I'm on my way to Tennessee and I just can't wait. I've never been to Tennessee but I'm sure I'll find something to keep my busy. (wink wink)

I'm cheating on this trip

I've been a Pescetarian for the last 2 years and I enjoy the lifestyle. Sometimes it's not easy and I have to eat the same excate foods over and over again. Lately I've been spicing things up and trying out new recipes, that I always share with all of you, but on this trip I'm going to eat a little meat. No pork products shall touch my lips, but chicken and beef will find there way into my belly these next 10 days. I can't go all the way to Tennessee and not partake in their famous bbq and hot chicken.

Even though I plan on eatting some meat, I know its unrealistic to try to have more then a few bites. Since my stomach has gotten used to not processing meat products, I know it will cause me some discomfort to endulge, but thats not going to stop me. I'm still plowing full steam ahead on my meat mission. I'm also on the look out for sides. Sometimes sides are the best part of a BBQ dinner, macroini and cheese, corn bread, baked beans, green beans, potato salad, dinner rolls, and oh so much more. I'm pretty sure i'll be filling up on these tasty sides while enjoying a few bites of brisket and hot chicken.

What to do in Nashville Tennessee

Not only am I planing on eating to my little hearts content, but I also want to check out the Nashville sence. Here are some of there main attractions.

The Grand Ole Opry

The Country Music Hall of Fame

http://countrymusichalloffame.org/

Randor Lake

http://radnorlake.org/

The 1,200+ acre natural perserve lies in the heart of Nashville, unusual for a major American city. Four unpaved trails wander through the woods surrounding the lake, where hikers enjoy wilderness including river otters, beavers, mink, muskrat, bobcat, coyote and white-tailed deer.

The Upper Room Chapel

http://www.upperroom.org/

Music Row

http://www.musicrow.com/

Music Row is an area southwest of Downtown Nashville that is home ot hundreds of businessess related to the country music, gospel music, and contempoary christain music industries. It is centered around 16th and 17th avenues south (called music square east and music square west, respectively, withing the music row area) along with several side streets musci row is widely considered the heart of Nashville's entertainment industry.

Lets Talk

Top 5 Restaurants

in Nashville

According to Nashville Lifestyle

http://www.nashvillelifestyles.com

Aronld's Country Kitchen

Were you expecting something more refined? A tasting menu, perhaps? When considering the restaurant that best exemplifies this city’s current dining scene, and one that we all hands-down love, Arnold’s simply nails it. The cafeteria-style, steam-table meat-and-three has been doing for more than 30 years what many today only attempt to get right: a fully from-scratch menu made with fresh, local ingredients, and a love for the customers that you just can’t fake. Owners Jack and Rose Arnold are still dining-room staples but their second son Kahlil now runs the kitchen, carrying on the family tradition by putting out soulful, country fare like the café’s sliced roast beef, slabs of meatloaf, long-simmered collard greens, home-made yeast rolls, candied yams, and those world-famous fried green tomatoes. What’s more, it draws fans from every corner of the city and beyond, who all stand patiently in line and wait their turn for a heaping scoopful of turnip greens and a pass at that legendary hot chocolate pie.605 8th Ave, S.; 615-256-4455

The Catbird Seat

 

No mere restaurant, The Catbird Seat is an experience. And as enamored as we all are by the 32 seats, stage-like kitchen, and culinary wizardry put on by chefs Josh Habiger and Erik Anderson, that experience happens to be one of the hardest to come by in this town—and admittedly isn’t for everyone. Dining at The Catbird is for those who appreciate inventive haute cuisine and can accept a playful intensity and twists on familiar taste sensations. It’s a place to give up complete control (including any aversions to certain foods since they rarely allow substitutions) and spend three to four hours savoring a jaw-dropping array of seven to 11 courses and the liquid pairings that go with them (alcoholic or otherwise). It is a place to get lost in the food, the guys’ charmingly sweet hospitality, and a killer soundtrack. If this sounds like you (and even if you’re not sure but want to try), then stalk the reservation system and keep your fingers crossed for a finale that involves bourbon balls.
1711 Division St., 615-810-8200; thecatbirdseatrestaurant.com

Etch

 

If we were ranking Nashville’s best new restaurants, Etch would easily crack the No. 1 spot. The return of chef Deb Paquette has netted our city a sharp, ethnically diverse menu inspired by the Mediterranean, Asia and the spices of North African as well as a modern downtown dining room that echoes the evolution and change happening on the city blocks directly around it. Paquette creates powerful, spice-fueled flavor combinations and turns standard ingredients (roasted cauliflower; hot dogs) into best-dish-you’ve-ever-eaten cravings. Across the board, we are fans of that big, open kitchen, especially since being perched on a seat there gives full view of Paquette’s beloved plancha, rows of microgreens supplied by CC Gardens Microgreens, and a peek at the ever-calm presence of a Nashville stalwart with her head down and hard at work.
303 Demonbreun St., 615-522-0685; etchrestaurant.com

F Scott's Restaurants and Jazz Bar

 

One of the city’s first independent, chef-driven restaurants opened more than 25 years ago but since landing under the ownership of Wendy Burch and Elise Loehr has continually impressed diners with its locally inspired fare. The room might not be the sexiest in town but as one expert justified it: That doesn’t matter because every chef they’ve brought in has done better than the last. Kevin Ramquist, now at the helm, pulls regularly from a host of hero farmers while beverage director Loehr draws superb pairings from the restaurant’s 2000-plus-bottle cellar. And no one in the city offers a better dining deal than the “Nine Dine” during which almost the entire menu (with the exception of a few beef dishes) is half price in the dining room after 9 p.m.

2210 Crestmoor Rd., 615-269-5861; fscotts.com

The Capitol Grille

While the subterranean dining room fits just fine for special occasions, we’re all headed to the bar where chef Tyler Brown’s polished-yet-down-home Southern dishes can be eaten alongside the restaurant’s stellar collection of rare bourbons. Brown is a disciple of the whole animal, farm-to-table movement—more so than most since he spearheaded a partnership with the nearby Farm at Glen Leven as well as the hotel’s recent purchase of the 245-acre Double H Farm in Dickson County to ensure sustainably raised beef and produce. It’s that dedication and respect to food and land that brings us back to his table time and again.

The Hermitage Hotel, 231 6th Ave. N., 615-345-7116; capitolgrillenashville.com

Thats all folks

Type to you tomorrow

Blessings

Mary

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