Wednesday, June 8, 2022

New York City Ballet at the Kennedy Center

Since the Mariinsky Ballet's performance was cancelled in April, it had been months since I had seen a dance performance at the Kennedy Center! I am bummed that I'm missing the New York City Ballet's performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream (my favorite Shakespeare play), but I did get to see their "Visionary Voices" repertoire last night, which was very good!

Emanon - in Two Movements

Image found here

The first piece featured eight dancers: four women and four men. The choreography came from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, so I was a little worried that the piece would be too modern for me (think of people writhing on the floor, having epileptic fits, etc.). But it wasn't like that at all! I will admit that I dozed off a few times while watching (not because I didn't like it! I had woken up before 6:00 a.m. that day and was just so tired...), but what I saw was very pretty (although repetitive at times; it seemed like each time I woke up I was watching the same dance moves again and again). I thought the dancers did a great job, although I think Alexa Maxwell was dancing with Victor Abreu, and she wasn't great at connecting with him as a partner; I felt like she was paying more attention to the audience than to him. But otherwise, I liked what I saw.

Jermaine Terry, a dancer with Alvin Ailey, designed the purple costumes. Image found here

The dresses with their pleated skirts were so pretty! I would have worn all of them! Image found here

Here's a video featuring some of this dance, along with an interview with Jamar Roberts, the resident choreographer for Alvin Ailey:


SUSPENDED ANIMATION

Image found here

This piece was like watching a fashion show! The costumes were created by fashion designer Christopher John Rogers, and they were works of art (and featured at the NYCB 2021 Fall Fashion Gala)! While the costumes certainly made an impact, I am not sure if they added or took away from the dance. I was so focused on the clothes instead! The costumes were so colorful, which did not match the slow, somber music. Perhaps this was done on purpose: if the music had been light and fun, perhaps we as an audience wouldn't have taken the costumes or the dancing seriously. I wonder which came first: the choreography or the costumes? Did the costumes truly lend themselves to the dancing? Or did they obstruct the movement of the dancers?

There were four separate parts to this piece, choreographed by Sidra Bell, who has her own dance company in New York. 

i. the object is to slip: This is the part that really felt like a runway. As each of the dancers came on stage, you were more enamored with the latest costume than the last. There were big sleeves full of ruffles, hats that looked like lampshades, a green poof that reminded me of a mushroom... each one was special and unique, and what vibrant colors! It was actually quite a challenge to tell the men and women apart because they were all wearing these over-the-top, flamboyant designs. Who was who?

ii. communion: When the dancers returned to the stage, gone were the poofy sleeves and the exaggerated skirts. Now they were only wearing leotards that had been at the base of the extravagant outfits, leaving them looking more like acrobats than ballerinas. The bright colors and rhinestones remained, and the men's butts actually looked better in the tight onesies! Some of the movements were a bit too robotic for my taste, but it's all for the sake of art, right? 

Even the men's outfits featured corset-like pieces and garter belts. Image found here

iii. protrusion: This was a pas de deux between Emily Kikta and Peter Walker. I have to admit that I don't even remember this part... Maybe I was still thinking about all the colors! But if I'm right about the distinction between the parts, I think this one started off with no music, which was quite jarring. Any time I hear a pointe shoe hit the stage too hard, I cringe a little...

Image found here

iv. Gatherings of the Future: When all of the dancers stood in a line creating a rainbow, it finally hit me: was this piece shown in June to align with Pride Month? That would explain some of the gender bending, not only with the costumes, but also with some of the movements, like men lifting other men during the dance. I also noticed that some of the moves almost felt like the dancers were on balance beams, doing gymnastics instead of ballet. 

When we went to intermission after this piece, the man in front of me said to his wife, "Not what I would want to wear." It's so annoying when older generations can't understand that everyone should be able to wear what they want, and that fashion isn't (shouldn't be?) binary. I always think of the Hunger Games Capitol, where the men and women all wear make-up, fun colors, big hair, etc. Why does this only have to be the case in fiction?

