Most Beautiful Dessert of 2013 - [ONE] Restaurant - Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:

Happy New Year's Eve!  As we close out 2013, I wanted to share with you the most beautiful dessert I have eaten this year.  It is absolutely the most gorgeous, most creative thing (and tasty too!) and it still would have been cheap at twice the price.

Ladies and Gentlemen … I present to you …

The Candy Apple from One Restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina ($9).

The best looking dessert of 2013 and the shadow of my iPhone ;-)

Now forgive me if I don't 100% accurately describe the details.  The server explained all the components but I may be misremembering some of them.  The apple is actually a spun sugar shell that you crack into - inside is a creamy cold ice cream/gelato like apple cream.  It is sitting on a bed of pie crust crumbles with a graham cracker base rolled to look like stick cinnamon.  There are cubes of apple flavored gelee under the "faux apple" as well and the entire thing is wrapped with a sweet cotton candy.

It is layers and layers of flavor - cinnamon, buttery pie crust, the crisp and cold contrast of the cream and the gelee - and the purity of the tart fresh apple taste.  Even though the apple exterior is spun sugar and it is covered with cotton candy, the dessert itself is not overly sweet.  

I felt like I was in Manhattan dining at One Restaurant.  I watched the chefs place components on plates with small tweezers.  Everything was meticulous.  Customer service was top notch.  

I kept commenting that this should be a $20 dessert.  It was absolutely the most beautiful, most tasty, most transport you into wonderfulness dessert I have had in 2013.  If my life were Snow White, this gorgeous apple would be my downfall.  It was fabulous - and well worth a trip to Chapel Hill.

If you're not into sweets, I also had the Beef in Chrysanthemum Crust with sunchokes, marinated mushrooms and a branch made out of saltine cracker dough.

The beef was simple, flavorful, tender and perfectly cooked.  I still have no clue what a Chrysanthemum crust is, but I know it was delicious.  I am usually not a big fan of sunchokes but whatever One Restaurant did to their sunchokes made them the best I have ever had.  The mushrooms were so tender- utter perfection.  And what can I say?  The whole presentation was gorgeous.

This is a restaurant you cannot miss!  A+ all around!

Happy New Year's Eve!

Elevage Restaurant - Call Me After You Work Out All The Kinks

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:

As a resident of South Tampa, I have an almost obsessive love of our famed Bern's Steak House.  Sure it may be decorated like a cross between Disney's Haunted Mansion and Miss Kitty's Bordello and one of the dining rooms has painfully hard metal patio furniture for chairs, but I just love it.

I take all my out of state house guests there and we always have a great time.  

I know several people who will not agree with my next statement - so take it with a grain of salt - but for me, I have always had good service at Bern's Steak House.  It ranges from good to out of this world service.  Maybe a couple times, the service was overly slow but it was always when the restaurant was packed.  And frankly for the prices of the food, I expect top-notch service.

When I heard that Bern's was partnering with Main Sail Lodging and Development and starting a culinary-themed boutique hotel called "The Epicurean" - I was over the moon.  A boutique hotel with a world class restaurant and space for culinary classes?  I could NOT wait.  Unfortunately due to a range of issues, it would be several years before the dream became a reality.

But I am patient … and finally two weeks ago, the hotel and its restaurant Elevage opened.  It is not 100% done - the dessert shop Chocolate Pi is still being built and crews of workers with wet paint were walking through the hotel lobby.  But I had waited 2 weeks to try the food at Elevage Restaurant and I couldn't wait a minute more!

My lunch companion was the Divine Madame S.  A woman of class and manners who would be the perfect partner for lunch at a culinary-themed hotel.

I made a reservation for lunch at OpenTable.com.  The day before the reservation, I received a voicemail from Elevage asking me to call back and confirm my reservation.  Now this is one of my pet peeves - I know that people are flakes and make reservations and do not show up, but I'm not one of them!  If I go through the trouble of making a reservation on OpenTable, do I really need to call the restaurant and confirm that I will show up?  

I called back and heard an announcement say "Hello - if you know the party's extension, dial it now.  Otherwise stay on the line or press zero."  So I stayed on the line.  Nothing.  No hold music.  No operator.  I stayed on the line for a few minutes and then hung up.  I double-checked to make sure I had the correct number since the recorded announcement did not say the name of the hotel or the restaurant.  I called back again, but this time I pressed "zero."  Again it went to dead air - no hold music.  I stayed on the line for 5 minutes - no hold music, no answer.  I tweeted the restaurant and they tweeted back shortly after that they were having problems with their phone and that I should call the hotel directly.

