Some of you may know that we bought our first house together in Nashville back in March. It has been incredibly exciting to have our own house. Buying a house here means that we are planning to stay in Nashville for the foreseeable future. Which is great because we love living in Nashville.
We were looking forward to exploring our new neighborhood over the summer and just spending time in the area in general. That didn't exactly happen the way that we had hoped, but there have been a few fun things that we've been able to do (with proper precautions) over the past few months.
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams
There are a number of cities in the U.S. that have Jeni's scoop shops, but that doesn't make going there any less special. I've never had an ice cream with more flavor. Each scoop tastes exactly like whatever it's named. Knowing that I can drop by to get a cone of brambleberry crisp at the end of a less than thrilling day made this summer so much better than it would have been otherwise.
Two Ten Jack
Two Ten Jack is an izakaya and ramen place in East Nashville. I've heard so much about how good the ramen is there, but I kind of thought that it would end up being the sort of place that is fun but overhyped. Turns out that I was wrong. The ramen really is that good. Maybe I've only ever had subpar ramen before, but I was amazed by the pork ramen I ordered. I started planning to come back another time about three bites in.
Fox's Donut Den
It's no secret that I love donuts, and Fox's has a great classic donut. It's nothing fancy, but it's exactly what you expect a donut to be. Normally, I wouldn't be in Green Hills so frequently, but with several of the library branches closed, I've been driving to the library on that side of town to pick up my holds. The East Nashville library should be opening for curbside pickup soon, and while I'm glad to be able to get cooks more easily, I will be sad to lose my excuse to pick up the perfect maple donut once a week.
The Optimist
Most of our dining has involved take-out or delivery recently, but we did go to The Optimist to celebrate Andrew's birthday. It completely made up for everything that we felt we had been missing out on. The Optimist advertises itself as a fish camp and oysters place. Everything about the restaurant made me happy. We were seated upstairs next to a beautiful wallpapered scene of octopus and mermaids, there were shell lamps, and the windows kept the place bright despite the dark blue of the walls. If you suddenly notice that my home takes a turn into marine decor, The Optimist will be why. We ordered the grilled octopus, oysters, and shrimp. I'm not the biggest seafood lover, but I will be back there for sure, I can't wait to try more.
60 Hikes Within Sixty Miles of Nashville by Johnny Molloy
Ok, so this is obviously a book, not a place, but one thing I'm excited for in the fall is spending time hiking in and near Nashville. In the past two years, I've gone on four of the hikes in the book. The one that I've been on the most is Richland Creek Greenway. It was one of the things that I talked about in my previous Nashville list. I went there so many times when we lived in Sylvan Park. As I get a chance to explore more places, I'll plan to update on where I think the best hikes are. If you live in Nashville and want to be outside more often, this book is a great resource. I got my copy from The Bookshop at the beginning of the summer. They have recently opened back up for browsing by appointment, or you can order online and go pick up your books at their window.
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