Partita

Image found here

This one was very different, and a far cry from traditional ballet, but I really liked it! It was choreographed by Justin Peck, the NYCB's resident choreographer and one of the company's former dancers. The dancers wore athletic clothes, including white sneakers, which emphasized the true athleticism of dance. Such energy! And the ballerinas didn't look so sickly-thin with real clothes on! The music, called Partita for 8 Voices, was composed by Caroline Shaw, and seemed to be a mix of a capella and choir singing; it makes sense that there were eight dancers featured in this piece. Sometimes the dancers would even move as a group, which reminded me of a capella performances in college.

I think my favorite part was the female pas de deux featuring India Bradley and Claire Kretzschmar. I felt like I was watching an extended CoverGirl commercial or something!

 


The set was also beautiful. Eva LeWitt created the ribbon circles that fell from the ceiling:

Image found here

Having not seen this dance company for nearly three years due to COVID-19, I am so glad I got to see this performance! Read my past blog posts about when I saw the New York City Ballet perform at the Kennedy Center in previous years:

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

You can still buy tickets to see this dance company later this week! Purchase tickets here.

Monday, June 6, 2022

My Desserts of Rockville Adventure

Image found here

The latest issue of Bethesda Magazine features a guide to local bakeries throughout Montgomery County. I have a huge sweet-tooth, and since I hadn't visited most of the places mentioned, I knew I was going to have to try some yummy treats!

Several of the bakeries are located along Rockville Pike (roughly), so one Saturday afternoon I drove up to Rockville with a game plan of which bakeries to visit and which desserts to try. Here's what I got:

1. Ube pie from Gwenie's Pastries

Such a pretty purple color! Image found here

I never would have found Gwenie's if it weren't for this article. It's tucked away in a random strip mall across from a warehouse used for CrossFit workouts. I went in and immediately found the purple slices of pie in the dessert display case. I asked what their best seller is, and the employee said the ube pie and the ube cheesecake are both very popular. Since the former was the one mentioned in the article, I figured that's what I should try.

I was most excited to try this one, so I actually saved it for last, even though it was the first one I picked up! And did I save the best for last indeed! This pie is so good. From the flavorful graham cracker crust to the light creamy topping to the dense red-bean-textured ube at the bottom... everything is delicious. I'm bummed I only have one piece! I could demolish a whole pie of this stuff... Five stars for sure!

2. Coconut raisin bread from Bread Corner

I certainly didn't need to buy a whole loaf of bread, but I love raisin bread, and coconut raisin bread sounded too good to resist! I also couldn't just buy a slice, so I had to commit. 

First of all, this bread is tricky to cut into pieces. It has a wrapper almost like a cupcake liner, except the bread does not easily slip from the paper. I actually had to take a pair of scissors to cut off part of the wrapper to get the bread out, and even then the bottom of the bread stuck to the paper! So that was not convenient.

As for flavor, this mostly tastes like a sweet white bread (almost like a Hawaiian roll) with coconut and some raisins in it. It tastes good, but if you don't usually eat white bread (like me), you're kind of wondering why you're eating something with so few nutrients that isn't a true "dessert." The packaging might read "healthy," but that is a lie. I've had one piece now, and I don't want the rest of the loaf to go to waste, but mentally I'm already done with it...

3. Pistachio raspberry croissant from Lavande Patisserie

I love both pistachio and raspberry flavors, so I knew I wanted to try this "notable croissant," as the magazine called it, from Lavande Patisserie. And it did not disappoint! The pistachio filling is so yummy, almost reminiscent of almond paste. The raspberry flavor it very light, since the croissant only has three raspberries on it (there is no raspberry filling). A very decadent breakfast indeed!

4. Red bean mochi from Japong Bakery

The magazine did feature Japong Bakery's Japanese cheesecake, but since I didn't want to buy an entire cake, I thought I'd try something else instead. I know that red bean is a traditional dessert flavor in much of Asia, so I thought I'd try the red bean mochi (especially because I do love chewy mochi!). This one mostly tastes like a sweetened roll. It took many bites to finally reach the filling in the middle. This dessert for me was a just a little "meh." Don't get me wrong: it tasted good! But it wasn't very exciting, since I felt like I was mostly eating a white bread roll. But people clearly like these kinds of buns: I saw one couple in the store buy a mix of at least 12 different kinds of buns, and another girl picked out five or six of them. So I certainly don't speak for everyone!

