“Do what you love to do and give it your very best. Whether it’s business or baseball, or the theater, or any field. If you don’t love what you’re doing and you can’t give it your best, get out of it. Life is too short. You’ll be an old man before you know it.”
Al Lopez
I like this quote by Al Lopez. It seemed appropriate for baseball in Nashville. Baseball is a dreamers game, and Nashville is a music dreamers city. It was fun to embrace those chasing both of those dreams for a weekend.
After settling into our Airbnb, we set out to First Horizon Park, the home of the Nashville Sounds. The Sounds are the Triple-A affiliate for the Texas Rangers. They are typically one of the top minor league teams in terms of attendance each year, and it was easy to see why. Baseball game or not, this place was a party.
I am not sure how many people actually watch the game. There is an entertainment plaza along the right field side of the stadium and I suspect many people enter the stadium and don’t get much further in from there.
We did make it beyond the stadium entertainment district to enjoy the game. We enjoyed the rest of what the stadium had to offer.
We lucked out regarding the weather. It was warm as you’d expect Nashville in July to be, but the evening was pleasant.
We always look for local beer. We didn’t see a ton available, but I did have a few of these, so it must have been good. We didn’t take any food pics, mostly because everyone I know hates those, or maybe it was because the food was so good we hoovered it down before a pic could be taken. Keke got a kale/quinoa salad that was really good and healthy, and I got a fried chicken sandwich that was really good and unhealthy. I will say that both were phenomenal, but the chicken sandwich was special in a way I cannot describe; it was just better than every chicken sandwich that I have ever had. I would never expect such quality food at a ballgame.
We got an MLB passport book to get stamped at each game we went to. Bonus, much of the MiLB also stamps. For more info on the MLB Passport program click here.
As the night went on we set our sights for a night on the town. Our friends were yet to arrive and we took advantage by hitting up Printer’s Alley.
Keke and I ended up at Ms. Kelli’s Karaoke Bar. I don’t know why, neither of us had any interest in karaoke, and we were in Nashville for crying out loud. However, we were to be in Nashville for two more nights, and this place was fun. There was a great energy inside, and the drinks (ahem, Jello shots) were actually relatively cheap.
Our friends eventually landed and headed towards our rental house, so we grabbed an Uber and did the same. Between the road trip down and the game/nightlife of this night, we felt like we had already has so much fun. We hadn’t even experienced much of what Nashville is, and were very much looking forward to it.