in the entryway to the establishment.
full bellies
We liked our experience here. A heads up…it’s a bit hard to find, even though our directions took us right to the street. It’s located in a separate, black-painted building but there is no obvious signage. This is the tiny sign for the restaurant on the side of the building, kind of tucked away in a sort of courtyard. There is a small parking lot at the restaurant and street parking surrounding the building.
Lizzy and Scott ordered the eggs benedict and liked it. Lizzy also had an espresso martini and approved. The service was very good, and the chef/owner gave us a friendly “thanks for coming in and have a great day!” as we got up to leave our table. The kitchen is open to the dining area, which I like. It has a casual, open, slightly rustic and industrial vibe with comfy velvet booths and dried flowers hanging from the ceiling.
We felt nourished to go on to our next activity….Cheekwood.
Cheekwood
Cheekwood was still showing off its beautiful tulips! As the sky hints, a strong storm was approaching, so if we had visited just a day later, we would have missed them.
I was trying to blend in with the flowers.
lovely Lizzy
It was a warm April day with a little sun and clouds but no rain…..yet.
Japanese Garden
This section of the gardens was so peaceful and gorgeous.
I do love some bamboo.
Japanese Maple
I loved this little tree! The leaves felt like feathers.
happy girls
in the garden
rock garden
Lenten Rose or
Hellebore
Daffodil
I loved this frilly one.
Although some of the daffodils had faded, there were still plenty to be found.
I loved this plaque. The colors of nature mentioned here, are some of my favorites indoors and out. What a peaceful, pretty image it brings to mind of God’s creation.
Bearded Iris
This pretty purple beauty is our Tennessee state flower. When I was growing up, we had purple, yellow and white irises along our driveway. I can still smell them when I close my eyes.
The bluebells were still in bloom.
We loved walking along the boardwalk and paths through the woods. These ginormous sphere sculptures are made of granite and marble.
As mentioned above, the weather was about to take a turn. We were truly blessed with a window of good weather while wandering through Cheekwood. About twenty minutes after we arrived back at Lizzy’s apartment, the skies opened and we were under a tornado warning. We were safe in her bathroom, getting ready for the opera (we hoped was still on). We kept an eye and ear on the storm until it subsided and all was well and we set out for TPAC.
very relieved we didn’t experience a tornado and were ready for a night out!
Lucia
This was my very first opera and Lizzy’s second (bless her, she had to see her first opera in ITALY). We had great seats and the performers were incredible!
precious time
We had a wonderful weekend together! Lizzy made a delicious breakfast for us the next morning before I had to say “see you soon” and head home.
Thank you, Lizzy, and Nashville, for a fun few days, making new memories I’ll always cherish.