5. Lava cheese tart from Teamania

I refrigerated this dessert overnight, so that may or may not have been a good thing. The center had two different textures: one was more gooey, and one was more solid, so I wonder if the whole thing would have been gooey-er if I had eaten it as soon as I bought it. But even so, this was an interesting dessert. The filling is both sweet and savory. It's cheese, so the savory flavor makes sense, but it's also a dessert, so you're not quite expecting it. I thought it wouldn't actually taste like cheese, perhaps like how cannoli filling doesn't taste like ricotta. The crumbly crust is definitely sweet, so that evens out the flavors. I liked this treat, but I'm not sure it is something I would eat again. Next time, I'd try something else instead.

I also went to the Asian Bakery Café to try their white lotus seed moon cake, but they were sold out of it. And I stopped by Stella's Bakery, but the line was out the door! I guess it must be pretty good if it's that popular, but that was my last stop of the day, and I wasn't in the mood to wait. Maybe another time.

I also had a few bonus free treats by using my TasteMoCo Passport from the MoCo Show

Image found here

I got a free Ted's Tart from Ted's Bulletin in Gaithersburg after my Bar Method class. I picked out the s'mores one, but they all looked delicious (the cherry blossom one is a very yummy seasonable flavor)! The shortbread cookie base is so buttery; it's so hard to resist! Much better than Pop-Tarts


I also got a free "snack" from Kung Fu Tea. Snacks included popcorn (which I don't like) or these boba chews, which are boba covered in chocolate. They are very chewy! I think I'd rather just have bubble tea if I am going to enjoy boba.

In the end, I spent about $30 for all of these treats, so I think that's pretty good! I was surprised how many of the Asian bakeries sell all sort of goodies, especially good-sized buns, for only about $3! No wonder other customers were buying so many at once. What a deal! For that price, I was entertained for an afternoon and was able to enjoy yummy snacks (or breakfasts) for the rest of the week. Not bad!

Friday, June 3, 2022

Kip Moore Concert

 

Image found here

I bought tickets to see Kip Moore at the Fillmore Silver Spring months ago, probably over a year ago actually, because the show was rescheduled due to COVID-19. And yet my go-to country buddy STILL forgot and scheduled himself to work! So I dragged my boyfriend (a good sport!) to this show last night. 

We braved the rain and made it in time to see the opener, Dillon Carmichael. I had never heard of him before, but he gives off Luke Combs vibes (i.e. big country dude singing fun songs). He was very charismatic and engaged the crowd well. And he had a lot of funny songs, which I really enjoyed!

Country Women (He changed this to "Maryland Women" for the show, and I'm sure he changes it everywhere he performs!)

Hot Beer (so funny!)

Sawin' Logs (I'm glad my boyfriend told me that "sawing logs" is slang for snoring. Otherwise I wouldn't have understood this song!)


Big Truck


Son of a (This was his one serious, touching song.)


After a break between sets, Kip Moore's band came on stage. Now, I had not seem him perform since the summer of 2015 (read that blog post here), so my memory of his stuff was fuzzy. But he has a very rock 'n' roll sound, which isn't what I was expecting at a country concert. I honestly didn't recognize any of his songs except Beer Money. I was actually pretty disappointed in his show. The rock 'n' roll vibes really threw me off, as did his Mel Gibson-à la-The Patriot ponytail. I mean, one of his guitarists was wearing a Fleetwood Mac shirt! Not only did the performance not feel country, but Moore's attitude was not great, either. I understand that after not being able to perform for so long due to COVID-19, he was ready to put on a show. But it seemed like he lost some social skills during the pandemic from being cooped up for so long. While Carmichael was engaging the crowd wanting us to have fun, Moore just seemed to be focusing on himself having fun. He even admitted to being drunk on tequila and I thought, "You think? You're acting so weird!" He wasn't even fun to watch, honestly; I didn't even bother trying to take any pictures of him while we were there. We ended up leaving mid-way through his set. I was sure there were other songs that I would have liked to hear (not that I remembered them), but I just didn't want to sit through any more of the show. 

When writing this blog post, I was reminded of a few of his hits that I actually really like that I didn't hear him sing:

Somethin' 'Bout a Truck


Hey Pretty Girl (I LOVE this song! How did he not play this song in the first 90 minutes of his set?!)


