We just made it back from our Dollymoon (Dollywood + Honeymoon), and it was probably the best honeymoon that anyone has ever taken. Ever. Oh, you think yours was the best? Let’s just agree that you’re probably wrong and move on with our recap. We’ve got lots to share with you — so much, in fact, that we’re going to break it up into a few different posts. There was just too much fun for one post! Today we’ll take you through the first two days of our trip in Nashville.

We stayed at the Union Station Hotel in downtown Nashville, which was built in 1900 as Nashville’s main train station. It was turned into a hotel after all train service had stopped in the 1980s.

The exterior of the station and the lobby area were clearly pretty fancy. You can certainly tell what an opulent place this would have been in it’s heyday. Although, the station used to have two alligator pits, and we can’t decide if that’s opulence or a sign of a security problem.

We were so happy to be starting our long awaited Dollymoon that we had to capture our excitement with a quick photo right there in that vintage, yellow stairway.

Pretty snazzy room, no? After a food detour to the Germantown Cafe just north of the Capitol Building, we headed to Lower Broadway, the touristy strip with bright lights, live music, and Nashville’s famed honky-tonks.

To be perfectly honest, we expected to be underwhelmed by this part of town. While the area does have its fair share of duds (I’m looking at you, Margaritaville), we had a really fantastic time.

We stopped into Robert’s Western World and grabbed a table in the back to watch a few excellent bands. We also ran into Pokey Lafarge and the South City Three at the bar who just happened to be in town recording for their next album.

The next morning, we decided we’d better continue the high life and get room service.

Then it was on to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. There was so much to see there, but we especially liked the display of Hatch Show prints that they had along the third floor wall. It was so inspiring to be so close to instruments and lyric sheets and clothing belonging to all of county music’s legends. Afterward, Sarah decided that she wanted to pick up yodeling…

The endless walls of gold records and the majestic (yes, we said it — majestic) Hall of Fame were also amazing to see.

We made sure to say hello to Elivs (above), our beloved Dolly, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and a few others, and we snapped another honeymoon portrait (albeit, a strange one) in a reflection of copper in the museum. We like to keep things a little weird around here…

After the Hall of Fame, we walked back through Lower Broadway and found a more subdued scene than the night before.

Then it was time for some grub! After grabbing the car, we were off to Arnold’s, which might just be the food highlight of the entire trip! It’s a cafeteria-style place that serves up some classic southern dishes and even throws in a few twists along the way. Spicy chocolate chess pie…yes, please.

After scarfing down far too much food, we headed out to do a little shopping. Our first stop was Savant Vintage, which was packed with cool, but pricey, wares.

Next up was some ranch dressing at Katy K Designs. Sarah splurged on a snazzy pair of white cowgirl boots, and I’m sure she’ll be sharing some photos of those in the near future.

Sadly, between a fantastic midday meal and a show to see that night, that’s about all the shopping we had time for in Nashville. I guess that means we’ll have to go back…

We were a little tired by that point, but it was amazing to see the Alabama Shakes and Jack White at the Ryman. Obviously a great venue, and both bands didn’t disappoint.

After the show, we decided to stop back into Robert’s to grab some fried pickles that we just didn’t have room for the night before.

A fun fifties rock band was playing, which made for a great post-show show. Plus, Brittany Howard from the Alabama Shakes was just hanging out and was kind enough to let Sarah take a picture with her!

Then we rushed off to bed in anticipation of the next leg of our Dolly-tastic journey: Dollywood! We’ll give you the scoop on that fine time, as well as on some surprisingly fun times in Gatlinburg, Tennensse, tomorrow.