Nashville Downtown Hostel

There cannot possibly be a better place to stay if you’re visiting Nashville than the Nashville Downtown Hostel. First, and MOST importantly, the place is super clean and safe. You need a key card to get anywhere inside. It can seem annoying to swipe your card at 3 different doors before you get to your room, but I would much rather that than anyone being able to come and go as they please. The kitchen and bathrooms were also very tidy all the time. The common area is huge and the best part is they have a bunch of instruments lying around for everyone to use. I heard banjos, guitars, a harmonica and piano playing during my few nights there. Here’s a sample…

The video also shows a little bit of the kitchen and common areas. Pretty nice, huh? I didn’t really get any pictures of the bedrooms or bathrooms, so you’ll just have to take my word that they’re nice. I’m not sure if the hostel can really take credit for this, but we also met some great people while we were there. We had lovely roommates from West Virginia..

We are now Best Friends For Life and planning our next trip all together! Plus we met more people downstairs from Canada, Australia and the U.K.

The hostel couldn’t possibly have a better location. You are literally a 2 minute walk away from the main downtown area. Also around the corner is a soda shop where you can find almost any flavor of soda. This includes Buffalo Wing Soda and Bacon Soda. The Buffalo Wing Soda just tasted like weird orange soda, but the bacon soda tasted like… well watch the video to find out…

So, whether you’re traveling on your own or with friends, stay at the Nashville Downtown Hostel. You’ll have a great of time!

Tennessee Video 2013

This is just a glimpse into my trip from last week. It’s one of the best trips I have ever had! I can’t wait to go back to Nashville!

Also, if you haven’t seen my New York or Las Vegas videos, you should!

Waiting With Friends

I still haven’t had the time to write about the George Jones Memorial Service. There is just so much to say and I have to find the right words. I did want to share about the wonderful couple that we had the pleasure of getting to know while we waited in line for SEVERAL hours…

I don’t even remember what started our conversation, but we just kept on talking for the whole three hour wait. It went so much faster thanks to that lovely lady. She even had gave us fruit snacks! You know she’s a Southern Mom when she not only brings enough snacks for the two of them, but has the forethought to bring extras to share! She is a realtor in Nashville, so it seemed like she had connections to everyone in the city, even George Jones! She had been inside the man’s house. How cool is that? They also got interviewed by Billboard Magazine, so she’s basically famous.

People like her are why the term “Southern Hospitality” exists. Thanks for hanging out with us, Ms. Joan!

The Birthday Runner

I started this series to show that doing things alone can be a lot of fun. It gives you more opportunity to me such great people! Like yesterday, when I ran the DeSoto 5k. I arrived probably 45min early and then the waiting began. I had two choices. I could either stand around awkwardly, pretending to do things on my phone, or I could hang out with this girl…

She’s trying to run 30 races this year! Pretty impressive. Plus, she’s about to start grad school in Texas, even more impressive! A simple, “Hey, have you run this race before?” and you’re introduced! So stop wishing you could be doing something and go out and do it! You only live once, right?

The Photographer in the Subway

I LOVE the New York City Subway. There is absolutely no way of telling what conversations you’ll over hear, the fashion choices you’ll see or, most importantly, the people you’ll meet. This time I met a Mr. Salah Chouli. Turns out he is a photographer and English teacher. The conversation started with “Hi. Where are you from?” I think that’s the best way to strike up a conversation with someone in New York and you might get some really interesting answers. We were only able to talk for about 2 stops, but before he left, he gave me 2 samples of his work…

The photo of them with my iPhone doesn’t do them justice, but I think they’re both brilliant. Next time you’re on the Subway, strike up a conversation! You never know who you’ll meet!

The Nicest Person in NYC…

… is from Florida. Ha! Meet Jenipher from Nightly Doodles.

She has a booth in the Chelsea Market where she makes adorable cards by hand. There are cards for birthdays, holidays and just for fun. She makes the cards right there in the market so go take a look, say hello and buy a card! You can visit her website here!

Chelsea Market

This last trip to New York City, we didn’t have a lot of set plans. Our schedule consisted of waking up in the morning and picking a place on the map that looked interesting then taking it from there. This is how we discovered the Chelsea Market. It. Is. Glorious. The old brick building, the re-purposed materials as decor and furnishings, all the different restaurants…. It’s beautiful.

Take a look at the Stray Kat art gallery… the owner is as entertaining as any of the paintings…

You could buy some post cards…

Or you could buy some hand made cards from the nicest person in NYC..

Look at that table!

I almost have enough crates to make a wall like this…

So if you’re in the Chelsea neighborhood and you have some time, go take a look. You won’t regret it!