Here are a few songs he did play that I enjoyed:

That Was Us


How High (similar sentiment to Brett Eldredge's Drunk on Your Love, which I like better, but anyway...)


Fire and Flame (This song and much of his show made me think of Bruce Springsteen. I like Bruce, don't get me wrong, but again, I wanted to see a country concert!) 


Needless to say, I would not see Kip Moore in concert again. I mean, sure, maybe if he were part of a country music festival, but I'm not going to buy tickets to see him as the headliner. What a bummer, especially after such a long wait!

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Recipe: Cream Cheese Banana Bread

My version is a little overbrowned...

I was vastly unprepared for this recipe. I thought I had all of the ingredients and was ready to go, but I didn't actually check that until I had already started mixing things together in a bowl. The only reason I even made this recipe was because I knew I'd have leftover cream cheese after I had finished the bagels in my freezer. I did have leftover cream cheese, but only about two ounces; I thought I'd have about half a brick left, and this recipe actually calls for six ounces. So... this was destined to be an adventure.

Ingredients

For the bread:

·        2 large very ripe bananas peeled and mashed

·        ⅓ cup salted butter melted

·        ¾ cup light brown sugar packed

·        1 large egg

·        2 teaspoons vanilla

·        1 teaspoon baking soda

·        1½ cups all-purpose flour

For the cheesecake filling:

·        6 ounces cream cheese room temperature

·        ¼ cup granulated sugar

·        1 large egg

·        ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

·        3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick spray.

For the bread:

In a large bowl combine mashed bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and baking soda. Stir until combined. Gently stir in the flour. Mix just until incorporated. Set this aside.

For the cheesecake filling:

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with an electric mixer) beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
  2. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Finally, mix in the flour and stir just until combined.

To assemble:

  1. Spread half of the banana bread batter into the bottom of your prepared pan.
  2. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture in top of the batter. Spread the remaining banana bread batter on top of the cream cheese mixture.
  3. Bake for about 50-60 minutes until the center of the bread is set. If the bread is browning too quickly, tent the pan with aluminum foil.
  4. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 20-30 minutes before removing. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

Like I said, I knew this was going to be a disaster, but realized it a little too late and didn't want to waste anything, so figured I might as well bake something. Again, I didn't have enough cream cheese, and the filling was looking so wet. I stole some of my roommate's Laughing Cow cheese wedges to replace some of the missing cream cheese; not ideal, but I was getting creative! I also didn't know that I had run out of vanilla extract, and I was thiiiiis close to accidentally using mint extract instead! Thank goodness they are different colors so I knew something was wrong as soon as I poured it into the measuring spoon! I also never buy salted butter, so I meant to add some salt to the batter before I put it in the oven, but I totally forgot about doing that. Maybe the salt in the cheese wedges helped...? And while I did have enough brown sugar, it had become hard as a rock (typical). I was able to break up the block with my hands, but I didn't bother measuring it. I figure the rock was as "packed" as it was going to get anyway, and I just eyeballed what I thought looked like 3/4 of a cup. So, this clearly was kind of a DIY recipe.

All the white-yellowy liquid is the wet cheese mixture, and you can see how I didn't divide the batter properly
because I didn't have enough to cover the top. Not a great start!

Anyway, my cream cheese filling was so wet, and I didn't divide the dough mixture evenly between the top and bottom layers, so I thought the whole thing was going to end up a big mess. I baked the loaf for 60 minutes; I knew that was a little long, but I was really afraid of all the liquid! In the end, everything solidified and was indeed a bread (instead of a mushy bread pudding that I thought I'd get). It was a little dry, probably from overbaking (I also overmixed the dough mixture picking out those funky chunks of brown sugar that form sometimes). If I ever try to make this recipe again, I will clearly make sure I have ALL the proper ingredients first! I don't mind winging some things, but this was a real nail-biter...

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Recipe: Meat-and-Tater Bake

I was looking in my freezer, and I realized I had TWO big bags of frozen French fries in there. So I started looking up recipes for how I could use the fries other than just by themselves (which of course is delicious, but).

