TL;DR

• Stay
  • Fairfield Inn and Suites Nashville Near Vanderbilt, 109 29th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37203
    • A very comfortable hotel whose name is spot on – it really is near Vanderbilt. The Parthenon, West End Ave, and the university bookstore are all walkable from this no-frills hotel.
• Eat/Drink
  • McDonald’s (Scottsburg, IN), 1512 W McClain Ave, Scottsburg, IN 47170
    • Read down below for why this place earned a special place in our hearts. We are definitely lovin’ it.
  • Biscuit Love, 132 3rd Avenue South, Franklin, TN 37064
    • The best biscuit joint in and around Nashville. Get the SEC (buttermilk biscuit with sausage, egg and cheddar), bonuts (biscuit donuts), or the East Nasty (basically add a fried chicken thigh to the SEC).
  • Frothy Monkey, 1701 Fatherland St., Nashville, TN 37206
    • The East Nashville outpost of this charming Nashville café turned restaurant might force you to wait – and it will likely be worth it. Get the Andouille & Hash (Local andouille sausage over roasted purple potatoes and wilted collard greens, sautéed onions, topped with Sage Derby cheese and fresh blackberries) and the Country Ham & Pimento Cheese Biscuit (Biscuit with house-made pimento cheese and Broadbent hickory smoked country ham plus an over medium KY Farm Fresh egg).
  • Olive and Sinclair, 1628 Fatherland St, Nashville, TN 37206
    • Try the sea salt chocolate bar but in truth, you really can’t go wrong here.
  • Jimmy Kelly’s Steakhouse, 217 Louise Ave, Nashville, TN 37203
    • If you don’t order a steak and either a red wine or Manhattan here, you can go elsewhere.
  • West End Discount Liquors and Wine, 2818 West End Ave, Nashville, TN 37203
    • Like whiskey or bourbon? Want to bring some home? Stop here!
• See/Do
  • The Parthenon, 2500 West End Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203
    • Take yourself back a few millennia to what the Athenian beauty could have been, had it not been subjected to years of natural elements, war, and other man-made destruction.
  • Shelby Park, Shelby Ave & S 20th St, Nashville, TN 37206
    • Need some outdoor time for the kiddos and you’re in East Nashville? Come here. Plenty of parking and space for them to run around!

Trip Background

Ten years ago (and a bit), I graduated from Vanderbilt University with my MBA and proceeded on my way to becoming a functioning adult (hint: I finally got there). No longer living at home, no more making excuses about not having the education required to do some of the jobs I wanted, etc.

In the years since graduation, I have been a stalwart champion of the Owen Graduate School of Management, serving on its Alumni Board and now as a member of the Emeritus Board. I used to go to Nashville once or twice a year for alumni board meetings or to see old friends, but I hadn’t been here since October 2019. It felt weird to have been gone so long, and with both my ten-year MBA reunion and a new building for my business school giving me two key reasons to visit, we decided to make it a family road trip.

So we packed the family minivan with our gear, stroller, kids, my wife, our nanny Lauren, and me, and we took off for the nearly eight-hour, 462-mile journey.

Day 1 (October 6, 2022)

We left our home around 7:45 AM and intended to be in Nashville by mid-afternoon, but here’s where stops for gas and food (especially to let the kids run around) cut into our transit time. The journey alternated between highway and rural splendor with lush green areas and small country roads.

We stopped at one McDonald’s in Scottsburg, IN (more to come on why this is noteworthy on the return journey), and in spite of our best efforts, we did not reach Nashville until almost 6 PM.

Caitlin and I got the kids and I checked in, changed as quickly as we could, and dashed out the door, leaving Cooper and Clementine with Lauren, and sped off to the mixer that was taking place at the school. When we arrived, I had one of those nostalgic moments where you see something that is supposed to be familiar, and it is – yet it isn’t.

I was part of the alumni board that got to weigh in on the design of Management Hall and despite there being some familiar sights on the windows, the building really is brand new. I spent the next couple of hours reconnecting with friends from years past before we returned to our hotel to put the kids to sleep.

Day 2 (October 7, 2022)

The next morning, we gave Lauren some time off and took the kids down to Franklin, TN to see Caitlin’s family friends Phyllis and Ronnie. I insisted we stop at Biscuit Love, which has emerged over the years as being the best biscuits you’ll find (breakfast OR lunch!). I opted for the SEC this time (buttermilk biscuit with sausage, egg, and cheddar) and we shared the bonuts (biscuit donuts…DO IT) but if you’re really hungry, get the East Nasty (basically add a fried chicken thigh to what I got). The restaurant is actually located in a charming old home that makes it feel like you’re visiting family too!

We brought lunch to Phyllis and Ronnie and spent a couple hours in their expansive backyard, feeding their chickens, playing on the swings, and just reconnecting.

