The Great American Road Trip 🌅

Well friends, this blog post has been a long time coming as we arrived back from our trip in November! But, life’s been a little busy since the launch of The Lucky Cowgirl Club so, here we are!

 

A big American roadtrip has always been high on our bucket list, and we finally got to make it happen last October and November. We rented our dream Jeep and off we went…

 

As my Dad lives in South Texas, we were lucky enough to have a great starting point and see some amazing sights on our first drive from Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana!

We spent two nights and three days there, soaking up the vibrancy and culture of the city of jazz! Eating our way around the city, of course - authentic Beignets are an absolute must, Cafe Du Monde gets my recommendation!

The Coven house for any AHS fans!

🦇

 

Next on our list was the place I was the most excited to visit, Nashville!

It was our first time visiting Nashville and it completely exceeded our expectations. We had three nights there and honestly, I could have stayed for a week if not more. We did all the must do’s, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the iconic Broadway with endless amounts of bars blasting out country music from every door and window. And so, so many cowboy boot stores!

 

One day I’ll have a boot line up like this!

 

Our favourite bars were Morgan Wallen’s and Lainey Wilson’s, Morgan’s had the best atmosphere by far and a great rooftop, and Lainey’s was just off Broadway, away from the hustle and bustle with another amazing rooftop with a great view and of course, the frozen cocktail bar!

 

 

We were lucky enough to time our trip to see one of our favourite artists, Dylan Gossett (who was incredible) at the famous Ryman Auditorium, an icon in the country music world.   

 

Other areas of Nashville we loved were the little shopping area 5th and Broadway, just off Broadway and the shopping and coffee shops on 12 South.

 

Another great experience was creating my own cowboy hat at Rustler Hat Co. Choosing your hat style, its shape and any additions you wish was right up my street!

 

As you can probably tell I could go on and on about Nashville, one of (if not the) favourite cities I’ve visited and I cannot wait to go back!

 

Once I was torn away from Nashville, we then headed to somewhere I have wanted to visit for as long as I can remember… Dollywood!

 

Dollywood was another place that completely blew us away, it was such a beautiful park which didn’t actually feel like a theme park, the scenery was so gorgeous and we were lucky enough to be there at Halloween time and they’d gone above and beyond decorating with thousands of pumpkins!

 

We stayed in the Dollywood lodge themed hotel which was beautifully cozy, we even took our books to sit by the fire with glasses of wine - heaven!

 

From Dollywood, we then headed to soak up some countryside with the amazing sights of The Great Smoky Mountains national park and Gatlinburg, and again as we were there in October, the vibrancy of the fall colours completely blew us away.

 

 We drove the 11 mile loop of Cades Cove twice and were completely obsessed with everything we saw, we really hoped we would be lucky enough to see bears and just as we were losing hope, there they were!

 

Queue the happy tears 🥲 one of the most unforgettable moments and one I’ll cherish forever!

 

As our time in the national park came to an end, we then set off on our last part of the trip before heading back to Texas, which was another place I have always wanted to visit, Graceland.

 

Graceland was bittersweet, as it was amazing to be able to do the tour and celebrate Elvis’s life and achievements, however it was of course emotional and the tour ended in the family garden and graveyard.

We feel very lucky we were able to do the tour and I do really recommend seeing it if you get the chance!

From Graceland it was a short drive into Memphis and to another destination for music, Beale street and then onto Sun Records, where Elvis’s music career began. A must do for any Elvis fans as well as big music fans in general!

 

From Memphis we began the long drive back to south Texas, with a stopover in Fort Worth to break up the drive, and because it’s a great city and a must do for anyone who loves western style.

And there we have it, as you can probably tell, I could go on and on about each part of this trip but I have tried to keep it as short as possible… I think I failed 😆.

Thank you for reading and until next time,

Love,

Jess, The Lucky Cowgirl 💘