A Weekend in Nashville

During the first weekend in November I traveled to Nashville with my husband for the Ravens vs. Titans game. I had previously visited Nashville on several occasions for work, but I never really got a chance to enjoy the city. The works visits were very short and by the time I was off in the evening, there weren’t many places to visit and I was tired. When I found out that we played the Titans away this season, I saw it as a great opportunity to visit Nashville again. My husband loves football, so it was easy to convince him to go. I could enjoy the city and we could also cheer on the home team.

We visited Nashville from November 4^th – November 6^th. We flew in early Saturday morning and arrived at Nashville at about 9:00 am. I had made arrangements to stay in an Airbnb for the weekend. Hotels for the weekend cost a little more money than I wanted to spend. I lucked up with finding an Airbnb, that was about 10 minutes from the stadium. I got a 2-bedroom apartment for much less than I would have spent for a hotel room. The hostess was very nice. You can check out the Airbnb here.

We were not able to check into our Airbnb until 3:00 pm so we chose to do a tour of the Jack Daniel distillery to pass the time. I always enjoy shots of Old Number 7, so I figured this tour should be fun. After getting our checked bag and grabbing our rental, we headed out to Lynchburg, TN. This trip took about an hour and twenty minutes. Upon arrival we went to the visitor center where we were able to purchase tickets for the tour. There were several tours options that range from 30-minute tours to 3-hour tours. The tickets were very reasonable in price ranging from $13- $25, which the exception of the $3-hour tour which cost $75. Me and my husband opted for a one-and-a-half-hour tour. Basically, you took a tour of the facilities and then you end the tour in the tasting room, where you sample different Jack Daniel Whiskeys.

 Jack bottles throughout the years

Our tour guide was Ron. He was great and very knowledgeable. You can tell he takes his job very seriously and he really enjoys what he does.  Our tour started in the Rickyard where they create charcoal for the whiskey making process. They burn these maple wood pallets to create the charcoal chips these chips are then used to mellow the whiskey. The whiskey drips through 10 feet of this charcoal.

 pallets burning to make charcoal

Jack on the Rocks 

After the Rickyard we visited the natural spring that houses the water used to make the whiskey. In front of the spring was a statue of Jack Daniel standing on rocks. The statue is known as “Jack on the Rocks”.  We also were able to see the original office of Jack Daniel that is still on the property. In the office is the safe that ultimately led to his death. Apparently, he could not get the safe open one day, so he kicked the safe injuring his toe. The injury was left untreated and turn into very bad infection that ultimately killed him.

The next stop of the tour was to one of the fermentation buildings. We got to see the process of how the whiskey was made, but no pictures were allowed.  Towards the end of the tour, they explained to us that we could actually buy an entire barrel of whiskey. The process included coming down to the office and tasting the barrels. After you buy a barrel, your name goes on a little placard on wall of other barrel purchasers.

After the tour was complete it was time for the tasting. We were given a sample of Jack Daniel Gold, Sinatra Select, Single Barrel Select, Single Barrel: Barrel Proof, and Single Barrel Rye.  My favorite of all these samples was the Sinatra Select. It was so smooth.  If you were wondering how Sinatra name ended up on a bottle of whiskey, it’s because he was big fan of Jack Daniel Whiskey. To commemorate Sinatra, the created a special blend and named it after him. It is quite expensive too. After the tasting was over we were brought back to the guest house where we purchased a souvenirs bottle of whiskey and had our names engraved into it.

 Sinatra Select was my fave!!!

After making the ride back to Nashville, we checked into our Airbnb and rested little before heading to downtown Nashville. We had dinner at the BB King’s Blues Club.  The club is located on 2^nd Ave.  It wasn’t a long wait to get in, but while we waited for our table we decided to explore nearby. We came across a cowboy boot store a few doors down. Let me just say, I was terribly misinformed about the price of cowboy boots. Maybe I wasn’t informed at all. COWBOY BOOTS ARE EXPENSIVE!!! Those boots were like $500 and above, but they were running a special, buy one get one free. They whole place smelted of leather and they were good quality, but I will need to save up for my pair. As soon as we left this store out buzzer went off for the Blue’s Club, so we headed back there. We had a great time. There was cover band that performed, and they played all the hits. The most memorable performance was Beyonce’s Crazy in Love. The music was great and so was the food.

 The cowboy boot store

 party wagon pulled by a tractor on Broadway

After dinner we enjoy Broadway and 2^nd Ave. These two streets are lined with clubs and many of them had bands that were performing country music. Nashville is like the country music capitol so that was to be expected. We only stopped into one or two and had a few drinks.  We were more so people watching than anything else. We did not hang out for too long, because we had a long day the following day and we needed to be ready for game day. We headed back to our cozy Airbnb and called it a night.

