Southern Festival of Books: Sunday Recap

This weekend, I went down to Nashville for the Southern Festival of Books. I wrote about the Festival for Ace Weekly magazine, describing the sense of "place" that arose time and again during the festival's programs and events. I also wanted to share a more informal "travelogue" with y'all. We had such an amazing time taking in both the festival and one of my very favorite cities. Here's my recap of Saturday’s events. You also can read recaps of Friday and Saturday, if you'd like. – HCW 

 

I wasn't really feeling any of the Sunday sessions at the Southern Festival, so I opted instead for brunch at my very favorite spot in Nashville -- Provence. Oh, y'all. Their food. Their coffee. And Hillsboro Village -- just the cutest little neighborhood imaginable. It was among our very favorites when we lived in Nashville, and I love going back there!

Not sure what this means, but Lordy I've missed hipsters!

After we ate, we moved to the sidewalk to enjoy our coffee and dessert. I had a cinnamon macaron that was simply heavenly. We sipped our Dancing Goats coffee (our very favorite blend anywhere!), and took in the sights of our old 'hood. The people-watching in Nashville is fantastic; I've always said we play a game we call "Hipster or White Stripe?", and Sunday didn't fail us. In the most Nashville moment ever, a bespectacled hipster walked past our table. When he was safely out of earshot, I asked my beau "hey, was that Ben Folds?" We finally decided that the actual Ben Folds would probably have been dressed a little better.

Vandy Children's Hospital

We walked around our old 'hood a few more minutes, remembering funny stories of walking Max through the neighborhood, the hours of training I put in while training for the half-marathon, and the joy I got from volunteering at Vandy Children's Hospital. It was really wonderful to revisit so many fond memories.

Then we undertook the journey home. I was pointed toward the mountains to retrieve the dogs. My beau had to get back to work. I strongly wished that I'd planned to stay down another day; I'd seen on Facebook that they were looking for people to sit at the Bluebird all day Monday as extras for that Nashville TV show. 

On the way home, I was amazed by how much the fall foliage had popped out over the weekend. I stopped to photograph some amazing trees near Somerset.  I hurried on home, because I knew that my dogs would take "grandparent rules" a little too far.  But, most of all, I thought about the lessons of place that the Southern Festival of Books provided me. I felt a little more ready to tackle some writing of my own.