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Category: Nashville Local

Nashville Local

10 State Park Day-Hikes Near Nashville for Fall and Winter

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November 27, 2025
Nashville Local

11 Nashville-Area State Park Day-Hikes for Summer (with or without kids!)

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June 1, 2024
Nashville Local

7 Insider Spots to Explore at the Nashville Public Library’s Main Branch

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January 31, 2023
Nashville Local

Snapshots | Holidays at Cheekwood Mansion

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December 26, 2022
Nashville Local

A Peek Inside Historic Two Rivers Mansion

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December 18, 2022
Nashville Local

Christmas on Display in Downtown Nashville

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December 21, 2020
Nashville Local

A Day Trip to Small-Town Columbia, Tennessee

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July 15, 2020

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Discovering the landmarks of London by foot! 👣 I Discovering the landmarks of London by foot! 👣 

I think London is one of the best cities to walk. It’s MASSIVE, and when I studied abroad, it was a different scale of distance than New York that took some getting used to. (No, you cannot easily walk from Clerkenwell to Greenwich; I learned this the hard way.)

But it’s an urban landscape for everyday living, in which architectures from different eras blend together seamlessly and become a visual normality. And these iconic landmarks that you’ve seen in books and movies and photographs are so enmeshed with their surroundings that, as you’re walking, they suddenly surprise you with their presence. 

There’s no single “shot” to get; you can approach them and photograph them a thousand different ways, from a thousand different angles, because they’re omnipresent—the backdrop to the infinite unique moments that unfold around them.

📍St. Paul’s Cathedral
📍Westminster Abbey
📍London Eye
📍Clock Tower (Big Ben)
📍Tower Bridge
📍Tower of London
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#london #tlbestshot #afarmag #wanderlustmag mytinyatlas
📷 I’m leading our middle school photography club t 📷 I’m leading our middle school photography club this year, and my favorite technique to teach is frame-within-a-frame. 

I’m obsessed with window pictures, especially when they give views you don’t see every day. They always make me smile, looking back once the trip is over—and they’re the best trigger of wanderlust to inspire the next one!
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#london #bitsofbuildings #tlbestshot #suitcasetravels #afarmag
A little bit of Brazilian Carnival in Nashville. 🎉 A little bit of Brazilian Carnival in Nashville. 🎉 @plazamariachi

It has become the country’s biggest festival, each year drawing millions of people to the streets of Brazil’s cities for unbridled costume, music, and dance before the solemn season of Lent begins. 

Though Brazil hosts the biggest party, Carnival celebrations happen all over South America and feature a beautiful blend of local tradition and culture. 

A decade ago, we stumbled upon parties in Buenos Aires and Isla Amantani, a small island on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. And though those were unforgettable experiences (and not all pleasant as I was a target of teenage boys with cans of shaving cream 😩), it’s wonderful that we don’t have to travel so far for a taste of the experience!
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#carnaval #nashville #do615 #plazamariachi
It’s frigid out today, but at least it’s not snowi It’s frigid out today, but at least it’s not snowing! (Sorry, NYC.)

Some icy cold pics from our recent trip to @pickettstatepark where the trails were sometimes like a bobsled course, but the icicles hanging from the mouth of Hazard Cave were otherworldly. 

The sole other hiker we met shared a fun piece of info with us—that summer brings another magical phenomenon to the cave: glow worms!
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#tnstateparks #naturaltennessee #madeintn #uppercumberlandtn #exploreuc
I once had a convo with a friend about what we wou I once had a convo with a friend about what we would do if granted a day on our own, and my answer was to find art and culture—especially the lectures or late evenings that aren’t as easy to attend with kids.

Fortunately, Nashville has a lot of it to explore. I missed this year’s Chinese New Year Celebration at @plazamariachi (one of my favorite spots for special events), but here’s a couple memories from the Year of the Dragon. 

If you’re looking for something a little more local and off-the-radar, check out some of these spots:

🏛️ @nashvilleparthenon @cgmmuseum @tennessee.agricultural.museum @tnstatemuseum @lanemuseum @tnlibarchives 
🎨 @dadanashville @metroparksvisualarts @arcadeartsnash @fiskuniversitygalleries @vanderbilt.art 

…more in the comments!
The crisp, refreshing air and quiet trails makes w The crisp, refreshing air and quiet trails makes winter my favorite time to hike, so it’s time to live the Scandinavian philosophy: there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes! 

Here are a handful of my favorite winter hikes within a day-trip drive from Nashville:

📍Stone Door Trail @savagegulfstatepark: the best pay-off for the least amount of effort

📍Spring Creek Trail @henryhortonstatepark: quiet woods amid a babbling creek soundtrack

📍Cedar Forest Trail @cedarsoflebanonstatepark: perfect for moss hunting among the limestone glades

📍High Ridge & Shoreline Trails @bledsoecreek: catch both elevation and water views in just around 2 miles

📍Base of Falls Trail @fallcreekfallspark: an astounding in-your-face view of the tallest waterfall this side of the Mississippi
“There are as many ways to live as there are peopl “There are as many ways to live as there are people on the earth… It won’t do you a bit of good to know everything if you don’t do anything with it.” —Harriet the Spy

On my last trip abroad, I was thinking about the good of travel. 

It’s a practice inherently defined by privilege—the luxury of moving freely around the world with ease, experiencing new places as an observer instead of out of necessity. What purpose does it serve beyond entirely selfish reasons?

And then I thought of my kids, and I started to feel at least some sense that this self-indulgent act can bring good to the world. Meeting new people, hearing new stories, seeing new ways of life. Feeling an outsider and feeling discomfort. 

For those of us that enjoy this luxury, I think it also comes with a sense of responsibility. To live locally with open-mindedness. To build community. To teach and spread empathy. 

And to fight for the dignity and worth of all our neighbors.
@hopsandskips

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