A Weekend in Nashville
With COVID-19 reigning over the 2020-21 college football season, UF students were discouraged to make the biannual trip to Nashville.
It was a shame considering the Florida Gators were one of the most exciting teams in the country behind the arm of Kyle Trask when they played Vanderbilt in 2020.
Now, things are back to normal, and thousands of students made the trek to the Music City for Florida’s matchup with the Commodores this past weekend.
Ultimately, the Gators were stunned by Clark Lea’s team and came back to Gainesville with a 31-24 loss. It wasn’t until well after the game I’d seen Anthony Richardson throw for 400 yards and thought, “How did they mess this one up?”
Needless to say, my trip to Nashville wasn’t ruined by the Gators’ fifth loss of the season.
Bussing from Gainesville to Nashville
The bus ride was brutal both ways but well worth it. We made our way from Gainesville to Nashville in about 13 hours with multiple stops at Buc-ee’s. That place was a zoo, to say the least.
The rest of the trip was spent finishing up any work before the weekend was ripped from our hands.
It was a high of 45 degrees and a low of 20 during our weekend in Nashville. Each of us had three layers if not more, but we quickly made our way to Broadway.
We noticed how close the hotel was to Bridgestone Arena. There, the Tampa Bay Lightning faced off against the Nashville Predators and won 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night. Credit to the great number of Tampa fans who made the trip.
Friday night was spent exploring Broadway. Early takeaways included good locally brewed beer, and the music and performers were fantastic. Most bars were three or four stories with at least one live performer on each floor.
Fear not, disclaimers of country music. We heard all kinds of genres played throughout the Music City. However, the country bands and singers were by far the most fun to watch and listen to.
One guitarist at Honky Tonk Central was playing his guitar by strumming his strings with the beer in his hand.
Top 10
- 1New
Gruden talks Tennessee
Ex-NFL coach addresses past rumors
- 2
DJ Lagway
Florida QB to return vs. LSU
- 3
Dylan Raiola injury
Nebraska QB will play vs. USC
- 4Trending
Jay Williams
Analyst calls out Kentucky fans
- 5
Elko pokes at Kiffin
A&M coach jokes over kick times
Broadway on game day
Saturday was when we really began to appreciate the cold weather. We had a tab during the game at a rooftop bar, and 47 degrees was the highest we saw that day.
No doubt we were freezing, but it was a nice change of pace from Gainesville weather. I also didn’t realize just how popular rooftop bars were in Nashville. It seemed like each bar had one.
After the Gators lost to the Commodores, we treated ourselves to some Nashville hot chicken and waffle, which lived up to the hype.
We bounced in and out of a number of bars with live performers throughout the night while watching the primetime college football slate. Shortly after, my group and I ran into GO’s Zach Abolverdi and Nick de la Torre.
My group ended up finishing our night off at Taco Bell Cantina, and we stayed there until the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Waking up and hopping back on the bus was not an easy task at 10 a.m. the next morning, but I managed.
For those who have not made the trip to Nashville for this game, it needs to be put on the bucket list expeditiously. It’s certainly one I’ll never forget.
