Nashville, quite a gem

Over Labor Day Weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting my sister Eleni at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee. After an unexpected two days off of work, I hopped in the car on a Friday morning and drove 450 miles down 65 South through Indianapolis and Louisville to end up in Tennessee.

This was one of the most exciting trips I have taken this year, for a few reasons:

1. Getting to visit my sister, Eleni, obviously, and meeting her friends 
2. Exploring a new city that I knew little about
3. Seeing another college campus and realizing what it has to offer 
4. Enjoying a trip with no homework, thesis or other items on my agenda back home

You can see the downtown Nashville skyline from Vanderbilt's beautiful campus.

Overall, the impression I got of Nashville and Eleni's friends is the East Coast gone southern. I could definitely feel the southern hospitality and relaxation, but the ambition of Vanderbilt students feels East Coast and fast-paced.

Eleni and I on the river walk by the Cumberland River

Nashville is relatively the same size as Kansas City, Milwaukee, Cincinnati and other mid-sized cities that I enjoy, but felt enthusiastic and unique with its central country theme and variety of areas to offer. If you want to go out and hear live music at any of 30 bars, you can go "Honky Tonking" downtown. The river walk is right next door, as well as tons of touristy shops. If you want to shop and stay at a resort, you can enjoy the Opryland, one of the largest hotels in the nation. Hillsboro felt a little more hipster, closer to Vanderbilt's campus and with a lot of good food. There were hidden gems like the Printer's Alley and the Bluebird Cafe, and plenty of other entertainment options in the 'suburbs.'

Honky Tonk bars

Gaylord Opryland hotel, where we stayed for a clergy conference in 2006

As expected, Vanderbilt was a beautiful campus with a classic but refreshing feel. I could go on and on about the trees and overall layout, but after visiting plenty of my friends at their respective colleges and learning about other campuses through my college experience, two things stood out:

• The University has a strong affiliation with activities and the city, appearing to be a very innovative level of integration. Fraternity house parties require you to swipe your student ID to enter, and your ID also acts as your keycode to your sorority/fraternity house. It's good for a small school population-wise, but I don't think Mizzou could handle this.  
• Commodore cash, what some would call student charge, lets you pay for items not only on campus, but off campus–such as restaurants and even taxi rides. This is essentially like going anywhere around your college town and charging your drinks, cab rides home and new apparel directly to your parents' credit card. I guess if anywhere can do this, it's a private school. 

Hopefully, I'll be back to visit plenty of more times and see exhibits at the Country Music Hall of Fame,  explore the Honky Tonk area and maybe even make it to a football game. In the meantime, I'm happy I got to step my foot in the door and take a last-minute trip and make the best of Labor Day weekend with my sister!