This Nashville house and cat sit was the first one I applied for when putting my month and a half-long trip together. And it wasn’t until recently I’d even thought about visiting Nashville. But I’m glad I decided to. The people here are probably the kindest of any city I’ve visited while travelling through the United States. The makeup and skincare lady at the local Walgreens even hugged me.

The place I was looking after was described as a ’20s Tudor duplex in the 12South neighbourhood. It’s close to restaurants and cafes, shops, and a bus line. But the one and only time I tried to get the bus, it didn’t show up. Sigh. 12South’s pretty close to downtown Nashville, though. It’s only 6km away. And I’d be caring for two senior kitties, Griffin (19) and Nancy Kuan (15). Griffin, the grey kitty, has early stage kidney disease. But she’s otherwise healthy. Nancy doesn’t show any signs of old age and looks like a big kitten.

Debra, the home owner, and her partner were heading off on a week-long cycling trip starting early on 20 June 2019. This meant I was unable to meet them in person because I didn’t fly in until midday. This was actually the first house and cat sit I’d done where I hadn’t met the person/couple/family beforehand. We’d Skyped when I first responded to Debra’s ad and again when I was staying in Las Vegas to go through some of the trickier stuff (i.e. the cat stuff).

When I first arrived at the 12South residence, I fed the kitties and then decided it was time to feed myself. It’d been nearly 10 hours since I’d had anything substantial to eat. I was glad to be out of Vegas because I’ve found it hard to find any decent, proper food within walking distance both times I’ve been there. And so what was the first thing I ate in Nashville? A maple glaze donut from Five Daughters Bakery. Hardly healthy, and not really substantial either, but it was delicious. Then I made my way to Kroger to buy some proper food for the next few days. Kroger was a name I recognised from staying in Cincinnati. And I knew it was a complete supermarket, not a convenience store or pharmacy that sold poor quality fruit.

The house sit

It was great to have some cat company again after five days in Vegas. I’d been told Griffin likes to eat plastic. This meant I had to keep all plastic bags hidden in my suitcase or out of sight, or up high. Griffin also enjoys chewing on cords. I’d have to put my iPhone and laptop chargers away ASAP, and put my hair straightener back in my suitcase when I was done with it. Nancy, the younger of the girls, was less of a potential hazard than Griffin. But she much preferred to be left alone. Or maybe she just didn’t like me much. The girls weren’t allowed outside, but Debra has a great screened in front porch where they can sit while I’m home. Sitting out here was Nancy’s favourite thing to do, but it held little interest for Griffin. And both cats drank from tall glasses, not bowls, which was very entertaining.

Debra’s home is filled with so much fun stuff. Interesting art and books, and eclectic homewares. Her place’s probably the most interesting (good interesting) home I’ve stayed in since travelling as a house and cat sitter. She’s got affirmations and notes, and reminders for house sitters, scattered throughout her place. Really helpful. And the notes and affirmations are cute. But my absolute favourite thing about her house… She has a fridge with a cold water dispenser. This is truly my favourite thing in people’s homes. It means I don’t have to spend a fortune on bottled water. And there’s nothing better than cold water.

Places to go

Unlike my time in Vegas, I was able to visit/see all the things I had set out to do during my stay in Nashville. Here’s some places I’d recommend to anyone thinking of coming the music city. And there’s plenty of music-related attractions—like the Country Music Hall of Fame, Johnny Cash Museum and Musicians Hall of Fame—but these don’t interest me.

Downtown

I had Tootsie’s written down as a place of interest. And it was the first thing I spotted when I arrived downtown. It’s a bar, but I didn’t expect it to be anywhere near as busy as it was. I didn’t go in. I was, however, still able to appreciate the pastel purple exterior before continuing along Broadway. Pretty much every single bar along Broadway’s packed with drunken tourists. One of my Lyft drivers said most locals avoid downtown. And I can see why. I tried two less busy bars before moving on. I paid $10 USD for a vodka at the first bar, then $8 USD for another vodka at BigShotz on 2nd Avenue. Printer’s Alley is a few streets over—it’s less touristy and less busy—and has more reasonably priced drinks. I tried Fleet Street Pub where I was served a horrible American English take on an espresso martini. I was done after that. Downtown Nashville is crazier than Hollywood Boulevard and some places I’ve visited in Japan, but it’s still worth checking out.

Frist Art Museum

The Frist Art Museum is about a kilometre away from where everything’s happening downtown. I’m not going to lie. I only went here for the Frida Kahlo exhibition they’ve got running until 2 September 2019. I learned so much about Frida Kahlo. She contracted polio at six years old. She was hit by a bus at 18, and the injuries kept her in and out of hospital for the rest of her life. She married when she was 22. And her pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Frida Kahlo died aged 47. The art on display was pretty interesting, too.

12 Street South

12 Street South was less than five minutes away from where I was staying. My favourite shop on this street was White Mercantile⁠, a southern style homewares store. Five Daughters Bakery (donut shop) is a bit further up and Frothy Monkey, a café and bar, is meant to be good. There’s lots of great street art to see while you’re here. The flower mural and Mobe Oner’s Rivive! Nashville piece were my favourites. ‘I believe in Nashville’ had swarms of people waiting to get a photo with it. On my last day in Nashville, my Lyft driver and I were talking about tourists’ fascination with murals here. She said there’s a set of angel wings in The Gulch that has tourists lining up around the block for. The Lyft driver was ashamed to admit she didn’t know where the popular ‘I believe in Nashville’ one was. “What kind of person am I if I don’t have a photo with it or know where it is?” she joked.

Hillsboro Village

Hillsboro Village, near the Vanderbilt and Belmont universities, is a few blocks of mostly independently owned stores. My favourites were:

• Native + Nomad—clothing and homewares
• A Thousand Faces—a Nashville souvenir store, but not a tacky one
• Apple And Oak—cards, stationery and homewares
• Altar’d State—clothing and accessories, homewares, and plants.

Make sure to stop in at The Grilled Cheeserie for a snack/lunch. Get the spinach and artichoke melt.

8th Avenue vintage and antique stores

The vintage and antique stores on 8th Avenue are walkable from Hillsboro Village. It’ll take you about half an hour. There’s the 8th Avenue Antique Mall, Classic Modern, and Dealer’s Choice Antiques and Auctions (didn’t have time to check this one out). Classic Modern’s quirky and quite reasonably priced, but I guess it is more vintage and kitsch than antique-y.

Unrelated: I met a homeless veteran, Larry, at the 8th Avenue Burger King. Larry told me he was originally from Birmingham, AL, and I told him I was going there in a few weeks to house sit. He thought I’d come all the way from Australia just to cat sit in Birmingham.

Gardens of Babylon Landscapes

Gardens of Babylon Landscapes is part of the Nashville Farmers’ Market. They have their own outdoor section and it’s huge. While I couldn’t take any of the plants back home to Australia, I did manage to pick up a few planters. And I would’ve loved to buy one of the pink ice cream cone planters, but I felt they were a bit expensive ($25 USD plus tax). The food part of the farmers’ market was way too busy when I went—lunchtime. A bit stupid of me. So I didn’t spend long inside. But it’d be worth checking out at a non-peak food time.

Next stop

Now I’m off to somewhere where the humidity’s likely to be even worse. That’s Austin, Texas. I’ll be staying in an apartment in downtown Austin and looking after a grey cat called Shady.