We woke up and worked out in the fitness center before having breakfast and packing everything up. Our first stop was in downtown Memphis, where Arielle was beyond ecstatic to attend the twice-daily duck march, where a bunch of ducks come out of the elevator and strut across a red carpet to the fountain in the center of the lobby. Our 11am duck march was attended by a huge crowd which was gathered there well in advance of the event, which lasted only about a minute or two, but Arielle still had a blast!
We got on the road for Nashville, stopping along the way at a Pilot where Abe got a surprisingly tasty vegetarian tomato soup and Arielle made a turkey sandwich with the meat she was still carrying.
We made it to Nashville in the early afternoon, circling for a bit before we found a meter that looked like we could park there. We walked about fifteen minutes to Broadway, where we heard musicians performing and saw many people swarming around. After sampling some pralines and exploring the streets, we walked into Nudie’s Honky Tonk and sat for a while listening to the live music, then walked a few blocks over to Honky Tonk Central to catch a few more songs.
We tried to walk up to a bridge but realized it was too high, so we went back to our car instead. Arguably the best move of our day was to follow the advice of Arielle’s friend, Kevin, who highly recommended a restaurant out of downtown: Mas Tacos. We parked in a neighborhood down the street and walked into the relatively small establishment. Arielle got a quinoa and sweet potato taco and a fish taco, fried plantains, and street corn. Abe got a fried avocado taco, a fish taco, and street corn without all the stuff on it. It was a phenomenal meal, and we got to sit outside, which was beautiful.
We drove to the suburb of Goodlettsville to check in to our hotel, the Wingate, which we were relieved to find proved to be a good choice (it was much less expensive than many neighboring hotels). After relaxing at the hotel for a bit, we went to the Kroger supermarket across the street to get a few food items, then drove back to right near where we had dinner to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams (also recommended by Kevin), which was quite an experience. After sampling many, many flavors, Abe went for one large scoop of darkest chocolate. Arielle went for the three half scoops and a waffle option, choosing salty peanut butter with chocolate flakes, rainbow buttermilk frozen yogurt, and the goat cheese with red cherries. She loved it – Abe’s more basic flavor was very good too!
We returned to the hotel and went to sleep before our last drive for a few days.
Approximate number of miles covered: 225
