I arrived in Nashville on Friday afternoon after a morning of uneventful travel except for a bit of bumpy air due to weather conditions. My flight in to Nashville was packed with folks from New England traveling to the Patriots-Titans game on Sunday. I had no idea I’d be with so many folks from my neck of the woods for the weekend. I picked up my rental car at the airport and to my delight, it was a VW Beetle! Just like my old one, except the newer model and not a convertible. It was fun to have this cute car for the weekend.
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| My VW Beetle rental for the trip. |
I decided to drive directly to the running store to pick up my race bib first before heading to the hotel. The drive from the airport to downtown wasn’t long, but there was a bit of traffic. The neighborhood the running store was in was called the Gulch, and I found it easily enough, along with a parking garage. I recalled that the race organizers mentioned the strict parking enforcement in the area, and I didn’t want to get the Boot.
The weather was very windy and cold on this day, which I knew didn’t bode well for race day. I was hoping for warmer temps here in Tennessee, but you get what you get. At least the forecast wasn’t for rain or snow.
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| Race shirt and bib number. |
The line at the running store moved quickly, and in no time I was back in the car and heading to the nearest grocery store called The Turnip Truck. It was a cute fresh, organic type of place. I grabbed some berries and snacks and headed to the hotel.
My hotel was the Hilton in downtown Nashville, and it was located right next to the Predators hockey stadium. All around me were the sights of Nashville: the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Symphony Center, Broadway—home to all the honky tonks, and many other local sites. It seemed I was in the middle of everything here. I checked in to the hotel and realized that attached to the Hilton was an Italian trattoria, Il Mulino. I booked a table for dinner, figuring it would be easy and that I could get to bed early for the race the next day.
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| Il Mulino restaurant entrance from hotel lobby. |
The restaurant ended up being the perfect choice. The food was fantastic. I had an amazing seasonal salad with romaine, mushrooms, shredded carrots, red onion, hearts of palm, tomatoes, and cucumbers in a very light lemon thyme vinaigrette dressing. So yummy! They also brought out some fresh bread with a pureed eggplant spread. Amazing. For dinner I had spaghetti and meatballs…back to my old standard. The pasta was freshly made and the meatballs were to die for.
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| Bread and eggplant spread, along with a gorgeous glass of red wine. |
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| Spaghetti and meatballs. YUM! |
I ended up chatting with a table of women next to me who were in Nashville from Louisville, KY for their annual girls weekend. The two younger women were sisters and they were there with their elderly mom and aunt. They go somewhere different every year, and they were heading out to see a show. I told them how much I loved that they took that time out for themselves each year. What fun. When they asked what brought me to Nashville, I told them about the race the next morning, and they couldn’t believe it. When I told them this was going to me my 42nd state, they were completely blown away. I told them Louisville was on the list for the spring of next year for the Derby half marathon, and they gave me some tips of things to check out when I’m there. It was fun to make their acquaintance, and it added some extra fun to dinner.
With a full belly and a box of leftover pasta, I headed back to my room to get everything ready for the morning. The race started at 7 am, and I was hoping to get a good night of sleep.
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