My little family and I recently took a family vacation to Nashville, Tennessee to see two of my siblings who live in the most darling city outside Nashville called Franklin. I can’t adequately express just how darling Franklin is, but when one evening we were all out in the yard, surrounded by brightly painted shuttered houses, running underneath blooming Magnolia trees, filling Mason jars with lightning bugs… let’s just say you can die of charm, and I was pretty close to flatlining. From what I gathered from being in the South, everyone we met and interacted with was so nice. So well mannered, kind and calm, a definite different pace than what I am used to, and I would move there in a second. I am no expert, so this post is definitely not a Tiny Tour, but wanted to share some of the fun things we encountered there!
1. Nashville Zoo: This zoo was smaller than our zoo in SLC, but had this Jurassic Park style dinosaur exhibit that was unreal! Our boys loved it and Hayes asked “Are we going to the zoo, or the jungle?” We were in awe of just how green Nashville is the whole time.
2. The Food: We ate some seriously incredible food while we were there, but our stand-outs were The Pharmacy, Pancake Pantry and Martin’s BBQ. The Pharmacy is a really popular bar style restaurant but they catered to children perfectly. I hate when restaurants take “kids menu” as a sign to stir up some Kraft Mac&Cheese and charge $6.00 for it, but the Pharmacy elevated what I have come to know as kids food. Everything we ate was delicious. Russ gets a burger pretty much everywhere we go, and has become a connoisseur of sorts. He said this burger was in his top 5, which probably means it was the best ever, but he will never heed to hype.
Pancake Pantry: I hope the last bite of food I have while on this Earth is Pancake Pantry’s Sweet Potato Pancakes. They top it with cinnamon sugar butter and they have caramel maple syrup on hand. Unreal! The kids were in Heaven, the line was long but moved quickly.
We had such a hard time deciding where to eat BBQ, there are a million options and we wanted to make it count! We went with Martin’s BBQ and it was delicious. It’s a definite meat fest, so probably not for everyone, but my picky boys ate their herb rubbed chicken wings and loved them so that’s a win!
3. Water Features: Lots of the home developments have HOA pools so we swam with my siblings and then also hit the Franklin YMCA which had slides, rock climbing walls over the deep end, fountains and more. The Cumberland Park Spraygrounds in downtown was awesome! Really anything to counteract the humidity is alright with me! This desert girl will take dry heat any day!
4. For Adults: We also hit up a couple thrift stores (it’s a Frame tradition) like the Hidden Treasure Chest, Music City Thrift, and of course the Honky Tonks on Broadway (sans kids) for bluegrass, rockabilly and country music.
All in all it was such a fun trip. Traveling with kids always adds a new dimension of stress, but we wouldn’t do it any other way! To my fellow Nashville-lovers, what would you add to this list? Leave it in the comments, and I’ll try not to be sad that we missed them all.
Have a wonderful weekend!!
xo
These sunglasses come in multiple sizes, for babies, toddlers and big kids and they are virtually indestructible. We didn’t go as far as backing over them with a car, but we did put them into the mitts of some very curious children and watched as the arms were bent forward and back, dropped and stepped on, licked (see below) and dragged through the dirt. Shatter resistant lenses and pliable frames make for one tough pair of shades! 
We’ve been through our share of sunglasses, but you really can’t beat the flexibility of these frames. For little aggressive hands, this is definitely the best choice for sure!
All you need is a shoe of your kiddo’s and a shoe of their dad’s and some paint! Cover or dip the sole and place the shoes side by side. Let it dry completely and frame! This makes for a simple abstract piece for dad’s desk or wall. We love the quote above: “Every Father should remember that one day his son will follow his example instead of his advice.” to accompany this handmade gift. It stands as a silent reminder that it’s all about what we show them not what we tell them.