We drove back into Nashville and went on a long walk with Lauren with stops at the Vandy bookstore and the Parthenon, which happened to be hosting an awesome marketplace with all of these charming vendors selling their homemade wares. After buying some souvenirs, we went back to the hotel to clean up before the next Vanderbilt reunion event, which was to be held at the Parthenon as well.

Now some of you might be a bit confused.

“Did you take a side trip to Athens?” you might be asking.

Well, no, I would respond. This replica of the Athenian classic was built in 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition and now serves as a museum, anchored by a 42-foot statue of the goddess Athena. Had time, wars, and natural degradation not worn down the Athens original, this is what it might look like today. Throughout the next couple of hours, I would get to see friends from my class of 2012 and other classes alike. Caitlin and I bonded with one current student and his girlfriend, and it reminded me of the joys of making new connections that had been noticeably absent throughout the pandemic.

Day 3 (October 8, 2022)

One of the people I was most looking to catch up with was my friend Sergi, whom I had befriended during my two years in Nashville. Originally from Andorra by way of Barcelona, Spain, his friendship was a special one as after graduation my sister and I visited him on what would be my first trip to Europe.

We picked him up and drove to east Nashville to meet Caitlin’s friends for breakfast at Frothy Monkey. I enjoyed studying at the Frothy Monkey outpost closer to my house when I was a student, and this place was great for a sunny brunch in their covered outdoor space. I had forgotten why East Nashville is both considered charming and, like Brooklyn, has gotten wildly expensive in the last ten years (a combination of space, proximity to downtown Nashville, and charming homes).

The kids enjoyed their bacon and eggs while the rest of us noshed on Andouille & Hash (Local andouille sausage over roasted purple potatoes and wilted collard greens, sautéed onions, topped with Sage Derby cheese and fresh blackberries) and the Country Ham & Pimento Cheese Biscuit (Biscuit with house-made pimento cheese and Broadbent hickory smoked country ham plus an over medium KY Farm Fresh egg).

After we gorged ourselves, I realized that Olive and Sinclair was just across the street. This is one of the best chocolatiers I’ve ever found, and I remember clearly taking a tour of their production facility years ago. The smell of dark chocolate is smooth and rich and it hits you the moment you open their doors to go inside. You really can’t go wrong here, but try the sea salt chocolate bar.

We knew we needed to get the kids some more outdoor time, so we took them to Shelby Park so they could run around for a while.

We dropped Sergi back off at his hotel and then returned to ours so we could get in a quick nap before the evening’s festivities. Lauren had offered to watch the kids early so Caitlin and I could get in a date night and I decided to take her to Jimmy Kelly’s Steakhouse. I’ve been here several times in my life, for recruiting dinners, for a friend’s birthday, when a friend’s father came into town, and other times just to be classy.

This is the kind of place where the servers have worked here for decades and wear the white jackets you might expect from a higher-end, classy establishment. There’s a section of the restaurant that looks like they put a roof over the former outdoor patio, and we sat there for the evening as our friendly server brought us both delicious food and great energy. You really can’t go wrong with any cut of meat or sides here, and topping it off with a solid red wine makes the evening a fun one.

We proceeded back to the last night of the Owen reunion for more socializing, cocktails, and snacks before walking back to our hotel.

But before we returned, we stopped at West End Discount Liquors and Wine. Now you might be asking, “Why are you mentioning a liquor store on your trip?” Well, because Nashville is in Tennessee, the home of Tennessee whiskey. And although Jack Daniel’s is the famous product from this state, it’s worth browsing to see what other distilled products you can take home (Belle Meade Bourbon or Corsair‘s Triple Smoke are my favorites).

Day 4 (October 9, 2022)

Our final morning began with the kids eating breakfast and Cooper enjoying the variety of cereals available. We packed up the car, ensured we had coffee and water and headed off.

Now remember when I told you about that McDonald’s in Scottsburg, IN? Well here’s why I brought it up.

We had stopped there on the way down because some McDonald’s have big play areas, which makes it super convenient for parents to grab some lunch while the kids run around and slide down big ole slides. What I didn’t notice on that previous stop was that Cooper had apparently engaged with a group of senior citizens. On this second stop, Cooper sat down next to a group of strangers and it turned out that it was the exact same group that Cooper had sat next to when we drove down a few days earlier and they recognized him. Apparently, they are regulars at this McDonald’s, they had told their friends about how charmed they were by this little kid, and the other adults were like, “Oh is this the kid you were talking about?

It just proves you can find wonderful people anywhere you go. After we said goodbye to Cooper’s new friends, we continued on our merry way and headed home.

Final Thoughts

Nashville is the boomtown everyone keeps saying it is. It’s wild to see how much the city has grown in the decade since I lived and studied there. But it still retains a lot of the character that made it such an amazing place to live and study in. The gentrification and rising rents can temper some of that, but not all of it.