road trip

Emily Goes to Nashville

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Howdy, y’all!

I am Emily! Phillip is my super awesome brother, and Kelsey is my lovely sister-in-law!  I am so excited to be a guest on Kelsey’s blog today! I currently live in Wisconsin, just outside of Milwaukee with my husband Jon and our sweet little 14-month-old daughter, Evelyn! At the end of March, we met up in Nashville for a few days over my spring break. I have never been there before, and it was at the top of my bucket list! Our trip was way too short, and I really hope we can go back there someday soon.

Jon, Evie and I drove down a day before everyone else arrived. We started off by going to dinner at a BBQ restaurant called Peg Leg Porker. It was fantastic!  It was the type of place with lots of lights, free smells, and a really big bar at the front.  Lots of my friends recommended this place, so I knew we had to try it out.  I got the pulled pork plate with mac and cheese and smoked green beans…yes, SMOKED green beans! The pork was delicious…nice and tender!  The hot sauce that came with it was fire! (In a good way)…I actually used up the last of their hot sauce supply for the night, so I felt really lucky! The mac and cheese was okay, but honestly nothing to write home about.  But those green beans!  I could have eaten a whole bowl of those myself…the smokey flavor was out of this world!  They were also cooked in bacon and the flavor was nothing like I have ever had before with green beans.  If we get back there someday, I will most definitely be going back to Peg Leg Porker!

The next day, Phil, Kels, Mom, Natalie (my sister) and her boyfriend Dave arrived! We went to lunch at a live music bar on Broadway called Tin Roof.  Again, this was a highly recommended restaurant from friends of mine who have been to Nashville a few times before.  What lured me in was their talk of the “world famous queso dip.”  Of course, that was the first thing I ordered! If you don’t know me, I am the queso queen! It is my weakness, and if it’s on the menu, 9 times (okay probably 10) out of 10 I will order it.  The queso dip at Tin Roof  was great! It was nice and hot, and what I loved about it was that it had fresh jalapenos on top.  The tortilla chips were also served warm, and they were nice and crispy. For my lunch entrée, I ordered the Mexican street corn quesadilla.  WOW was that flavor good! It had a few different cheeses inside, black beans, roasted corn, and a super yummy spicy drizzle on top with fresh cilantro.  The quesadilla had a great amount of spice, but it wasn’t too overpowering.  I would have loved some more of that drizzle on the side for extra dipping, though! Overall, lunch was very good, and I would definitely visit there again!

After lunch, we went next door to The Boot Barn!  I always wanted an authentic pair of cowgirl boots, and my birthday was the following week.  On the drive down to Nashville from Wisconsin, I put a bug in Jon’s ear that I wanted to get some boots for my birthday present.  When we went into the store after lunch and yes, a few drinks (wink-wink), I knew it was time to try on some boots!  The first pair I saw, I fell in love with.  I looked at some more, but I kept going back to the first pair.  After walking around in them and begging my husband for them, I walked out of the store with my brand new, BEAUTIFUL blingy boots! Let’s just say I spent the entire rest of our trip with sore feet because I broke them in with all the walking we did.  But it was worth it!

The rest of the afternoon, we spent at the 2nd floor bar of Honky Tonk Central getting our drink on.  It was truly a BLAST!  One of our high school friends who lives in the area met up with us there and it was so great to catch up! Kelsey ordered us all a bottle of vodka infused whipped cream and it was AMAZING! It was mocha flavored and so delicious!  It was fun passing that thing around between all of us.  I felt like a little kid sneaking in shots of whipped cream from the fridge!

Next, on to dinner!  We all went to a cute Italian restaurant called Moto Cucina + Enoteca.  This is also a place that was recommended by a local friend who resides in Nashville. The vibe in the restaurant was dark, but upscale and classy. There was a huge wine cellar that was all window, so we could see bottles of wine shelved from floor to ceiling! We started out with a truffle arancini appetizer.  Arancini are risotto balls that are deep fried. They were delicious! Crispy outer coating, and a cheesy gooey inside. For my entrée, I ordered the Cacio E Pepe, which was fresh house made spaghetti with parmesan and pepper. It was outstanding!  In fact, the entire dinner was so delicious that we didn’t get to snap any pictures!

April, Emily, Evie, and Phil

This whole day was my absolute favorite day of our Nashville adventure.  We had so much fun catching up, exploring the city, eating great food and enjoying each other’s company. I can’t wait to get back there someday! Thanks for reading!

greetings from greenville

kdavis Leave a comment

this post and this greeting are a little tardy, but happy new year nonetheless! and happy reading as i catch you up on all the things we did in greenville, sc for thanksgiving last year. as i often say, better late than never. 🙂

the company

phillip’s uncle steve and aunt pam hosted us, his sister natalie and her boyfriend dave, and cousin tony for thanksgiving. it was a day full of resting, football watching, spirit drinking, and delicious eating. i don’t mind getting fancy every now and then, but it’s so nice to be with folks who are happy just being together. can’t wait to see them all again soon!

the activities

of course we did do a lot of eating (more on that soon), but all things require balance, so we did stay active while on vacation. we squeezed in a couple classes at the local orangetheory fitness and enjoyed walking all the bridges and seeing the sights in downtown. i can only imagine how scenic it is in the spring and fall seasons!

the eats and the drinks

now, it wouldn’t be a phillip and kelsey trip if we didn’t eat our way through town, and greenville was no exception. some places the locals recommended, others we stumbled upon on ourselves, all were good enough to go back. check out these spots if you’re ever in town!

