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!

The Perfect New York Hotel

By perfect I mean, most of us are not Donald Trump, so finding a place that won’t break your bank and where you don’t have to share a bathroom with some smelly college kids is a pretty good challenge. Astor on the Park is just like it sounds, right on Central Park! The staff was very friendly, the rooms were clean and NO SMELLY COLLEGE KIDS!

The interior was very modern, and seemed like it was recently remodeled.

Like I said, small but very clean. You could get up in the morning and walk right into central park or over to Manhattan Valley and eat at the local Whole Foods Market (My favorite!). There is a Subway line that runs right along the Park, so you’re only about a block from one of the main Subway lines. I would definitely stay there again, but if anyone has any other suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

Snacking in Times Square

Times Square is amazing. You don’t have to have a plan… or buy anything… or do anything… Just BE there. Watch the people, see the sites and take it all in. There are so many families, school groups and couples from every corner of the earth all congregating in that small square in New York City. It’s sort of the Cliff Notes version of the ethnicities of the world. What better way is there to take in all those sights than while drinking a warm drink and snacking on delicious mini cupcakes?

The place is called Baked by Melissa and it’s just a few blocks away from Times Square so it’s easy walking distance. They have so many flavors and the prices are really good!

They are barely bigger than a quarter, so if you get a twelve pack and split it with someone it’s pretty guilt free. C’mon! You’re on vacation. Calories don’t count!…

So grab a chai…

And head to Times Square…