Taste of Home had several recipes that were quite similar: Beef & Tater Bake; Ham 'n' Tater Bake; Broccoli Beef Supper. I mostly followed the instructions for the last one, but I took into account the other two to think about what I needed, what I could leave out, etc. 

Ingredients

  • 4 cups frozen cottage fries
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 3 cups frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
  • 1 can (2.8 ounces) french-fried onions, divided
  • 1 medium tomato, chopped
  • 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of celery soup, undiluted
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
  • 1/2 cup 2% milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Line bottom and sides of a greased 13x9-in. baking dish with cottage fries. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; crumble beef; drain. Layer the beef, broccoli, half of the onions and the tomato over fries. In a small bowl, combine the soup, 1/2 cup cheese, milk, garlic powder and pepper; pour over top.

 

3. Cover and bake at 20 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and onions. Bake 2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

As per usual, I did a few things my own way. I actually didn't look up what cottage fries are until after I had already made the recipe, but all fries are kinda the same, right? I don't eat mammals, so instead of using ground beef or ham, I used ground turkey (although I did get the 85% lean kind just in case a little extra fat would make it taste better). The first recipe called for a whole bag of frozen broccoli, but when I was adding that layer to the casserole, that seemed like a lot. I stopped at what I thought looked like a good amount in proportion to the rest of the dish; the other two recipes call for three cups of broccoli, and I think I did about that (though I did not measure; I also did not drain it, but it didn't seem too wet from being thawed...). I didn't bother with the onion, and I just sprinkled the spices in there rather than measuring them out. I also topped the dish with Chao, a plant-based cheese that Safeway was giving away for free. I figured it was worth trying, seeing as I didn't risk paying for it! As you can see from the photo, it didn't melt very well, and I had it in the oven for five minutes! So maybe not the best cheese for this recipe (although, seeing as most shredded cheese recipes involve melting it, what is this cheese good for...?). 

All in all, I thought this recipe was pretty good, and very easy to make! Would definitely recommend!

Friday, May 6, 2022

My Trip to Nashville!

For my birthday, my boyfriend took me to Nashville, Tennessee! Neither of us had been before, and he knows I love country music, so it was the perfect place to celebrate my special day. 

Here are some highlights from my trip:

Seeing a concert at the Grand Ole Opry

This was the one thing that I knew I wanted to do while we were in Music City. I kept monitoring the guests who were going to perform during the long weekend, and I eventually purchased tickets to see Logan Mize. I had never heard of him before, but after checking out some of his stuff on YouTube, I liked his sound. But I had no idea how many acts we would see that night. We saw EIGHT different acts! Each performance was just a couple of songs, so we had a nice variety. Along with Mize, we also saw Parmalee and Chris Janson (he was the headliner), and included in the mix were also comedian Brian Bates (featured on Dry Bar Comedy) the R&B duo Louis York, and a few old-timey sounding country singers. I didn't expect quite a show like that! It was so much fun, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Nashville. And if I ever get back there, I'm totally going again!

Here are a few of my favorite songs from the night:

Logan Mize' Better off Gone

Parmalee's Take My Name


Chris Janson's Flag on the Wall (I had never heard this song before, but I like patriotic country songs!)



And here's a video of Janson playing the harmonica at a previous concert at the Grand Ole Opry:



Image found here

Visiting Nashville Distilleries

I'm not a beer drinker, so I don't really go to breweries, and wineries are normally outside of city limits, and we didn't have a car for this trip. But more and more cities have distilleries that are easily walkable from downtown, and Nashville has plenty of them! On the afternoon when we arrived, after we had lunch at Jack Cawthon's for some barbeque, we headed to Clinton Street where there are three distilleries in a row! The first one we visited (and our favorite) was Nelson's Green Brier Distillery. We loved hearing the history of this distillery: it was the first one to make Tennessee whiskey, and just a few years ago two brothers discovered that this distillery was started by their great-grandfather, so they picked up the tradition! We also did tastings at the Tennessee Legend Distillery (which really just felt like a gift shop), Grinder's Switch Winery (not a distillery, but), and Corsair Distillery (where I bought a rocks glass; my first souvenir!). On another day we visited the tasting room for the Ole Smoky Tennessee Distillery. They have so many flavors, but each day they pre-select the seven you get to try. When you paid for a tasting, you got a coupon for $10 off at the gift shop, so I bought a second souvenir glass!

