After finally packing (that is al that Brian and I took!!) we finally hit the road.

We made a quick pit-stop for dinner at O’Charley’s.  It was kind of nostalgic for me to be there because I used to work at an O’Charley’s (or O’Chux as we called it) in Fort Wayne and by Butler for most of college.

We got all spruced up once we arrived in Nashville and decided to hit the town, which was literally right outside of our hotel!

There were musicians of all kinds everywhere! (The one above was a rapper and the one below was country!)

I found my cowboy boots!

There were also a TON of Elvis statues everywhere, they were even on some rooftops.

After a fun night we all headed to bed.  For some reason, I am usually able to wake up super early…always.  The next morning wasn’t any different.  I woke up way before everyone else, giving myself time to workout, shower, eat breakfast and explore Nashville a little on my own 🙂

Once everyone was ready, we all headed to a little, cute restaurant called Diana’s.  It was old-fashioned looking and had hand scooped ice cream, fudge, and delicious food.

I got a veggie sandwich on whole wheat bread with field greens tossed with vinegar on the side.  The sandwich had hummus, cucumber, tomato, red onion and roasted red pepper…it tasted amazing!

They had the world’s only self-playing violin that asked for a quarter in order to make it work.  I found a quarter in my wallet so that we could try it out…and it ate my quarter 🙁

But we made up for it by trying Caitlin and Kegan’s chocolate strawberry milkshake…deelish.

We then just wandered around Nashville, and realized that it literally has everything.  Balloon makers on the street:

A Charlie Daniel’s Band Museum:

On the way down, we all did our impersonation of the Charlie Daniel’s Band “Devil Went Down to Georgia” so we had to stop in to see what the museum had to offer!

Nashville is just such a cute little town.

We then headed back to the room to get ready for the reason we were in Nashville to begin with…the wedding!

Because we were all from out of town the bride and groom got a shuttle for us to the ceremony and the reception!

The ceremony was heartfelt and beautiful.  We then headed to the reception which was in a carriage house at a plantation.  The decorations and atmosphere were amazing.

The food was Southern and delicious!  I think my favorite part was the shrimp and gouda gritz because it was so unique and so tasty!  They had a couple of other interactive food stations with cold vegetable salads and cornbread, meat, roasted vegetables, and salad.  It was all wonderful!

After dinner, we all got to dancing to the live band and didn’t stop once…it was a blast!!

The bride and groom (Mr. and Mrs. Mull) drove away at the end of the reception in an old fashioned car while the band played “Oh When the Saints.”  It was the perfect ending to their special day.

One of our friends has been in Germany for the past year, and we were literally driving through her hometown on our way home…so we surprised her for lunch!! She had no idea, and it was so great to see her 🙂

Lunch was great too!  Turkey burgers, homegrown corn on the cob, caprese salad, and green beans…all delish!

The gang:

It feels good to be back home, and now I have to prepare for the week…there will be a lot of driving back and forth to Fort Wayne this week.

Hope you all had a great weekend!