The following morning, we were up early to get to Nissan Stadium. I think we arrived at about 9 am and there were already Ravens and Titans fans setting up for tailgating. We had to go to will call for our tickets and our field passes. After getting our field passes we were able to go down to the field and watch the Ravens warm up. It was nice to see the players and be greeted by them on the way to the field. My husband was really enjoying himself. Like I said, HE LOVES FOOTBALL. After watching warm ups, we headed to our seats which were in the front row next to the tunnel. I wish I could have gotten pictures of the Titan coming out of the tunnel. They had this machine that shot fire each time a player on the starting line up was announced. It was hot as hell on the front row.  Well the game got underway and …….we lost. Even though we didn’t get the outcome we wanted, I couldn’t complain though. I had an awesome day. We headed back to the apartment and Airbnb and we settled in for the night.

Monday arrived, and we were scheduled to go home, but we couldn’t leave before I had Kenny try the famous Nashville Hot Chicken. I had tried hot chicken on my previous visits to Nashville. It is a local favorite and anyone who comes to Nashville tries it. We went to one location first and it was packed. The line was out the door and the place had barely opened. We went to a second location which was a new location and we beat the rush by like 5 minutes. We enjoyed our lunch before heading back to the airport to fly home.

My stay in Nashville was short, but I would recommend it to anyone. If you do go, consider the drive Lynchburg and take the Jack Daniels Tour. You will really enjoy it. If you are considering visiting Nashville and would like information on things to do, contact me anytime at info@pandstravel.com. 

                                                                My visit to Cuba

First, let me apologize for taking so long to blog about this trip. I visited Cuba in mid- November and here it, January, and I am just writing about my trip. I will be timelier with my blogs in the future.  I am just going to give you the highlights of the trip.  I visited Cuba in from November 10^th – 14^th with one of my good girlfriends, Stacey. She is the best travel partner!!! We literally go everywhere together; this time was no different. Forgive me in advance if I lack some details. I did not journal throughout this trip, so some details may be vague.

Our Casa

I visited Cuba in from November 10^th – 14^th and stayed in Airbnb accommodations. We had the entire place to ourselves. Our place had a living room, eat in kitchen, bedroom, 1 full bathroom with a shower and a half bathroom. There was also a rooftop patio, but climbing the stairs to get to it was a little scary. I only went up one time and that was in the evening, so I was not able to enjoy the view.  The home is in the heart of Central Havana. At this location you really got to experience the day to day living on the Cuban people.  You can check them out the property here. Enma was our host and she was the absolute best. She arranged our transportation from the airport prior to our arrival. Anytime we needed something she was there to help. She also arranged breakfast for us. Each morning we walked across the street from our casa to have breakfast. We paid $5 daily for breakfast. Sometimes breakfast was hit or miss.

The Market, The Capitol, Old Havana, and The Malecon

On our second day In Havana we started our day by visiting the market. We had this casa with an empty refrigerator, so we figured we would get snacks and drinks for when we were in the home. The market was a short walk from the casa. I didn’t realize until we arrived that the market was more so like a mall where you could purchase any and everything. There were several food markets, a carniceria (meat market), clothing stores, shoe stores, electronic stores, appliance stores, a bank, a furniture store, a couple restaurants, food stalls, and more. We walked the entire market, before grabbing some rum, soda and snack from the market. We also grabbed some ham and cheese sandwiches from a food stall. Everything was inexpensive.

After returning home we visited Capitol. Our host Enma called a friend who was a taxi driver to take us.  It was less than a 10 minute ride from out Casa. The Capitol is Cuba is modeled after the U.S Capitol, which I found to be very ironic given the relationship between the two countries. After taking in view of the Capitol our taxi driver took us for a drive around Old Havana. We stopped at various places and he shared with the us the history or significance of those places. After this tour, we found ourselves near the Capitol again and we were hungry. Now, I must admit that we did not plan for this trip as well as we have planned for others in the past. With proper planning, we would have known where our next meal was coming from. After a bit of walking, we came upon the Floridita. This restaurant is known for its popular drinks and it was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway. We did not eat here though, we visited a restaurant on the opposite corner which was still had good cocktails and less expensive meals. There was a bit of a fiasco though. We asked for a bread basket and we received one, but instead of providing us with butter, they bought us mayo. Unfortunately, Stacey made this discovery. I don’t know who spreads mayo on bread, but anyway……

After this meal, we went for a stroll through the city. We came across some schools ranging from elementary school to high school. There was also a school for special needs students. The schools were open and there was a person monitoring each school. We were able to tour one of the schools. The school architecture, like much of the Cuban architecture, is beautiful but in need of a lot of repair.  

 The school houses

We ended our night at the Malecon. The Malecon is a seaside avenue where you will often find people hanging out, listening to music, and enjoying rum. Unfortunately for us, our taxi driver did not drop us off at the part of the Malecon where everyone was hanging out. We did a bit of walking before we found a group of people hanging out, but they were not on the sea wall, they were across the street in a park like setting, sitting on benches and listening to music. We hung here for a bit. They probably weren’t on the sea wall because the tide was high, and water was splashing over the wall. With the wind and the water, you would have been very wet. After a while, we took a taxi home, and as we were driving home, we saw large crowd in another section of the Malecon at Avenida 23, which is probably where we were supposed. Overall it was an eventful day.