  • this bagel had honey and pecans and peanut butter and a banana. REAL GOOD. (coffee underground)
  • phillip ordered this fancy mocha with lovely latte art on top. (coffee underground)
  • can you guess where we were? (eggs up grill)
  • phillip loves coffee! and so do i. 🙂
  • we split some eggs benny. (eggs up grill)
  • we also split a side of salty, crispy corned beef hash. yum! (eggs up grill)
  • we lucked out with gorgeous weather this day. nice enough to enjoy a pint outside! (fireforge)
  • cheers! (fireforge)
  • pretzels, mustard, and pimento beer cheese. heavenly. (fireforge)
  • a nice little wine flight at foxcroft.
  • more carbs! truffle and parmesan french fries at foxcroft.
  • more smiles!
  • caprese salad at trattoria giorgio. the pastas were pretty good, too.
  • last stop, sully’s steamers!
  • I LOVE BAGELS.
  • more bagels! (sully’s steamers)

all in all, our visit to greenville was 100% enjoyable and made better by the fact that it is only a quick 2-hour drive from our house! i expect we will find ourselves back again in 2023.

obx

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with the pandemic upsetting some of our plans, extra time was then suddenly available for some spontaneous activities. phillip and i decided to take advantage and road trip to the outer banks of north carolina. i’d say for about a year now we’ve considered vacationing there but only recently made it happen and are so glad we did.

rather than the standard day-by-day format for my travels, i’m going to do a little something different and share our trip with you by category. so, if you mostly care about what we eat, you can focus there. if you’re more interested in what we did, that’s all together for you, too. enjoy!

the lodging

even though phillip and i knew we wanted to go to the outer banks, we hadn’t yet really planned on where we would stay. well, the good news is that aaa came to the rescue. my mom was browsing through their member magazine on one of her visits and found a quick blurb about the sanderling resort in duck, nc. she didn’t have to do much convincing, as we quickly agreed to splurge on a couple of nights at the four-star resort.

even during the pandemic, the sanderling did not disappoint. it’s hard to complain when you are within a two-minute walk of the beach or when the bar is just a few steps away from the lobby or when you have the perfect view for a sunrise or when the concierge provides complimentary s’mores packs to roast in the fire pit or when the staff takes extra measures to ensure the common spaces are clean. i can only imagine how the service is elevated when restrictions are not in place.

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a thanksgiving to remember

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as i sit here, all done for at least today’s work day, i find myself thinking, “man, i wish we could rewind to a week ago.”  that’s right, i’m already sadly missing the thanksgiving holiday celebrated last week, and even though Christmas is on the horizon, i’m sure i’m not the only one feeling this way.

to keep this post from feeling too “down,” i want to share with you, my kind readers, all the fun we had last week up in the great smoky mountains.  it was my first major holiday away from my family (all grown up!), and although i dearly missed mom, dad, kyle, clark, and kari, i felt quite welcomed by phillip and his family on this special occasion.

it started last wednesday morning when mr. davis, mrs. davis, and emily came to pick up phillip and me bright and early for the drive up to gatlinburg.  we were packed in snug as bugs as we trekked up through north georgia in the great smoky mountains.  as you may know, there have been treacherous wildfires in that part of the state, and although they didn’t bother our trip up there too much, please keep in your thoughts the folks of tennesse and georgia around those parts, especially those right in and near gatlinburg for the fires they are suffering through right now.  this town is certainly more than a tourist attraction, and we all hope they can recover in no time.

our first destination was the cabin that cousin tony found and booked for our group.  with ten of us total, a large space was certainly necessary.  well, this three-story cabin (complete with hot tub and bunk beds) was just the ticket for our stay.  after quickly exploring, we kids unloaded the car of the luggage, treats, and drinks (can’t forget the wine!).

phillip and i were a bit famished afterwards, so we took the car into town for a bite to eat.  we parked in a deck towards the north end of downtown and moseyed along the sidewalks, taking in our first sights and sounds of this charming town.  as we walked, it was clear that we weren’t the only ones in gatlinburg for the weekend; the shops and attractions were already bustling with plenty of other visitors.  before we went too far, we spotted the pancake pantry and knew that’s where we’d be eating lunch.  this cozy restaurant is a welcoming combination of cracker barrel and the original pancake house (only helpful if you’ve ever been to either).  the service was amiable and the food was tasty.  phillip’s buckwheat pancakes were irresistible, and my buttermilk pancakes and sausage were hitting the spot also.

after paying we strolled around a little bit more before heading back to the cabin to greet the rest of the family.  once all there, it was mr. davis, mrs. davis, grandma lorraine, uncle steve, aunt pam, cousin tony and his girlfriend priscila, phillip, emily, and myself.  talk about a good group!  we spent the rest of wednesday night and all day thursday eating (constantly), playing card games (how about that euchre!), drinking (of course), and relaxing.  the weather was quite agreeable, especially thanksgiving day, and i couldn’t have asked for a more pleasant setting than the lush colors of the changing trees that surrounded us.  can’t you just picture it!

friday morning arrived and i think it’s safe to say there was a mild case of cabin fever going around.  see what i did there!  but really, we all needed to get out and stretch our legs, so we caravanned into town for some good old fashioned tourism.  while some folks went for breakfast, others of us were immediately interested in checking out the local ole smoky moonshine distillery.  that’s right, not even eleven a.m. and we were throwing back shots!  our friendly bartender briana was patient as we tasted and rated each of the thirteen moonshines they had available.  with no food in our stomachs just yet, you can imagine the hootin’ and hollerin’ time we were kicking up in there!

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