I was already peeved that I had to call to confirm my reservation - but come on, if you know you're having problems with your phone why are you leaving voicemails telling people to call that number?  And now I am supposed to look up the hotel number and call them?  I didn't do it - I'm lazy.  I kept my fingers crossed that my reservation wouldn't be tossed out for failure to confirm it!

Also, I am hoping that the Epicurean Hotel will put a sign at its entrance.  There is a driveway that goes under the hotel about halfway down the building's length.  Howard Avenue is very narrow and it is easy to miss the drive in opening.  There is valet only ($18 a day if you're staying at the hotel, complimentary if you are just dining).  

(Side Note:  I called the hotel and they said the valet was complimentary if you were dining, however I have seen other reviews saying they paid $5 for valet - so maybe that's a weekend rule?  Not sure - but you may want to call in advance to find out.)

The service at the valet was efficient and very "formally friendly" - which is a welcome change of pace from the lackluster valet service at other Howard Ave establishments.  It was an elegant first impression when arriving at the Epicurean Hotel.  Unfortunately the valet was the best service I had during my entire visit there.

There is no signage for Elevage Restaurant - I just walked toward a bar I saw in the restaurant.  I passed by several employees - no greeting.  The lobby decor and the restaurant decor were top notch.  Beautiful lighting fixtures with some pops of quirky decor (see the cow hide rug and big pig statue picture below).  It was elegant but also modern and even a bit homey.

Lobby at the Epicurean Hotel

There was a line at the hostess stand.  The hostess was wearing a plaid shirt and distressed jeans.  I thought perhaps she was dressed down because she was moving furniture around the new restaurant, but then I realized that this was the official server uniform.  That outfit would have been great at a locavore farm to table restaurant with big wooden tables.  But the decor at the Elevage is so nice, that the plaid shirt and jeans really stood out but not in a good way.  A simple white shirt and black pants would have been better than the plaid and jeans.  One server had a black design like angel wings with jewels on the back of her plaid shirt - at least this has some standout appeal.  But she was the only server with this - perhaps she had a Bedazzler?

When I discussed this later with my friend Ms. LM, she said "Is this the new restaurant trend?  Anise Global Gastrobar was like that too - like eating at Downton Abbey while being served by the cast of Rent."  THIS IS THE BEST LINE - AND MOST ACCURATE LINE - EVER!

As I stood in line, the hostess looked extremely frazzled.  I am not sure why because she had one single phone call the entire time I stood in line.  But perhaps the morning had been hectic.  A family of three walked past the line and went right to the hostess and began arguing about how their free breakfast tickets should apply to lunch.  I turned to the man in front of me and said "You're in line, right?"  He said "Yes" with sad resignation.    

Finally the hostess acknowledged the line that had been standing in front of her.  She addressed the gentleman in front of me and then that was the end of the service.  He stepped back and I stood right in front of her as she continued to talk to other staff members.  She pointed in my general direction and commented that we had already been taken care of - I was like "Um no, I'm not with that gentleman.  I have a reservation."  She just looked at me like she couldn't comprehend what I was saying.

I have been to many restaurants that have just recently opened and I have to say this has been one of the most frazzled.  There were at least six staff members just standing around by the hostess stand talking loudly amongst themselves.  The restaurant only had 2 tables seated -- each with a single gentleman.  No one on the staff greeted anyone who walked in the restaurant.  If it were just me dining, I would have walked out.

The hostess checked her computer and confirmed that I did have a reservation for two.  At this point I am sure I looked perturbed - she said a quick "sorry for the wait."  She then walked me to a table with only one chair at it right next to another diner and then set the menu down.  I looked at her quizzically - was I expected to carry my own chair over to the table?  She stood there and stared back at me and then finally said "Or I guess I could seat you at the table next to this one."  Evidently I wasn't fast enough at carrying a chair over.

Lobby - Epicurean Hotel - sorry for the blur!

Bar at Elevage Restaurant

Dining Area at Elevage Restaurant

My dining partner arrived.  A young woman came up and asked if we wanted anything to drink.  I didn't know if she was our server - she didn't welcome us, she didn't introduce herself.  I thought perhaps she was an assistant server just doing drink orders.  But no - she was our server.  And now there were 4 tables total with several servers and yet there was no sense of urgency.  If you wanted to take 3 hours for lunch with sporadic, haphazard service - this is the restaurant for you.  I felt like my server was sleepwalking and that we were bothering her.  I have received much better service at the bar-restaurants down the street that serve tater tots.  On the website, Elevage says that "attention is paid to every detail."  Evidently service is not one of those details.

