2018-19 Winter Break: Day 20 Nashville

Day 20. Nashville: Arnold’s Country Kitchen. Legend’s Corner. Tootsies Orchid Lounge. Rippy’s Bar & Grill. WannaB’s Karaoke Bar. Mellow Mushroom. Waffle House. [Nashville Downtown Hostel]

Last night I stayed up past 5 am, and some of my roommates came in after 4 am, so naturally, it was a sleep-in day for all of us.

Food 1

Getting up around noon, we decided to go for lunch together. At 1 pm, we left the hostel and walked 30 minutes to Arnold’s Country Kitchen, the one I had wanted to try two days ago. It was a cafeteria style diner with traditional southern food. Nothing too fancy, but a very homey atmosphere.

We got in line for lunch. I ordered baked chicken with stewed vegetables and mac & cheese ($9.53 excluding tax & tips), banana pudding ($3.00 excluding tax & tips), and a lemonade ($2.00 excluding tax & tips); able to refill with other beverages). Despite the rather shabby appearance of the food, they were in fact very good, with all the seasonings and textures at the right place. As the last banana pudding I had, the one here wasn’t really that interesting, and I probably had enough banana puddings for a lifetime now. Arnold’s wasn’t as sweet, but that may be because the serving was smaller, and I didn’t realise it was just as sweet anyway.

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Drink 1

After lunch, we hit our first bar: Legend’s Corner. Inside, the wall is covered with record sleeves, posters, and autographed guitars. As it was just 3 pm, Legend’s Corner wasn’t busy, and we were one of the few customers. I ordered my first alcoholic drink of the day, a Nashville brunch ($9.00 excluding tips; hangar 1 rosé vodka, soda water, splash of OJ, lemon garnish). It was somewhat less fruity as I had expected. We didn’t stay long, and slipped out through the back door even before 4 pm.

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Drink 2 & 3

The next stop was Tootsies Orchid Lounge next door. Some of my friends met this guitarist Alex the other day, and he was playing at Tootsies now. We went up the staircase in search of him, and settled down at the bar he was playing at. I got a Honey do Broadway ($10.00 excluding tips; Jack Daniel’s Tennessee honey, triple sec, sour, sprite) and we all sat at a table right in front of the stage.

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After a few songs, we were still enjoying ourselves, and kept ordering. Beach bride ($9.00 excluding tips; beach whiskey island coconut, pineapple juice) was next, and the flavour was too thick for me with a far stronger coconut taste than I thought. Still, it was a nice drink with nice music. Alex wasn’t getting off until 6 pm, and we decided to leave for the time being a little before 5 pm, hoping to catch a post-sunset view of the city.

Food 2

I was a bit tipsy by now, having drunk 3 cocktails in a 90-minute timespan, as we walked to Shelby Street pedestrian bridge to enjoy the scenery. We fooled around for a bit and took some pictures of both the city and each other. It was chilly on the bridge, or maybe that was just from having too much drink.

Being drunk meant that I talked more, and I was whining about feeling cold yet craving ice cream. A nearby ice cream parlour Mike’s Ice Cream is famous, so there we went. I guess it was cold so there weren’t anyone in the shop. After looking through the selection of flavours, I got cookies & cream and raspberry white chocolate cheesecake ($4.80 excluding taxes & tips; 2 half scoops). Both were really creamy and good, and the raspberry flavour really had little blocks of cheesecake bread thing in it. We enjoyed our orders and went back to the hostel for a quick rest.

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Drink 4–6 & Food 3

In truth, we never got that rest, as we immediately left for Tootsies again. Alex just got off, and we hung for a bit at the backdoor of the bar. Soon after, we left for Rippy’s Bar & Grill in hopes of getting dinner.

Not yet hungry, I got a Haps & Harry’s Original ($7.00 excluding tips; Tennessee lager), one I had wanted two days ago at Martin’s but they ran out. I mostly like lager, so it was good. The band on stage recognised Alex, so he got called on stage to perform a few songs with them. Poor thing. Couldn’t even rest while off duty.

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After my beer, I got Angry Orchard (hard cider), which basically tasted like apple juice, and was a good alternative to getting more beer in my opinion. The woman singing on stage, Rachael Blount, was pretty good, and at one point, she started belting out Lady Gaga’s ‘Shallow’ with a complete stranger. It was very entertaining to watch indeed.

For all the time we were at Rippy’s, we sat on the second floor. Alex had another gig on the first floor at 10 pm, so we went downstairs to see him. It was then that I realised I had yet to have some dinner. I ordered a jr. cheeseburger ($7.50 excluding tax & tips). It was nice, and I hadn’t had fries in a while, so it was a bit exciting. I don’t usually order fries but they came together.

Next to our table sat 3 guys. We chatted for a bit, and then they asked us to dance. So we went swaying around in the bar, and as a person who had nearly never danced before, it was very awkward but also somewhat fun at the same time.

After a while, we ordered Jell-O shots ($3.00 per Jell-O, excluding tips). They were exactly what they sounded like: alcoholic Jell-Os. It was hard to down it as a shot because Jell-Os are quite sticky, but it was an interesting thing to try.

Drink 7

It was the last night in Nashville for most of us, so we decided to see more of the city before Alex would be off again at 2 am. Around midnight, we went to WannaB’s Karaoke Bar, one of the few places on Broadway that doesn’t card upon entry at night. As the name suggests, it is a karaoke bar. Because Nashville is a city where people go to for honky tonks, and a karaoke bar doesn’t exactly provide nice live music, it was quite deserted.

I got a margarita ($10.00 excluding tips), and I think it is still my current favourite cocktail. Nothing wrong being old-schooled. We sat in the empty bar for a bit, and then decided to get some excitement on stage. The tough part was to decide on a song to sing, and in the end, it was the classic ‘A Whole New World’ from Disney’s Aladdin. We probably didn’t slay it, but it was really fun.

Drink 8

Before heading back to Rippy’s, we passed by a honky tonk that seemed to have no bouncer at the door, so we decided to check it out. It was 1 am when we got into Mellow Mushroom. I ordered a Nashville Hot Rita ($10.00? excluding tips; ole smoky mango habanero, whiskey, ole smoky moonshine, sour mix), and it was spicy. If it weren’t for the spicy thing, it would’ve been really good. I also got to taste a bit of their Sunset in Paradise (bacardi, crushed pineapple, house-made sour, monin coconut, pomegranate syrup), and it was delicious.

Food 4

We spent a couple more minutes in Rippy’s right before Alex finished his gig. Then we went outside and started having fun doing a lot of nonsense such as piggyback riding while waiting for him.

It was 3 am when we all piled into his car, and zoomed off to Waffle House. I ordered a waffle ($3.30 excluding tax & tips) and orange juice ($1.90 excluding tax & tips) as usual, and we all chatted and enjoyed our last meal together.

Summary

When we got back to our hostel, it was finally the sad time to say goodbye, even more so for my friends who were a lot closer with Alex. I went back earlier than some, took a shower, and started doing my laundry as well as spending the last moment with some friends.

Nashville was extraordinary 100% because of the people I met there. We should travel together again. Everything was so much fun! #babalas