Road Trip: Columbia, Tennessee

There are a million and one reasons why people stop doing the things they love, the most well-known culprit of course being a lack of time. A lot has happened since I last wrote on this blog. Nate and I had another baby, Everett, born in December 2013. My band, The Carmonas has been busy writing, recording and performing. And I've just been living life; trying to balance raising two small boys, being a good wife and traveling and performing with the band. But I have missed writing and documenting the little snippets of life that tend to get forgotten as we get caught up in the whirlwind of our day to day existence. With the encouragement of my sweet sister-in-law, Megan, I hope to revive this little spot on the www, so I figured I'd start with one of the things I love the most: travel. 

As the band has gotten busier, and our lives in general have become more hectic, Nate and I have fallen out of the habit of taking little road trips to explore the space around us. We decided to remedy that a few weeks ago by spending an afternoon in the quaint little town of Columbia, Tennessee, about a 40 minute drive from our house. Nate had done a story awhile back about the revival of vinyl records, and highlighted Variety Records on the Columbia town square, and he really wanted to take me there.

Columbia seems to be experiencing a bit of a resurgence in their downtown area. According to our conversations with some of the locals, a lot of great small businesses have been setting up shop, and as nearby Franklin expands, more and more people are venturing out to explore. 

We had a bit of snowy and icy weather that kept us homebound for several days, so it was great to get out with the kids and stretch our legs a bit with the sun on our faces.

Ahh, those little legs kill me!

 I am not kidding when I say to run to Pie Sensations in Columbia and get a pie. Any pie. We took home the chocolate cream and it was gone in less than a day. So good!

Yummy coffee and homemade muffin at Muletown.

The sweet shop owner at Pie Sensations gave Maddux a carmel, so naturally he was in Heaven.

Those legs again!

Variety Records

I loved the original structures and details surrounding the town square.

Amazing staircase in the Old Curiosity Book Shop.

Maddux was enthralled by the desk made of books!

Making wishes.

Nate let the boys run around outside while I went into the Accents & Antiques shop to browse. 

It's nearly impossible to get a shot of these two facing the camera!

Road Trip: Charlotte, Tennessee

One of the many reasons that I fell in love with Nate is that he loves road trips as much as I do. I'm not even talking about the pack up the car, be gone for days kind either, although those are pretty awesome. Sometimes, even just getting gone for a few hours will do the trick. We love to explore, and now with Munchie, we have an even better reason to get out of the house. I want him to see as much of this incredible world as possible, even if it's just down the street from his house.

This week, we took a late afternoon drive to the tiny (think no stoplights) town of Charlotte, Tennessee. It was only about a 45 minute drive from Nashville, and filled with gorgeous scenery, like rolling green hills and thick vegetation. 

The town itself mostly consists of a tiny square centered around the courthouse, which we learned is the oldest in the state still in use. 

There is some Civil War history here, and several of the buildings around the square that date back to this period (and before) are still standing.

We were only gone for less than three hours, but we returned feeling like we had been on a week-long vacation! Sometimes, you just need to step outside your own front door and look around a bit.

The old Presbyterian church, formed in 1830 and used by Federal troops during the Civil War.

This house is located just off the square and is in a pretty deep state of disrepair. It has an old National Historic Marker outside, but we couldn't make out what it said. I told Nate I want to buy it, restore it and turn it into a front porch music venue and vintage clothing store. Well, I can dream!


P.S. We are thinking of going back on Saturday to the town Fair in the Square. I have a feeling that sweet tea and buttered biscuits will be readily available!