I have such high regard for the amazing level of customer service at Bern's Steak House that to receive such lackluster, "second thought," prodding along service was extremely disappointing.  I turned to my dining companion and said "This waitstaff needs to spend a month at Bern's, learning how to be servers."

I watched a man in a sportcoat and dress pants (much dressier than the hoe-down plaid shirts and jeans-wear).  I surmised he was the manager.  He talked to two tables and walked past the rest of us.  At this point there were only three other tables.  He then stood in the middle of the restaurant with more staffers.  There's a back area and an empty bar area - not sure why the staff couldn't have their discussions there instead of loudly in the common areas.

Madame S started with the Deviled Eggs with Blackened Blue Crab ($7).  The yellow egg part was a dense mass completely overpowered with stoneground yellow mustard.  It was so potent, it felt like you were eating a spoonful of mustard.  There was a sliver of crab which did not appear blackened.  I like mustard, but not this much.  There was no spice or heat to them whatsoever.  I had read in other people's reviews that these were very spicy.  Inconsistencies in the kitchen, perhaps?

I started with the Country Ham with pear butter and biscuits ($5).  The ham to biscuit ratio was off - a thick pile of waxy, dry, incredibly salty ham on a flavorless tiny rock hard biscuit with a thin line of pear butter drawn on the plate.  I couldn't finish it because it just wasn't good.  It was very disappointing.  

Madame S ordered the yellow beet panzanella salad ($14).  She enjoyed the salad but was surprised that there was no dressing on it.  Did they forget it?  No dressing is listed on the menu but no dressing was listed on mine either and it did have it.  Madame S asked for some dressing.  The server quickly brought it but made no apologies nor asked any questions about why Madame S was asking for dressing.  

I ordered the Roasted Shrimp Caprese ($17).  The burrata cheese had a melty char on it.  I thought the way they displayed the entree was a bit weird (see picture below).  I felt it could have been presented in a more appetizing manner - but maybe that's just me.  The tomatoes were a little mealy.  The shrimp was perfectly cooked but the kitchen staff had missed some parts of the shell - so I took several bites with shell.  Nothing like having to pull bits of shell out of my mouth.  The pesto-like dressing drizzled on the plate was very flavorful and the lemon basil was delicious.   

After we paid, one staff member said goodbye to us as we walked past at least 8 other staff members who were talking amongst themselves.  I've had better service at a McDonald's, to tell you the truth.  The customer service bar was set really high due to its affiliation with Bern's - so to have subpar service was extremely disappointing.

The food was OK, but I have had better versions of the food at other restaurants.  The lobster and caviar deviled egg that used to be served at Ciro's Speakeasy was worlds better than the mustardy egg at Elevage.  The biscuits at the now closed Wimauma were better.  The beet and burrata salad at Cafe Ponte is worlds better than the beet panzanella or the shrimp caprese.  (Even though I did very much enjoy the lemon basil in the shrimp caprese.)

I had very high expectations for Elevage Restaurant given my love of Bern's Steak House.  I'd like to return in a few months and hopefully they will have smoothed out the kinks in their menu.  I also hope they take their entire staff to a hospitality boot camp to learn proper customer service.  I haven't given up on Elevage, but my first experience with it was highly disappointing.

Lunch was OK … but just OK.  With many other dining options in Tampa Bay, Elevage needs to rise to the occasion if they want to do the idea behind the Epicurean justice.  Executive Chef Chad Johnson is quoted on the website saying "I want to take the great iconic dishes, the ones that you've loved your entire life, and elevate them.  I want it to be the best you've ever had."  A good goal, but in my humble opinion - they are not there yet.  I hope that in time they will rise to the standard Bern's Steak House has set.

P.S.  After I posted this review, I was reading some of the other Elevage Restaurant diner reviews on Urbanspoon and another reviewer said she had better service at McDonald's too!  Great minds think alike!  And sad to know I am not the only one who had this thought after dining at Elevage!