Vinales

On our 3^rd day we visited the town of Vinales.  Our host, contacted yet another friend and he was there promptly at 9 am to take us on the trip. He was waiting outside the home as we were leaving breakfast.  Before heading out the country side, he did take us around the city. We wanted to see where government officials lived. He showed us the area where Cuban government officials lived as well as several embassies before heading on the highway. Now, in Cuba you will find horse drawn carts on the highway. I am not kidding. They drive fast as hell too. Vinales is about 2 hours from Havana, so this was an all-day trip.

During the trip we stopped at 2 different hotels in the countryside that had amazing views. During the second stop we enjoyed some Pina Colada, there was live music, and were able to do a little shopping. After the short visit, we visited a waterfall next. I believe the admission fee for the waterfall was $3. If you do visit the waterfall, make sure you have the correct shoes. It was a bit of a task getting over to the waterfall, but we made it. Some people were swimming, but I only wanted pictures. There were also people there selling drinks out of the coconuts and pineapples. Another vendor was selling souvenirs. We made our way back to the taxi and then we were off to lunch. We were taken a restaurant that provided a “buffet lunch”. This lunch consisted of soup, salad, fruit salad, three different types of rice, a choice of meat, and a drink. I opted out of the salad and fruit salad. The soup was very good and so were the beans and rice. I ordered chicken and I did not enjoy it. Unfortunately, I don’t not recall the name of the restaurant.

    

After lunch, we visited tobacco farm. At the time we visited the owner was hosting a party for one of his children. We were given like a 5-minute tour and then asked if we wanted to buy cigars. They also offered horseback riding which neither one of us was interested in.  We took some pictures around the farm before heading off to visit the cave.  The cave admission was about $5. No one warned us that walking through this cave would be challenging. You had to duck and walk through narrow walkways before you reached the boat. There should been some warning about this. There were elderly people purchasing tickets. Anyway, once on the boat it was just a short ride. The cave is not as deep as I expected. There was some discussion about the formations in the cave and in less than 5 minutes we were exiting the cave. After this we took the long ride back to Havana.

El Museo De Revolucion

On our 4^th day in Cuba we visited El Museo De Revolucion. The entrance fee was $8. The museum is very imformative, but many of the exhibits involved a lot of reading. That’s not a bad thing, I just expected to see more artifacts from the revolution. You will enjoy this museum if you enjoy history.

We went to the Havana Club Museum gift shop and purchased rum to take home. The museum was just about to close as we arrived, but if you get the opportunity you should check it out. Well, on second thought that may not be possible under Trumps new laws.

Later in the day we visited the hotel that Beyonce and Jay-Z stayed in during their trip to Cuba. I am a huge Beyonce fan, so visiting the hotel was a must. It was the Hotel Saratoga and it is located near the Capitol. We had dinner and drinks while there. It is a very nice upscale hotel. I encourage you to check it out if you visit. Afterward, we spent the evening walking the street of Havana one last time.

Overall, this was a good trip. I wish we had been more prepared as far as the itinerary was concerned. The language barrier was also challenging from time to time. Over the course of the trip, some of those middle school and high school Spanish lessons came back to me. Another issue we had was people trying to overcharge us for things. When I read blogs or post people always say, “Cuba owes me nothing”. I beg to differ, I feel like that owe me a good $25 - $30 for all the overcharging they do.

 If you do go be sure to exchange your currency prior to arriving. Most major banks will exchange the currency if you have an account with them. American dollars are not excepted in Cuba and you are not able to use your bank cards and credit cards. You can exchange the currency it Cuba, but it will cost you more. Also make sure you secure a visa prior to traveling. You should be able to purchase one through your airline, but double check. We flew Delta, and purchased the visa prior to boarding the flight.

If you have questions, feel free to contact me. 

So I am here today, because I want to clear up any confusion regarding my business name, Passports & Souvenirs. Some people see the word passports and assume that I provide passport services. Well, I don’t. I can give you all the information you need about how to obtain one, but I will not and cannot process the application for you. As a matter of fact, I think I will do a blog about how to obtain a passport at a later time. I am in a handful of FB travel group and the topic comes up a lot. There is a lot of misinformation floating around. Anyway, that is another day, another blog post. Let’s get back to the business name.

Passports & Souvenirs…. where did that come from? Well, I did not want a basic name like Pompey Travel. I wanted something that was meaningful to me and would capture the attention of potential clients. I did some brainstorming and my first idea was actually For the Love of Travel. I did some google searches and some FB group searches and found some travel companies with same name. Not to be confused with anyone else, it was back to the drawing board. I came up with a few more options and they were also a no go and then one night I had an epiphany. PASSPORTS & SOUVENIRS!!!

Where did that come from, you ask. Well, to me passports are the key to seeing the world. Let’s face it, if you don’t have one, you are pretty much confined to your country. My goal is to promote world travel so “Passports” was fitting. What about souvenirs? Well souvenirs are the things we collect while traveling. We look back at them and recall memories of places we visited. Hopefully, they are good memories. I want all my future clients to look back on trips and remember the amazing time they had so Passports & Souvenirs was born!!!!

I hope you love the name as much as I do. I also hope it sits well in your memory. When you are ready to book that family vacation or cruise, call me. Passports & Souvenirs looks forward to helping you build memories of a lifetime.