From Nashville to Las Vegas in 2 weeks – we have really packed it in!
Our road trip started in Nashville, Tennessee, where I lived for about 5 years after graduating college. I’ve always enjoyed visiting Nashville after moving away and this time I had the added benefit of showing Alex around! For once, I got to play tour guide 🙂 We stayed with my close friend Brooke and her partner Brian in East Nashville, not far from where I used to live. We spent our time catching up, dining at some of my favorite restaurants, getting drinks at our old haunts, going to the farmer’s market, and cooking! We have really come to appreciate being able to use a kitchen on the road.
A major highlight was attending a concert of one of my favorite artists – Jenny Lewis. She lives in Nashville and it was the tour kickoff show for her new album. What a treat that it lined up with our visit!
From Nashville, the next destination on our timeline was visiting my friend in Denver but we had 5 days to make our way there. First stop as we moseyed our way west was Memphis, because why not? We only stayed for one night, but had time to have some Memphis BBQ & visit Graceland – the home of Elvis Presley.
I was looking forward to Graceland and the experience really blew me away! The house itself was really interesting, the style choices in all of the rooms were a fun glimpse into the past. And the museum with memorabilia was insane! Just so much stuff to see and read and sort through…we could have easily spent days there. My favorite exhibit was the room filled with Elvis’ jumpsuits – what a rad display.
After Memphis, we decided to spend a few nights camping in the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. I had heard a lot about this area, but never had the opportunity to visit it. We ended up at Devil’s Den State Park, in the northeast corner of the state. We enjoyed some relaxation time, lots of grilling, and did a long hike through the Ozark National Forest. You would think that as much as we have hiked, we would have a pretty good handle on directions…how to read maps…how not to get lost. Well, I guess it happens to the best of us – we managed to take a wrong turn and our (already long) 15 mile hike turned into 18-20 miles in the hot, muggy Arkansas heat. We made it back, albeit cranky and scratched up from trailblazing through the woods, and later learned that there is a special map for that trail and you are supposed to sign up to hike it. Oops!
And then it was time to make our way to Denver, our last leg of the trip through the plains. I do have an appreciation for the endless flat prairies of the Midwest, but I was looking forward to some mountains! Close friends of mine, Marie & Casey, live in Denver and we just so happened to be arriving on the day of their daughter’s 2nd birthday. What sweet start to our visit!
We spent our time in Denver catching up, biking around, and generally just enjoying the city. I love Denver’s vibe and the surrounding landscape is beautiful. Alex and Casey also grilled possibly the best ribeye I have ever had from a super cool butcher we stumbled upon! And I whipped up a decadent strawberry pie. The perfect way to cap off our visit 🙂
After Denver, we gave ourselves 3 days to get to Los Angeles to visit another friend of mine. Rather than drive 5 hours a day, we decided to take a long day and drive straight from Denver to Las Vegas in one stretch – about 11 hours – and I am so glad we did! It was one of the most beautiful drives I’ve ever done (and when I say that, I mean I sat in the passenger seat and enjoyed the views while Alex drove the whole way). It really felt like the quintessential US road trip scenery. We made sure to pull into several scenic viewpoints along the way!
So now we are in Las Vegas! We were ready for a day with no plans, so we’ve enjoyed just relaxing and popping out for a bite when we are hungry. Strangely enough, we have found ourselves in Vegas quite a few times over the the last couple of years. Tonight we will be going to a brewery with one of Alex’s favorite beers which we can only get here – a lager infused with habanero peppers. The BBQ place next store also happens to have some fabulous smoked pork belly. Tomorrow, we head for Los Angeles!
Wandering Between Meals 
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