Nashville: A Perfect 3-Day Weekend Getaway

With Memorial Day Weekend upon us, I thought it would be fun to highlight one of my favorite getaway spots, perfect for a 3-day weekend - Nashville! Obviously, you could make a whole extended vacation out of Nashville, but I managed to squeeze quite a bit of fun into a long weekend. Here are some of my favorite spots!

The Bluebird Cafe  is a classic! Now something to note: This is not an impulse spot! If you want to catch a show you have to buy tickets in advance the second they go on sale. They literally sell out in minutes. If you can manage to get tickets, I promise you'll have a good time! And yes, I'm horribly sunburned in the picture above.

If you love American Pickers, it's worth stopping by their Antique Archaeology shop! Honestly, it's a bit of a tourist trap, but it's still cool to actually visit the building that's on the show. They do have some cool antiques to look at, but they probably make most of their money of the touristy t-shirts, shot glasses etc.  You've been warned.

I highly recommend visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame, if you have an afternoon to spare. The exhibits are amazing AND they offer tours of the FAMOUS Studio B (Seen above)! They'll let you play the piano where so many greats (including Roy Orbison!) made music. It was an amazing experience and my husband and I had an amazing time!

Finally, no trip to Nashville is complete without a pitstop at Pancake Pantry! The food is amazing and it's a Nashville tradition! Just be ready to wait... they don't take reservations, your whole party must be present to sit and the line wraps around the block. Take a morning, and make an experience of it! As long as you don't  go into it thinking it will be a quick breakfast stop, Pancake Pantry is a blast!

If you'd like help planning a 3-day adventure of your own, visit MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com!

City Highlights - County Wickland, Ireland (The Monastic Site at Glendalough)

I recently toured through Ireland, Wales and England and we took a lovely day hike through the Monastic Site at Glendalough in County Wickland, Ireland. It's just outside of Dublin and was so much fun! Word to the wise - when they say easy, they mean challenging. My group happened to be a soccer team, so fitness wasn't an issue, but ooh man! Those Irish folks must be in mighty fine shape if they considered that hike to be easy! It had steps and rough terrain galore. 

There weren't any giant waterfalls, but the nature was absolutely gorgeous, nonetheless. As is the way in Ireland, it was a bit rainy, but nothing we couldn't handle.

We even got to see some wildlife! If you look carefully in the picture above, you can make out several wild mountain goats. 

And this picture I think captures the hike perfectly. It literally looks like a painting! 

All in all, this was a beyond beautiful experience and an easy drive outside of Dublin. If you have a free day in the city and are looking for a bit of adventure, I highly recommend exploring this area!

If you'd like some help setting up your trip, I'd be happy to help! Visit MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com.

How to Actually Get Some Sleep On a Plane

If you're anything like me, overnight flights are your worst nightmare. Luckily, I've had my share of overnight trips and have become a bit of an expert on sleeping in awkward positions - I was even quoted in Readers Digest! How cool is that?


Tip 1: Win the airplane lottery. 
By this I mean getting 2 or more seats in a row all to yourself! I myself have won the airplane lottery exactly twice - that should be a decent indicator of how rare this actually happens. I must say though, when I had those seats....It. Was. Amazing. I am a fairly small person and am able to curl up in a ball easily so I just stretched across those seats and made it work. 2 seats can be a little tight, but if you somehow manage to get 3 seats to yourself, you are golden! Just be respectful and keep your feet and head out of the aisle and other people's space! Also, don't be afraid to take advantage of a half-full plane. You can politely ask your flight crew if it's alright to move and odds are they will not have a problem with it. Use that space!

Side note: I once saw someone who had an entire MIDDLE ROW to themselves. They slept sitting upright. They even sat in a middle seat so I couldn't even use the outside few seats to lay down. It was torture. THEY WON THE LOTTERY AND COULD NOT CARE LESS. Anyway.

Tip 2: Use a quality eye mask and/or ear plugs
As I talked about in Reader's Digest (did I mention how cool that is?), I'm a firm believer in an eye mask that soft, comfy and fits snuggly around your nose. Other eye masks can let in light through that little gap and make it much harder to sleep. Also, if you need complete silence, don't be afraid to spring for some quality earplugs or even noise-canceling headphones.

Tip 3: Experiment with sleeping positions (respectfully)
Always, always, always be respectful of other passengers, but don't be afraid to get creative when it comes to sleeping positions! Two of my favorite are: Knees up with blanket over head and facedown on tray table. A few things to keep in mind - It's definitely possible the passenger in front of you can feel your knees so be aware of that. If you feel the seat is thick enough they won't notice, be gentle and don't fidget. It doesn't hurt to just ask them if they can feel it. As for the head-down-on-tray position, WIPE THAT THING DOWN FIRST. Seriously. People change their baby's diapers on it so there can literally be fecal matter on that tray that you are shoving your face on. Don't be afraid to be that person wiping down their seat area. That's what I do!

Tip 4: Plan your pillow
Sleeping on overnight planes can be really difficult, and a lot of people like to use travel neck pillows; however, I've found that unless my head it lower than my body, I really can't sleep. Thus I tend not to use those. I have, however, used my sweatshirt or a spare blanket as a pillow, because let's be real - those tiny pillows they give you are kind of questionable. Just know your sleeping style and  have a game plan going in.

Almost no one emerges from an overnight flight well-rested, but whatever you do, try to avoid weird naps! I'm talking a nap at 8am or a 6-hour long nap. Try your best to adjust to the new time zone and enjoy your trip!

Check out my company at MilesIntoMemoriesTravel.com. I'd love to help you plan your next adventure!

Malena

City Highlights - London

London is a beautiful city and one worthy of exploring! Over the past few years, I've found a few of my favorite spots:

Starting out with the classics - first up, The London Eye. This ginormous ferris wheel is absolutely worth a ride. Each capsule is fully enclosed in glass and unless you pay through the nose for a private ride, you'll be sharing the experience with at least 20 or so other people. Like most major tourist attractions, I recommend buying your ticket ahead of time online and skipping the line. The ride lasts about 30 minutes and it provides some of the most amazing views of the city. 

The London Eye

The London Eye affords a magnificent view of Big Ben, but it's definitely worth checking out up close as well. It's absolutely beautiful, especially at night! Something to note - you won't actually be able to go up inside Big Ben, so just be ready to enjoy the splendor of the clock tower from down below.

Big Ben across the water

Finally, I recommend just exploring the city and soak in the culture. Ride in a black cab, visit Harrods, take a bus tour and find yourself a telephone booth!  I made some truly amazing memories just by wandering through the streets of London with friends and family and seeing what we stumble across. We've found amazing little pubs with huge, amazing English breakfasts , unique specialty she eps and even found hole-in-the-wall museums!

A fun shot of me by the classic telephone booth! Although inside was a little gross - I'm talking needles, beer bottles and who knows what else! Be careful.

London is an amazing city with plenty of sites to see! You can't forget to make a pit stop to places like the London Tower, The Globe Theater and Buckingham palace, but the London Eye, Big Ben and general exploration are my top three must-do's while checking out London.