P.P.S.  Elevage Restaurant tweeted me "we did send you a message on FB. Please DM us so we can address the comments. We hate you had a terrible experience :(" about 10 hours after I posted this review. I found this Tweet intriguing because I don't have Facebook - so what was this defensive "we did send you a message" line?  Yet another customer service faux pas?  I responded that I don't have Facebook and the response was "apologies -saw a comment earlier about your experience - had to be twitter. Please give us the opportunity to fix, thank you." I appreciate Elevage reaching out - but if you look at Yelp and Urbanspoon reviews, you'll see that the majority of comments center on Elevage's poor customer service. I am not alone in my experience. My response was that they need to work on fixing their customer service. I worked in the restaurant industry in my youth - if you have stellar food but crappy service, you will lose customers. Elevage doesn't need to fix their experience for me - I'm not looking for a freebie - they need to fix their service for all their patrons for the health of their restaurant.

12/31/2013 Update: I received an email from OpenTable.com saying that I no-showed for my reservation at Elevage! I wrote back and said not only did I honor my reservation for two, you can read all about it on my blog! If Elevage is going to use OpenTable.com for their reservations, they should use it correctly and accurately report honored reservations. Talk about insult after injury on this sad meal! Between being asked to confirm a reservation in advance to a telephone number that didn't work and then having to write an email to OpenTable.com to protest that I did not "no show" - the meal at Elevage was not only disappointing, but had more administrative work than a restaurant meal should require!

Merry Christmas!

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:

Merry Christmas!  It is 74 degrees in Tampa, but I am pretending its winter by making a giant pot of turkey wild rice soup.  The house smells deliciously homey as I watch sailboats covered in Christmas lights sail by my windows.  

On the local news the weatherman said "For those expecting a White Christmas, you'll be disappointed."  I commented back: "For those expecting a White Christmas, maybe you shouldn't live in Florida."  

It's been one heck of a year and I am looking forward to even more adventures in 2014.  

But for now I am eating soup, watching "When Harry Met Sally" and cuddling with this little crazy cat, pictured below.

Chibby with Sebastian Millon's artwork

Merry Christmas!

Happy Early Christmas To Me!!!!

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!

Last year, I sent out a wish to the universe that by the end of December 2013 I would have at least 100,000 page views.  Yes, I know there are blogs who get 100,000 page views a week, a day, an hour … but my little corner of the world is frequently less and I am OK with that.  I appreciate each and every page view.  

So tonight - Christmas Eve - I checked on my little corner of the world and found that I surpassed the 100,000th page view mark.  Christmas came early!    

Thank you readers for keeping my page view counter rolling.

Thank you for reading, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Twelve Things To Do In Nashville

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!

Merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate it and Happy Tuesday to those who do not.  

Last month I traveled to Nashville for a quick visit.  Not counting the airport, it was my first time in Nashville and I have to say I very much enjoyed it.  I planned on blogging about all the places I went to individually but it is the holiday season and my procrastination is running on an all time high.  So instead I am borrowing a format I saw a DC food blogger (whose name and blog I can't remember - sorry!) do for a quick travel blog highlighting 10 things she did in a city.  I couldn't limit it to just ten, so here goes … "Twelve Things To Do In Nashville" - in no particular order.

Proof that Nashville Gift Shops Love Me and Want My Money

1)  See Live Music.

You can't go to Nashville and not hear live music.  It is everywhere and it is wonderful!  The purpose of my trip was to see Kelly Clarkson perform an acoustic Musicians On Call benefit at the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville (2nd row, VIP ticket baby!)  Kelly of course delivered in superstar form.  But you don't need to see a big name act in Nashville to have a good time. I also heard many fantastic local bands in the various bars along Music Row for the price of a drink or a low cover charge.  The air is filled with music and you have to breathe it in.

I think this is Kelly Clarkson's way of asking me to come on stage for a duet

2)  Try Mexican Spaghetti.

Mexican Spaghetti and Steak - sorry for the bad lighting!

I did not do a lot of research for my Nashville trip, so my first night in town I had no idea where I should go for dinner.  I stumbled upon "Demos Steak and Spaghetti House."  I thought "I like steak.  I like spaghetti.  The place is packed.  I think I need to try it out."  So I had a steak skewer and Mexican spaghetti.  It was a very inexpensive restaurant with AMAZINGLY FANTASTIC customer service.  I have been in five star restaurants with 1/100th the customer service.  From the minute I walked in to the minute I left, I was treated like the most valued customer ever.  I was just gobsmacked at how great every employee in the restaurant was.  

The steak was an inexpensive cut heavily marinated.  It was very tender but a little too salty for my tastes.  The Mexican spaghetti was intriguing - I still prefer good old Italian-style spaghetti - but the peppers, Mexican-style sauce and sour cream topped pasta was something I glad I tried. 

3)  Inhale Pure Heaven.

Savannah Candy Kitchen

There are a couple candy stores on Music Row, but the one that smells the best is the Savannah Candy Kitchen.  Rows and rows of freshly made pralines literally yank you off the sidewalk and pull you in.  I dare you to walk past their store without at least sucking in 2 pints of praline-scented air.  I purchased several boxes to give to friends and family.  (They are crazy rich and sugary, so I gave out 4 packs as to not create diabetic comas.)  I also justified that I could not give the pralines out as gifts without sampling one myself - a chocolate covered one called a gopher.  It's like a turtle … except it's called a gopher.  So there you go.  It was delicious on top of delicious on top of a lot of sugar.

4) Stand In Awe In Front of The Man In Black.

Johnny Cash Museum

I have loved Johnny Cash's music as long as I can remember.  I don't know why.  I don't know how.  I just do.  So when I heard that the Johnny Cash Museum recently opened in Nashville, I knew I had to visit.

The experience lived up to the hype my brain created.  It's not a large museum, but the pieces in it are wonderful.  There is a small viewing room in the back where I watched clips of Johnny Cash starring in the movie "Five Minutes To Live."  How did I not know that Johnny Cash starred in movies when he was young?  The museum also showed a clip where Johnny Cash voiced Homer's spirit guide on "The Simpsons." Again, how did I NOT know about this episode?  

Every piece of memorabilia was steeped with history.  Even a simple heart shaped pillow that Johnny had inscribed to June, spoke volumes.  And of course toward the end of the museum, was Johnny Cash doing his iconic version of Nine Inch Nails' song "Hurt."  A song that has so become infused with Johnny's stardom that Entertainment Weekly once  reviewed a Nine Inch Nails' concert and mistakenly commented that the band did a cover of the Johnny Cash song "Hurt."  (The retraction came at lightning speed - tsk tsk Entertainment Weekly.)

The gift shop (I am ALL ABOUT THE GIFT SHOP.)  Did not disappoint.  Whether you are an infant all the way to a senior citizen, there is some quality merchandise at the Johnny Cash Museum for you.  

5)  Spend Some Time With Reba McEntire's High School Photo.

Reba - is it really you?

When my sister heard I was going to Nashville, she told me that I absolutely positively had to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  I hemmed and hawed -- I mean going to the Johnny Cash Museum was one thing -- but the Country Music Hall of Fame?  Ehh.  But then I walked past it and I saw a gigantic picture of Reba McEntire (current exhibit) beckoning to me.  So I thought "what the heck?"

And my sister was right - the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was crazy good with all sorts of memorabilia from the early days of country music to today.  If you like entertainer costumes - there are some great ones here.  I found myself standing in front of one of Taylor Swift's dresses and wondering if she was size triple zero.  The waist was the tiniest thing I have ever seen. 

Why did it take so long to induct Kenny Rogers???

The one thing that really shocked me was the actual Country Music Hall of Fame itself - it is amazing who has been inducted and in what year.  I was floored that Kenny Rogers had not been inducted into the Hall of Fame until 2013!  (And even more surprised that they used a pre-plastic surgery picture for the announcement.  Poor Kenny, you look good but you don't look like yourself any more.  I want my old Kenny Rogers "The Gambler" back!)  He needs a much better face change.

The gift shops are BEYOND FABULOUS.  I restrained myself from buying my friend Nick a t-shirt with Reba's name in red sequins.  I don't think Nick is a Reba fan, but I would be a big fan of seeing his face when he opened a box containing a bedazzled shirt!

6)  PIMENTO CHEESE!

I loves me some Southern cooking, so I absolutely had to have the Fried Green Tomatoes with Pimento Cheese at Merchants Restaurant.  

Merchants' Restaurant

I first took a bite of the Fried Green Tomato on its own.  It was OK - a bit bland, nothing to rave about.  But when I took a bite of tomato with Merchants' house made pimento cheese, holy cow - now there's a party!  It was incredibly delicious (as was the rest of my meal at Merchants).  Highly recommend!

Pimento Cheese and Fried Green Tomatoes

This dish set me off on a pimento cheese frenzy for the next 2 weeks, but none of the cheeses I tried were anywhere close to being as good as Merchants' pimento cheese.

7)  Sleep Amidst Nashville History.

Union Station Hotel

I splurged and stayed at the spectacular Union Station hotel while I was in Nashville.  It is a boutique hotel made from parts of a renovated train station and it's just gorgeous.

Lobby of the Union Station Hotel

 The customer service was great - and who can beat fresh baked scones free in the lobby each morning?

Free scones in the morning in the lobby!

The rooms were lovely.  I had a gorgeous marble bathroom.  I was also surprised at the speed of the WiFi - usually in the older renovated hotels, the WiFi connection is terrible.  Not so at Union Station!  A pleasant surprise!

Twice during my stay there were film crews in the lobby - darn paparazzi chasing me!

Plus there was live guitar music in the lobby in the evenings.  A great place to stay!

8)  Have A Proper Southern Breakfast.

The restaurant at Union Station is called Prime 108.  They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner in a lovely dining room off the lobby.  Sadly the customer service was not as good as the hotel staff's.  I was seated quickly and given a cup of a coffee right away.  But then I sat there, forgotten.  There were four tables and three servers and the service was ridiculously slow.  I sat for twenty minutes before the server came over to greet me hello.  Then walked away without taking my order!  

It seemed like the waitstaff were playing a game - one table would get service within 20 seconds, the next one 20 minutes, the next 60 seconds, the next one 25 minutes.  I started timing the servers' visits to other tables - because I had nothing to do since no one seemed to want to take my order.

After a total of 30 minutes of waiting, I finally flagged down the coffee server and asked if I could place my order.  She looked flummoxed - again let me remind you at this time there were only four tables, 3 servers and 2 of the tables already had their food.  She said she guessed she could take my order and then scurried to find something to write it down on.  My order was shrimp and grits, but from the look on her face you would have thought I had just recited an order as long as the encyclopedia.

My order came within 10 minutes and was very good.  The shrimp were cooked perfectly and had a kick of spicy heat.  The grits were somewhat decent but not cheesy as advertised.  But overall, a pretty good plate of shrimp and grits.  The only saving grace for Prime 108.  Needless to say I did not eat any other meals there.
      
9)  Be Overcome With Modern Art's Poignant Message.

If you are anywhere close to Nashville between now and January 12, 2014 - you absolutely must see the "30 Americans" exhibit at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts.  

The Frist Center is housed in the former Post Office and is a glorious Art Deco structure.  It is worth going there just for the architecture alone.  However when I visited, there was a Norman Rockwell exhibit and the 30 Americans exhibit.  

The Norman Rockwell exhibit was outstanding - from his Saturday Evening Post covers to the civil rights pieces like "The Problem We All Live With" and "Southern Justice."  These haunting pieces indeed follow the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.

The 30 Americans exhibit was more modern art - some pieces were simple upon first glance but then tunneled in to your psyche.  There was one piece (Duck, Duck, Noose by Gary Simmons) that was reminiscent of the childhood game - Duck, Duck, Goose (although for some reason in the Midwest we called it Duck, Duck, Gray Duck).  There were stools in a circle with Ku Klux Klan caps on each stool and in the center was a noose.  How can some stools, some fabric and some rope leave me absolutely frozen and speechless? 

Even over a month later, I am still thinking about some of the pieces I saw in the exhibit.  This exhibit has been seen in Milwaukee as well.  Highly, highly, highly recommend you see it if you get a chance.

10)  Enjoy the Architecture.

Nashville is a delightful mix of old and new.  The architecture was superb.  I loved to just walk around and take in all the different building styles.

11)  Have some Barbecue!

You cannot go to Nashville without having some good old Southern barbecue.  Since I was in town for only a short time, I chose the legendary Jack's Barbecue on Music Row for my meal.

I had the three meats plate - brisket, ribs and pork with macaroni and cheese and baked beans.  The ribs were my absolute favorite.  If I am ever back at Jack's, I'll just get a huge plate of ribs and be perfectly content.  For dessert, a traditional Southern Chess pie.  

12)  Last but not least … SHOP, SHOP, SHOP!

Music Row and the surrounding streets are filled with boot shops, gift shops, boot shops, candy stores, bars, boot shops, restaurants and boot shops.  I had fun checking it all out!

If you're planning a trip to Nashville, I hope this post has inspired you to check out just some of what Nashville has to offer.  Happy traveling!