My first full year of living in Nashville did not go at all how I had planned. As of writing this in December 2020, I have lived here longer in a pandemic than not. As of lately, this has made me extra nostalgic for chilly nights of years past, meeting friends for holiday drinks in cozy Manhattan bars, but I remind myself 2021 should be better and I can hopefully start exploring my new city beyond picking up take out. And despite 2020 being…well, 2020…going through and writing out this review has made me realize how fortunate I am and that the past year was still filled with things to be grateful for.
JANUARY
A time of unknown innocence. The highlight of the month was celebrating some of my favorite YouTubers, Kara and Nate, at their 100 Country Party here in Nashville.
FEBRUARY
Texas, Trip 1
A trip to visit family in Lubbock, TX ended with some fun in Austin visiting with my old college roommate and seeing a NYC friend who was briefly in town for work.
MARCH
One of my good friends came to visit from New York and we were able to enjoy southern brunches, briefly explore a very cold Knoxville, and have an extremely close call with a EF4 tornado that ended up ravaging the city of Nashville.
Oh, and the entire world dove head first into COVID-19 chaos.
APRIL
My newly found quarantine jogging life hit a peak in April, where I was running at least 3-4 times a week. But as spring started to turn to summer I basically gave up on that life and instead greatly confused my dog with living room workouts.
Then I spent two weeks at my parents house in North Carolina for some human contact and a lovely surprise birthday zoom with friends.
MAY
With the weather officially nicer in May, some actual exploration of Nashville’s outdoor scene commenced. Walks (for me) and new smells (for Denali) were had on greenways and various parks around town.
JUNE
Despite my reputation as a killer of succulents, I went all in on plant ownership in June. What started with two spider plants has grown into a mini jungle of 8 plants, with more surely to join the pack in 2021 (editor’s note: have bought two more plants and was gifted another since the original writing of this).
Oh, and I bought a new car which meant I could finally retire my high school CD collection and join the 21st century with an aux cord.
JULY
My first official road trip in the new car was to meet a friend from Dallas in Mountain View, Arkansas. Cute town, nice scenery, the town’s mask wearing was about a B+, social distancing skills were unfortunately a D at best. Luckily, most of our time was spent enjoying the Ozarks and relaxing on the porch at our rental cabin.
AUGUST
Another now ex-NYC friend came to visit from DC so we could commiserate on how we both barely moved to cities where we didn’t know anyone right before a worldwide pandemic hit. Much drinking of local beers commenced.
SEPTEMBER
The biggest trip of the year ended up being to Mississippi. Expectations were low, but the trip ended up being a great time. Maybe one of these days I’ll get a post up about it, because, dare I say, is this a hidden gem of the South?
OCTOBER
Dear Nashville, Why is there no pumpkin beer in this town? I spent most of this month searching stores far and wide for pumpkin beer. I finally found it on draft at favorite neighborhood brewery, Harding House. I also voted, bought some pumpkins and visited waterfalls at Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park.
NOVEMBER
Texas, Trip 2
I’ve spent more time with I-40 year this year than pretty much anything else besides my dog. Headed back west again to Texas, this time for a quarantined Thanksgiving in Dallas.
DECEMBER
December was laid back and I spent the last half on the month with my parents in North Carolina. My dad and I did make a few photo excursions around their area, which included seeing some bald eagles. To bring in the new year I made one last drive up to DC with my friend who had visited me in August. It made for a super long drive home but spending time with friends in person always makes it worth it.
And that’s it! 2020 wasn’t great for anyone, but I feel very fortunate I can say it wasn’t all bad. However, I’m looking forward to a new president, a vaccine, and hopefully more (safe) travel in 2021.
1 Comment
There’s no doubt that you made the best of 2020! Great photos!