Nashville, TN

I have never been to Nashville before, so this is my first visit. I drafted an agenda to visit a few spots downtown, but first I wanted to go on a hike. 

Henry Hollow Loop Trail is just half an hour from downtown and is a short 2.5 mile trail. It was very peaceful and quiet until the last mile when more people started to arrive.

The first mile goes along the stream. Although the water was very shallow for the most part, the sound it made was tranquil.

As in Kentucky, nature is just waking up here from a long winter nap.

Little sweet Betsy is the name of this plant that is lonesome in the middle of the sleeping woods. 

The hike took about an hour, so after a brief drop off of my recycling at the local facility (the city where my Airbnb is located does not recycle, so I have to collect it and bring elsewhere), I headed downtown.

Parking, while not difficult, is not cheap. Nashville has quite a few lots. When you arrive, you scan the QR code bringing you to a webpage where you register your car, enter the credit card number (one time set up) and have access to the rates. When you drive out, it supposed to register the time and charge you based on the appropriate rates. In one parking lot it worked, but in the other one when I drove out, the system still had me parked there for another half an hour. Luckily, when you click the contact option, there is a choice to state the issue ("I drove out") and it resolves it (in my case for 30 min it did not charge me anything). Not a flawless system, but I see the convenience of it. The rates go from $5 an hour to $25-50 for the day. There are parking meters, but they somehow take coins only (that's how I got rid of my heavy dimes!).

I parked on the street downtown, had an amazing $6 cup of oat milk cappuccino at Crema Coffee Roasters and to check out John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge.

On the way to the bridge I passed dozens of tractor-driven buses filled with drunk females partying at 11 am in the morning wearing pink hats. I also saw a bunch of "brides-to-be" as Nashville is considered one of those places where you want to have a bachelorette party. Bars with live music had open doors and windows and were filled with people. This was a sight to see!

The bridge offered fantastic views of the city, even in this gloomy weather.

My meter was expiring, and I had no more coins left (imagine putting $2.25 an hour in dimes?). I decided I had enough of this downtown experience (do people live there?) and headed to a more peaceful part of the town exploring a few grocery stores. Unfortunately, they did not impress me one bit. A "health" food store lacked healthy items or variety, for that matter, and charged California prices on everything. I bought a few cans of kombucha which turned out to be with hemp oil later, and stopped by Alexey's Market where I bought a couple of things including sunflower seeds and some pastry. The owner is from Ukraine, so we exchanged a few words about the devastation of the war. 

I also visited an Asian store, but was disappointed with its variety, although it was a large store. I later went to Trader Joes to buy some missing items on my list and a book store, well, just to smell the books, before heading home.

It was a good first trip. Next week I am planning to return for the Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival!