So You Wanna Move to Nashville huh?

It's been almost a full 5 months since we made our trek back to California. We have had undeniable beautiful weather and our fair share of fresh, delicious, guacamole filled, authentic Mexican food. And In-n-Out burger. We are surrounded by our family and friends again. Buck is playing more music now than the whole past year! So what is there to complain about? Well... not much....

BUT we do most defiantly miss Nashville. What we miss most:

1. Our friends! And our old co-workers. 

2. The music. The endless amount of talent. And seeing a celebrity once a day or so. 

3. Queso cheese dip. 

4. Baja Burrito (or Blue Coast Burrito). 

5. Demos. 

6. Calypso Cafe nachos. (That's just me, Buck wasn't a fan) 

7. The Time Jumpers. 

8. Lightening Bugs! 

I'm sure there are many other things we miss, but we think of our friends and the food all the time ;) 

I do wish I could have been able to visit the Gaylord during this Chritmas season, because I saw the most beautiful photos of the ice sculptures and Christmas displays. Gaylord goes ALL OUT for Christmas and I recommend anyone who is visiting or new to town go and visit Gaylord during the holiday season. 

The new year will bring many travelers and new residents to Nashville. I've had a few folks contact me with questions about moving to the ever-famous Music City. SO...   I will try to help a soon-to-be-Nashvillian out.

The most common questions I've had so far are:

1. What are the best areas to live in?
I would receommend Madison or Donelson. They are generally safe neighborhoods. Next is Green Hills. It may be expensive, but its a very nice area. Lots of shopping and a Trader Joes! East Nashville is the new "up-and-coming" area that is hip and becoming known as "gay-freindly". Its starting to be expensive to live there though becuase the real estate is in demand right now. North Nashville has its good and bad areas. So does West Nashville. I would check an online Crime Map if yuor looking for places online. I do not really recommend South Nashville, its mostly bad. If your moving alone or single, I would highly recommend moving into an apartment. It will be cheaper and in my opinion safer. A decent apartment complex is Stewarts Ferry, its in North Nashville and has a nice clean area with lots of ammentities. Even a washer and dryer inside the apt! I have a friends who live there.

2. Price of living in Nashville?
Prices are generally cheaper in Tennessee... as compared to Calfornia but that goes for any state besides California. The gas is cheap and rent CAN be cheap... but not in Nashville. If you are willing to live outside of the city you can find really cheap rent. Columbia is an hour south, its extrememly affordable. Another cheap place is Pegram and its out the COUNTRY. Its a nice area if you like wide open spaces. :)

3. Jobs?
Good luck is about all I can say. There are TONS of new comers moving to Nashville and they are all looking for jobs too. Minimum wage is $7 I think in Nashville unless your a tipped employee... then your hourly wage can range from $2.00 to $6.00 an hour. I recommend anyone planning to move to start getting connected ASAP with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc. Its ALL about who you know.... ESPECIALLY in the music industry.

4. Weather?
Its a little bit of everything in one day. Seriously. You'll wake up and it will be cloudy and dark with a chilly breeze, and then when you walk out to your car to actually go to work your sweating because of humidity. And so you change your clothes real quick and then you step outside of work on your lunch break and its pouring down rain, or maybe even snow in the December-January months. Just be prepared for everything kind of weather. In all honesty the humidity isn't that bad, as compared to somewhere like North Carolina or Florida. I'm from California where some people don't even know what the word "humidity" means.... and I didn't have too much to complain about. I only really suffered annoyance from humidity when it was hot while it was raining and while it humid as I ran.

5. Any Advice?

• Join a chruch, join a gym, join a club.... GET INVOLVED. Meet people. If your moving here from a far away place and you are moving all alone... there are tons of freindly people out there, you just have to put yourself out there to find them.
• Bring an umbrella. And make sure your car has air conditioning.
• Save money before you move... just in case. You never know!
• Once you get here, get out and explore. There is SO much to do in Nashville. Its a GREAT city.
• Make sure to travel OUTSIDE of Nashville as well. Tennessee is beautiful.  
• Crime map any address or neighborhood before moving there. There are lots of bad areas in Nashville.
• Go to Nashville Guru It is the BEST website to find out about any event or place to go in NASHVILLE! I visited this site often. (http://nashvilleguru.com/)

-Sarah Beth

East Nashville is the new place to be!

This is the Christian Woodmont Church... beautiful as most of them are in TN!

You can find this church in Green Hills.

While in Nashville I joined the Hotbox Fitness group.... its kickboxing in a heated room!

A TOTAL ASS KICKING of a workout! And I LOVED it. 

Long Haul Monday

Yesterday was..... unproductive. Getting Buck's bubbled tire changed at Walmart in Amarillo took a few HOURS.... we left Amarillo at 1 pm and then the trailer tire blew out. And getting another spare for that took almost 4 hours. We didn't leave  Texas yesterday until about 6 pm. A whole day lost. We only traveled about 80 miles. 😱 

We stopped in Grant New Mexico to sleep, because even though we didn't go far yesterday, we were stilled whipped and needed sleep. It was raining in New Mexico anyways. So we booked up in a nice Travelodge and got up early to take off. Since we are goin back into time, my internal clock says its 12:30- aka lunch time, while my phone is telling me its only 10:30. So it's nice to feel like I'm ahead of the game, maybe even on time..... lol. We are currently stopped somewhere in Arizona, because Buck was tired and wanted to take a nap already. I had coffee so I'm wide awake. Bluebell and I are just hanging out in the car, out of the Arizona heat, waiting for Buck to rest up a bit.

So we have about 13 hours left in our drive, so I think we will be bookin' it out of here soon. We will only stop for gas, a bathroom, and maybe a Cracker Barrel (because we need to squeeze in a Cracker Barrel trip in before we get back to CA). In between we are snacking on granola bars and chips (THANK YOU Marion!!!!) ;) 

So today has been more productive than yesterday, with fingers crossed it continues to be so. 

Can't wait to be home! 

Xoxo-

Sarah Beth 

No Bueno Sunday

A quick update on our no bueno Sunday;

Buck got up and left to get a new tire for the "Shaggin Wagon" aka the van and couldn't find a single tire place open in Amarillo on a Sunday. I eventually found a Walmart near by with a tire center. The Walmart tire employees were rather slow and lazy however and it took them almost two hours to change his tire. And after they were finished, we found that they hadn't even put the rims on and they had just been placed in the tire so they would just fall off! Buck was displeased to say the least. By this time it was 11 am so we swung by Subway for brunch. And because we were already late for our takeoff we also decided to stop into the HUGE Cavenders Western store. (Long story short- that store is amazing! Way too mush to see) So after a little western retail browsing we stopped at the Love's truck stop to fill up. This is the same Love's truck stop we stopped at on our drive out to Tennessee and buck locked his keys in the van ;) But we made it out of Love's and barely  out of Amarillo when I looked in my review mirror and realized I didn't see Buck. And then my phone rang..... Buck was calling to tells his trailer tire had blown out. OH MY GOODNESS. Poor Buck and his tires! We were just NOT meant to get out of Amarillo today it seems. So Bluebell and I are staying out of his way and patiently waiting and silently cheering him on. And praying for a safe and efficient trip from here on out. 😕

And PS... Bluebell is riding with me. After today's fiasco's, we have figured out that she is more comfortable in the car. The seat gives her something to lean up against, it's smoother riding than the Shaggin Wagon, and I don't play my music as loud as Buck ;) 

Until later, 

Xoxo

Sarah Beth

Where the trailer tire blew on I-40 West

Buck fixing the new tire at Love's

Bluebell sleeping and myself waiting for Buck to finish with the trailer in the side of the Interatate :/ 

Day 2: Little Rock by Morning, Amarillo by Night

We woke up in our smoky hotel room all too early this morning (though later than Buck had planned) and ate our free breakfast and left. Arkansas at 8 am this morning was HUMID. Yuck. I was sweating the minute I stepped out of the hotel room. So THANK GOODNESS for my car's air conditioning!! And my little car runs great! It's just chugging along and being a little gas saver. Once Buck is about on empty, I'm only at half a tank ;)

Bluebell has been doing good, though she isn't "happy". She really hates being in the car. We know she can't wait to get to a hotel room. 

The bug splats on our windshields have grown in size.... not necessarily by the number. Because the farther south you get, the larger the bugs get. Seriously, the grasshoppers we have seen, and the June bugs, are bigger than ANY bug should be. Bluebell finds them entertaining as they jump out from underneath her. 

So today's travels took us all the way through Arkansas, Oklahoma, and to Amarillo. Arkansas was gorgeous. There were farms everywhere, lush trees, and water. Oklahoma on the other hand, not so impressive. :/ It just had no scenery. Texas was extremely pretty, and that was because we came through TX around 7 pm and the sun was beginning to go down and the clouds were perfect. (See pictures below)

Our original plan was to drive all the way to Albuquerque tonight, but Buck's back left tire started to bubble! So we drove very very slow all way through Texas and that's why we only made it to Amarillo. But since we have ended so early, we got a pet friendly hotel room and went downtown Amarillo to Midnight Rodeo, the country dance bar. This place is huge and would be a dream come true for Lynn Blodgett. ;) 

So we are hanging out and going to enjoy our time tonight and take our time tomorrow. (Yay yay yay!!) No more rushing, sorry Buck lol. 

So we are in North Texas, hanging out and enjoying our night drinking Shiner Bock :) Wish Uncle Mark and Emma were closer! 

That's all for now, I'll update you again tomorrow. God Bless! 

Xoxo-

Sarah Beth

On the way home Day 1

It's Friday, the day we packed up our belongings and cleaned the house in preparation for our departure that I had planned to be Saturday. We were worried about how we were going to get our stuff back because since living in Nashville, we have accumulated a lot more stuff such as a washer and dryer, a gentleman's chair, antiques, and clothes. But somehow, Buck worked his magic and puzzle-pieced everything we owned into his cargo van, the 16x12 trailer, and my car. :) He even had it ALL packed, loaded, and ready to go by 6pm Friday night. So, rather than leaving on Saturday morning like I had planned on.... we left Nashville around 7pm!

We took 440 straight to 40 west and will be on 40 until we hit California. So we are ahead of the game. It's 1 am and we have stopped to stay in Brinkley, Arkansas. It's humid here with mosquitos EVERYWHERE. We didn't see much since it was dark outside for our whole drive, but the bright lights of Memphis was pretty :) We paid a pretty price for a not-so-nice hotel.... but we are happy to be stopped and clean. We snuck Bluebell in the hotel successfully :) 

Tomorrow we will up and at it again very early and will be driving a whole lot more than 4 hours.... tomorrow will be more like 15 hours. :/ boo. 

We are going to get some rest. Love you all and see you soon!! Miss you Nashvillians already :) 

Xoxo-

Sarah Beth 

Visit Nashville!!

To all friends, family, and strangers who have considered visiting Nashville.... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!? Nashville, in my opinion, is one of the best tourist cities of the United States. Granted, I have yet to travel to all great tourist cities, but Tennessee alone gets an average of 50 million visitors a year, so that must mean somethin'. I know flights are expensive, and hotels can be too, but a trip full of experiences is worth a little dough $$$ :)

*Keep in mind, theses are my opinions. However I have been around town and I know what my friends would enjoy!*

If you are like the majority of the world and you like Pop Country Music (i.e. Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, Hunter Hays, Lady A) then you will definitley love Nashville. This town is crawling with pop country artists and Jason Aldean look-a-likes. If your a real, traditional country fan, you too will love Nashville however you will have to search a little harder for the good 'ol country music. I believe that the pop country lovers will enjoy Broadway, the famous downtown honky-tonks, as the best of Nashville with never ending live music, bushwhackers, and beer. (A Bushwhacker is a Nashville drink that is an adult ice cream milkshake that will reportedly knock you off your socks after one or two). The real traditional country fans will most likely enjoy the history of this town more than the others. Nashville is JAM- PACKED full of history, from the civil war, President Andrew Jackson, and of course country music. So for both pop-country lovers and traditional-country lovers, I have made a To-Do list for those visiting this wonderful city;

A MUST-DO list for Nashville, TN:

• Backstage tour of the Ryman Auditorium : the ORIGINAL Grand Ole Opry. This is the stage that Johnny Cash kicked out the stage lights in a drunkin/drugged out rage and was then banned. If you go before a show is starting, you can get on the stage itself, tour the dressing rooms, and learn the history that MADE country music. If your a real fan, you will get goosebumps.
• Visit downtown on Broadway. The ever-famous Tootsies is there (but I have literally never stepped foot inside because it smells a little and is ALWAYS packed) but if you want to go, look for the purple bar. The Wheel is small but plays pretty good country music sometimes, keep a look out for Gary Gibson who usually plays 6pm-10pm. Roberts Western World only plays traditional country music, so naturally we love the place, but even if your a pop country fan, you should go to Roberts for their fried bologna sandwich or their chicken strips. The food is DELICIOUS. And make sure you stop in every bar at least once just to see the photos, autographs, and years of beer stains that make up Nashville's honky-tonks. ;) 
• If you are on Broadway and you love ice cream, make sure you go into Mike's at the far end toward the Hard Rock Cafe.... SO yummy. 
• Buy a ticket to tour the Country Music Hall of Fame. This is a HUGE museum that is full of AWESOME memorabilia such as Elvis's car, Buck Owen's outfits, Merle Haggard's history of marriages, and hand written song lyrics. 
• The Music City Center is brand new to Nashville, we attended the Grand Opening just this year, and it is an impressive building. There isn't much for a tourist to do there, unless you are attending a convention. 
• If your in a group, like a bachelor or bachelorette party, you should rent the Beer Tavern which is a bicycle ran tavern that is loaded with kegs and bar stools. Everyone on the Tavern must pedal to keep the tavern moving for a tour, but you get to drink beer straight from the keg as you pedal around downtown! 
• Hatch Show Print. You will see TONS of posters that are long and rectangular that advertise for shows that have passed and new shows. They are ALL hand printed from the Hatch Show Print which is the oldest printing company in the U.S. You can buy a print from them on Broadway or purchase one from the Country Music Hall of Fame. 
• On a budget? Drink and eat up at Demo's cause beer is only $2 rather than the $4 or $5 you will get at any other bar. I don't know why they are so cheap, they just are. But because they are cheap and the food and drinks are so good, there will most likely be a line out the door. 
• FYI parking downtown will be EXPENSIVE and a bit of a walk no matter what. I have a free secret parking place, so if you personally know me, get a hold of me and i'll let ya in on that secret ;) 
• Visit the new Grand Ole Opry. The new Opry is far from the main downtown strip of Nashville and is located at the Opry Mills Mall. The Opry is directly across the driveway from Dave and Busters, where I waited when first moved to Nashville. The Grand Ole Opry has SO much to do, it's too much to list here. Its beautiful, entertaining, and is a great stop for anyone visiting. The mall is also pretty nice, in that it is HUGE and is full of outlet stores so you can usually find a good deal. A fair warning though, the Opry Mills Mall is really just jam packed with tourists, so if its a Saturday or Sunday, be prepared to be fighting off crowds. 
• If its Christmas time, you must go to the Gaylord resort (next door to the Grand Ole Opry and Opry Mills Mall) to see the Christmas display and ice sculptures they have. Its supposed to be phenomenal. 
• Eat Nashville's HOT Chicken. Nashville is known for a dish that is SO hot it is not recommended for the faint of heart. The original hot chicken is from Prince's Chicken.... however I have been advised (but not entirely sure if its true) that Prince's is not for most "white folk" so if your too scared to venture off into the real south of restaurants, you can find hot chicken almost anywhere. 
• Bluebird Cafe. Its way off of the main tourist track, located in richy-rich area of Green Hills. Its the most famous place for SONGWRITERS..... not necessarily singers. But there are both. You need a reservation to get into the Bluebird so plan ahead. 
• If you LOVE antiques like myself, go visit Antique Archeology, the official store from the men who star on TLC's American Pickers. You will be drooling. 
• President Andrew Jackson's Mansion. Enough said. 
• If you are here visiting on a Monday, you MUST MUST MUST see the Time Jumpers at Third and Lindsley.  The best musicians and singers ever. Get there early though, the place fills up too fast.. I suggest getting there at 6 pm and just hanging out to eat dinner until 9pm. And its $15 per person to get in but very much worth it! Good food there!
• The best breakfast we have had so far? The Loveless Cafe, which is a bit of a drive from town and you can be guaranteed to find a wait.... we waited an hour and a half to be seated!! BUT SO SO SO darn good. Real southern, down home, biscuit and gravy loving cookin'. 

Tips for you Northern Folk while your visiting the South:

• Nashville is in the Bible Belt, so mind your manners. 
• You can't buy alcohol on Sundays (but you can in a bar). You just cant take it home. 
• You can ride in the back of a pick-up truck. 
• People here are large. Tennessee is the third state ranked for childhood obesity. (Its probably the BBQ w/ Mac n Cheese). 
• Sweet Tea..... if you don't want sweet tea you better make it clear to your waiter/waitress. 
• TIP, TIP,TIP!!!!!!!!! Your waitresses/waiters and bartenders only make $2.13 an HOUR, Valet drivers only make about $6 and hour, and bands only survive solely on TIPS!!!! DO NOT BE STINGY IF YOUR IN NASHVILLE for heaven's sake. People are trying to survive here. 
• Don't expect to be able to eat any Chinese or Mexican food here. There is good Tex Mex at Chuy's though! 
• There is only one Target in the entire city of Nashville, so just give up and go to a Walmart.
• Kroger is the best grocery store. There is only one Whole Foods and one Trader Joe's and they are in the Green Hills area. 
• People in Nashville aren't the best of drivers. So be prepared to be scared out of your wits. Just drive slow yourself. 
• EVERYBODY and their mother, sister, brother, and dad smoke. Cigarettes are in fashion here.
• If your downtown Nashville, looking toward the river... the RIGHT side of the street is all smoking bars, while the LEFT side of the street is non-smoking bars. 
• There is a Cracker Barrel at almost EVERY EXIT. And they are all good :) 

Things Nashvillian's say:

• "Interstate" (they rarely refer to the highway/freeway/interstate as the numbers ex. 440, 65)
• Instead of "oil" they say "ool"..... its ok if you laugh
• "ya'll" is a given

The Beer Tavern

The famous Tootsies!

 The Ryman Auditorium

The Ryman Stage! So many historic artists stood here

Prince's Hot Chicken 

A Bushwhacker! 

A Hatch Show Print Poster

xoxo-

Sarah Beth

It's May already?!?!

Hello dear family and friends,

It's been a while. And I'm sorry for that! Keeping up with a blog is a lot harder than it may seem. But as of late, there have been exciting new adventures to add to the tale of Buck and Sarah Beth.

Spring finally came to Nashville around mid April. All the bare ugly trees are now covered in large bright leaves and flowers have bloomed everywhere. The grass in our front and backyard grows wildly every-other day. So THANK YOU Brad and Marcella for the lawn mower. Buck uses it almost daily. The largest tree we have is in our front yard, and it has little helicopter wing seeds that fall off, so even tho Buck mows the lawn, one breeze will blow through the air and there are tree seeds all over the lawn covering the manicured blades of grass. So it's kind of hopeless. But the weather has been MUCH nicer. Some days are cloudy, some are scorching hot, but it's not humid.....yet.

Buck and I both are working almost everyday. Buck is a valet driver for Eagle Parking and he is assigned to a different restaurant and/or party every shift. He works all over downtown nashville mostly. Yesterday he parked Mr. Dierks Bentley car! He has seen a few famous people while at work. I work two jobs now, I am a full time receptionist at CenWood Appliance Distributors (a high end appliance store) and I am waitressing on the weekends. I have my Sundays off though.

Buck and I have been attending a church in Green Hills (a fancy part of Nashville) called Woodmont Christian Church. It is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. It is all white wood, huge old wooden doors, large clear paneled windows, with the tallest steeple in town. Most of the churches here in the Bible Belt are exceptionally beautiful, but this church is flat out gorgeous. We decided to attend this church because they have three services throughout the day to attend, and with our crazy schedules we should be able to make one of the services every Sunday. When we went last week, we found a fellow friend who attends there and made us feel more than welcome. Monty Good, a fellow traditional country singer from downtown, and his wife Erin, introduces us to everyone and anyone. We decided we liked it and that we want to give the place a try.

After last Sunday's service we decided to try a restaurant called China Town because I was told they had the best Chinese food of Nashville. (FYI Tennessee has no Chinese food). To say the least, we were disappointed. But if we ever have a Chinese-food-or-death moment.... I guess China Town will do. :-)

There have been some amazing concerts here in town lately. I am hoping these all continue throughout the summer. Just last Thursday Buck and I got to see William Michael (new up-and-coming kid), Kevin Fowler, and Mark Chestnut at Loser's bar for FREE! We even got a free beer too! I'm guessing it wasn't well advertised because the place didn't pack out and we were right in front the whole entire time. It was a blast. Then this last Tuesday we went to The Station Inn; a small, dirty, old-man smelling bar with a mis-matched chairs and curtains for bathroom stall doors. I was not impressed with the decor and smell of the bar, but it's supposedly such an old bar, it's almost a country music history landmark. So we squeezed into this place for $10 a person and got to watch 45 RPM, Rhonda Vincent, and Daryle Singletary! The place was so small that Rhonda Vincent was actually sitting at our table behind us, and I walked to Daryle Singletary's table just to say hi and get a picture. Every show this week has had a sad note to it though, as everyone is remembering and honoring George Jones. Daryle Singletary even began crying while singing "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes".

Buck and I have finally explored a little outside of Nashville. We were browsing and considering of moving to another house in July, in hopes we could find a cheaper place so we were looking at new neighborhoods and chasing down craigslist adds to see the houses for rent. Well we never found a decent house to rent, but we DID find the town that we want to live in. I had heard of a town called Nolensville, and it is located just immediately south of Nashville (about 30 min). We drove there, to find a photo shoot location actually, but what we found was a small hidden treasure. It is a small farming town, full of pastures, barns, dairies and bEaUtIfUl homes. Every house has 6 or more acres to itself, the roads are clean, there are no "project" housing, and no bum hang outs. There was a small shopping center, with a Kroger, gas station, and other basic stores. And then there was the downtown area. The main street that we drove down, Nolensville Pike, lead us the heart of the one-horse town and there were numerous antique stores, new and old alike, with family owned country stores and small boutiques. It was wonderful :) It took all we had to not visit every store. The only reason we didn't was because Buck had to be at work within the hour. So we stopped at The Feed Mill, an Amish country store that sells only locally made goods and I their own handmade wood furniture. I got homemade Muscadine Jelly, Blackberry jam, dried kiwi's and Hatcher dairy milk. The Hatcher milk is the sweetest milk I have ever had! Anyway, so after our little visit we had fallen in love with Nolensville and we were determined to move there. So I started searching immediately for houses to rent. To our dismay though, all the housing in Nolensville is EXPENSIVE. There are very few houses to rent, and they were immaculate homes with a rent price of $2,000 or more a month. So we are defiantly not going to be able to rent there or purchase a home there for quite some time. So we will just dream I guess.

So for now we are staying put in our little ol' house, which we have discovered leaks during hard rain down pours. It's very centrally located and after seeing most of Nashville, I have to say that we got very lucky in having a house in a generally safe neighborhood. We are very very close to downtown and I'm only 10 minutes from work, and in Nashville.... that's unheard of. We alao have a large backyard compared to most of the houses in town, and thats been great for Bluebell. Bluebell has been lOvInG the outdoors since the weather has been so nice. She is always a light grassy green color and smells of garden dirt. But we are now thankful for our little run-down house. :)

Well that's an update for now folks! I'll try to keep up better and let you know how we are doin. We love you and miss you all, and we cannot wait to meet little miss Lenni Brynn Ford! You are all in our thoughts and prayers.

Xoxo-

Sarah Beth
http://pstl.us/n.Lf