From El Cerrito to Nashville

I awoke at what I believed was a reasonable time to get dressed and make sure I wasn't forgetting anything crucial. My sister, mom, and dad were all up as well ready to take me to El Cerrito High School for the much-anticipated departure. When I arrived at ECHS, everyone was already there waiting to receive instructions from Don. We got the basics about blogging and our responsibilities as college students under the ILC. We were reminded to not only learn a lot from our stay in Nashville but to also have fun.

A very generic but necessary photo
of my iced coffee

Time went by rather quickly and it was time to take a group photo and board the shuttle. I almost forgot my bag with my phone and money that my sister was holding, which would've been awful since I was the designated Don-updater. In 48 minutes, we were at the Southwest terminal at the Oakland Airport.  Cammie, Maddie, and I were luckily all pre-checked for TSA, pretty sweet to not have to take off our shoes.

Once at the gate, we all pretty much dispersed to get some breakfast. Cammie and I both decided to get some Peet's Coffee. Before we knew it, it was time to board the plane.

Southwest Airlines does a first come first serve type of thing when boarding, so Evan, Cammie, and I got to sit together since there was a row for three. But, we were surrounded by a young missionary group that was returning home to Nashville. Taylor and Evan told us that they had gone to work with a church in a small town called Patterson since their congregation in Nashville is a lot bigger. I've always found it interesting that churches do those mission trips to help smaller towns or even countries We also asked them what was fun to do in Nashville but they were rather stuck on that question.

The plane ride was otherwise pretty laid back since most people kept to themselves, reading books or listening to music. Since we were sitting together, we watched The Godfather on Evan's laptop using Cammie's earphone splitter. It was Cammie's and my first time watching that iconic movie. Personally, I really liked it as it played a lot with my emotions. We didn't quite finish it though because we'd stop whenever the flight attendants brought snacks or Evan had to explain important concepts to us.

Descending onto Nashville was interesting due to the fact we flew through rain for a while. It was a warm welcome from the city in my opinion. Walking out into the humid Nashville air was also a new experience. I think I've felt sticky the whole day, but it's a very bearable climate. We got a cab, almost right away, and were on our way to our hotel right across from Vanderbilt. The cab ride there allowed us to see how green and beautiful Tennessee is. As a Californian, I'm pretty jealous of all the green.

The Hampton Inn had a very friendly "howdy yall" sign right on the entrance doors. It was refreshing to walk into the air-conditioned lobby, which was pretty small. On the right of the entrance was what seemed to be where they serve breakfast in the mornings, with a complimentary coffee bar. In the middle of it was a fireplace that may or may not be legit. After Ms. Hansen checked us in, we took the elevator up to the second floor. The entire hotel must be at the most 10 stories high, not too tall.

Our rooms were easy to find, with Evan's and Ms. Hansen's almost across from each other and us girls' right around the corner. We walked into a modestly sized room with 2 queen beds on the right side, a small LG flatscreen on top of a dresser across from them, and a desk adjacent to that. It feels slightly more cramped than the one Ms. Hansen has, other than that they're identical. Ours also has a view of the pool, parking lot, and the Sportsplex across the street.

Cammie testing out the bed for comfort

After putting our bags down, we met with Ms. Hansen about our plans for the rest of the afternoon. She has a book about Nashville with a bunch of places and things we can do, which is going to come in handy for the open spots in our itinerary. We decided that we would walk to Centennial Park and just walk around for a while, but then we realized that Hog Heaven closed at 7 so we went there first instead.

Hog Heaven, a critically acclaimed BBQ joint, was just a few blocks away from our hotel. It literally took us at the most 10 minutes but it was probably less. As Evan pointed out, it seemed like a sketchy place at first. It definitely isn't a very big or flashy place but I read a lot of good things about it so I didn't mind the appearance and my hopes were still high. Overall, Hog Heaven didn't disappoint whatsoever. I ordered the pulled chicken platter with their signature white sauce and BBQ beans and mashed potatoes as my sides. The food was served quickly, as it seems to be a grab and go kind of place. It did have two picnic tables that we could eat at though. We wanted to sit somewhere around the park but we were afraid it was going to rain on us so we stayed at the picnic tables.

My delicious dinner plate

The first bite of the pulled chicken with the white sauce was rather incredible. It was a creamy kind of sauce but it was tangy and spicy. I wish I had better words to describe it but I absolutely loved how it reminded me of a cream sauce my mom makes. The mashed potatoes were to die for as well along with the BBQ beans. Ms. Hansen bought a peach cobbler for us to share and even that melted in my mouth. In short, Hog Heaven is a must and I will definitely go back.

We were stuffed, or at least I was, so we took that stroll around Centennial Park. We encountered a playground and we immediately went to the swings. Then we saw some bikes we could rent to take all over Nashville. There's a membership for a month for $15 which would probably be nice for anyone who is visiting or for Vanderbilt students themselves.

Eventually, we ended up at the Parthenon, which was closed but still really a beautiful sight from the outside. Ms. Hansen told us that most of the statues and important Greek artifacts that were in the original Parthenon are actually in the British Museum. That's a shame for anyone who wants to visit the Parthenon to see authentic things. I can't wait to be able to see the inside though and take more photos as Greek history enthusiast.

The beautiful Parthenon

A mural with artists and bands outside one of the bars 

On our way back to the hotel we actually decided to keep on walking down the street towards the downtown area which we had driven by earlier. There are several sushi bars for some reason but I was more attracted to the several live music bars, to my dismay I'd have to be 18 to enter any. They look interesting from the outside though. There was also a very classic looking soda shop that I'm thrilled to try one of these days. Most of the establishments in the downtown area are all very traditional or classic looking and it reminds me of Berkeley's Telegraph Ave, especially with all the pizza places. As it started getting darker and there was more thunder, we walked back to our hotel to get some rest.