Image found here

Going to the Seltzerland Festival

Along with the tasting theme, we went to the Seltzerland Festival at the Riverside Golf Center. We had not planned for this at all. I just googled things to do in Nashville for that Saturday, and this popped up. I had heard of these hard seltzer tastings before and always wanted to go, and now I had my chance! We paid for the Uber to take us up there, nearly 30 minutes away from Nashville. We started with White Claw and worked our way through some familiar brands like Mike's Hard Lemonade, but most of them were totally new brands to us. My thoughts on each (that I can remember):

  • The pineapple flavor of the Mike's Hard Lemonade Seltzer was the best. Very refreshing for the summertime!
  • Buzz Ballz has cute packaging in little spheres, and the chocolate one was so yummy!
  • Happy Dad's claim to fame is that it's less carbonated, which I personally don't like. I enjoy the bubbles!
  • Mighty Swell had so many flavors to choose from, I couldn't even taste them all! I was a bit overwhelmed, so all the tastes kind of meld together in my brain...
  • I had seen Wild Basin in Total Wine stores, but I had never tried it. At this event, they were just showcasing their hard teas, which I didn't like as much. I would have liked to try the berry flavors instead.
  • Freshie is a brand-new tequila seltzer that only has one flavor: lime. It's kind of like a margarita, but if I had my choice, I'd rather have the traditional cocktail.
  • Country Luau is pretty new, made by a guy who was into cocktails. A percentage of sales go to musicians, which is fun. The flavors gave me tropical, summer-time vibes.
  • I had seen Lone River's Ranch Water previously (it was even offered at the Kendra Scott grand opening downtown the day before). I'm not the biggest fan because it's not as fruity or flavorful as most seltzers. But we did try their new margarita seltzer with a splash of their spicy flavor, and that was pretty good!
  • Flying Panda was started by a woman (woot!) and each flavor supports a different endangered animal species. Amazing work! I'd buy it just because of those two things!
  • Post Meridiem's canned cocktails are really what did us in. While hard seltzers usually have about the same amount of alcohol as beer or wine, these miniature cans were ~25% alcohol, making them strong. This did not mix well with the light, less alcoholic seltzers! So while they were fun to try, I'm not sure they are the best fit for this event...

About half-way through the loop of tastings, we reached the food trucks, where we enjoyed some truffle pasta (why there was no pizza truck, I have no idea). But that's as far as we got: the alcohol, the sun, and the heat were getting to us, so we just headed back. If I go to one of these again, I'll definitely hydrate more and pace myself better!

Having a milkshake at Legendairy

My friend recommended the Legendairy Milkshake Bar to me, and as the owner of an enormous sweet-tooth, I had to check it out. My boyfriend and I split (no pun intended) the banana split one, replacing the strawberry and banana ice creams with just chocolate. SO delicious! Not that I had any doubts. I could have eaten any of these and been in heaven. My only complaint was the cost: it was nearly $18 for us to split one, and that doesn't even include the branded mason jar! Very yummy, but perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing.

Watching the dancing at Nashville Palace

The same friend who recommended Legendairy also suggested that we check out Nashville Palace after the Grand Ole Opry. It was about a 20-minute walk, but not bad on a pretty night. It feels like a dive bar for sure, and the drinks were sub-par. But watching the regulars (I assume) two-step and line-dance was so much fun! They were amazing! As a blues dancer myself, I can definitely appreciate some good social dancing, and they were tearing up the floor. I have no idea how they knew which sequence to dance to which song, but they were killing it. It made me want to dance! But the only song I took part in was the Cha-Cha Slide, since it tells you what to do... Like this:

And we did even more things than that! We visited the Johnny Cash Museum, had drinks at Nudie's, shopped for boots and hats along Broadway (although didn't buy anything), walked around Vanderbilt's campus and saw the Parthenon in Centennial Park... We packed a lot in!

I would definitely visit Nashville again. But after a couple of years of not being able to travel, I want to go to some new places first. Next up: Austin, TX for my sister's bachelorette party! Stay tuned for that post!