Adventures In Music City (My 2015 Roadtrip To Nashville)

Photo by Kortney Musselman - @kmusselmanphoto

It was a dream come true! Six years ago, in November two girlfriends and I went on a fun road trip to Nashville Tennessee. Since the beginning of my teen years, I fell in love with country music. The human way of storytelling expressed through good writing, powerful vocals and beautiful instruments made me feel at home. I adopted saying, “ya’ll,” to people, stayed up late to watch the CMAs and ACMs (the two big country music award shows) every year, and dreamt of one day visiting Music City.

So, when my good friend Tara asked me and our friend Lindsey M if we would be interested in going to Nashville, Tennessee on a fun girls’ road trip, it was a no brainer response from me. Thankfully, we were able to get the time off from work and Lindsey was free to travel with us too. Being single and free in our 30s made it easier for us to pack and hit the road. We stayed at the condo in Murfreesboro of a friend of Tara’s. He was gracious to lend us his home all to ourselves and stayed elsewhere so we would be most comfortable. We drove the long 12 hours to Murfreesboro, which made our daily 40 minutes drive from Murfreesboro to the big city of Nashville seem breezy. I loved watching us enter Nashville every morning. The buildings became a familiar and happy sight each time, welcoming us like they do to countless tourists all the time.

Photo by Chad Morehead - @jwrm2020

Something that I enjoy about trips are the fun habits you create. We quickly established routines such as getting up every morning and going to the lovely lounge building where I would have my quiet time with God, we would check our emails/messages, have a tea and go over our plans for the day. One morning I got an excited message from my friend Andrea that she had gotten a new role at the place we worked at. I was happy for her. Dreams were happening all around and being in Tennessee made it seem like all things were possible! Then, we would go back to grab our things at the condo and Lindsey would make us delicious and healthy smoothies to start our day right.

Some of my highlights of our trip were:

• Going to the famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville to watch live performances our first evening there. er

• The self tour we took of at The Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. It was green and lush with many plants and water inside the hotel, making it refreshing to be there and there being lots to see.

• Going to Music Row a few nights to see live music. We didn’t get drinks or food. We literally just wanted to listen to the raw talent that Nashville boasts of. We would wear our cowgirl hats, put on cute outfits and head on out. We heard some amazing music. I constantly wondered, “I wonder if this person will get a record deal?"

• Looking at quality and beautiful (and expensive boots) at different stores. They sell cowboy boots everywhere in Nashville (obviously).

• Going to a big park in Murfreesboro.

• Eating at a delicious hole in the wall Mexican restaurant in Nashville.

• Attending a really cool church located in a warehouse called The Experience Community in Murfreesboro. It was beautifully decorated, but more importantly it was solid in its teaching of the Word of God. I’m always moved when I worship Jesus with other believers in other parts of the world.

• Spending a whole day by myself in downtown Nashville, visiting The Tennessee State Museum in the morning and the Country Music Hall of Fame in the afternoon. Lindsey and Tara enjoyed a long hike that day.

• The day the three of us spending a morning in the quaint downtown of Brentwood, Tennessee.

• Stumbling across a Christmas market in Brentwood where I drank the most expensive cup of Eggnog in my life ($7 American!). It was however the best Eggnog I have ever had to this day.

Photo by Jon Tyson - @jontyson

It was an unforgettable trip. The colourful fall leaves felt like a metaphor for our colourful time while we were there. There was drama with the girlfriend of the guy whose home we were staying at (not drama we created but rather were blinded by), miscommunications with him (mostly him failing to communicate things to us, haha), different expectations amongst us at the beginning of what we wanted out of our trip. Thankfully, we figured that out. There was also tons of laughter, so much good food, fun shopping, wonderful sightseeing, amazing music and great conversations. It is a trip I will treasure for the rest of my life. I'm so thankful I went with Tara and Lindsey. We had an absolute blast!

Our adventure of course couldn’t end on a dull note. No way! We drove back in a snowstorm and ended up deciding to sleep in a hotel overnight. We were exhausted, especially poor Tara who was our driver and had been navigating icy roads. We shared a huge bed that night and felt so much better the next day. Our time together ended with a new season unfolding before our eyes.

Fast forward to 2021 and my heart longs for days of travel and to relieve those precious days I spent in November of 2015 in one of my dream cities with two dear friends. That teenage girl who loved country music and longed to roam the streets of Music City got her wish, 15 years later. One day, I hope to go back to Nashville so I can sit in the audience of The Bluebird Cafe, soak up the gift of music and dream some more.

Photo by Israel Palacio

Never stop dreaming because dreams really can come true!

Your wide eyed girl,

Raquel