I'm always asked if I moved to Nashville for music. As in, Are you a musician? No. Mostly for the sake of others hearing, I am not. 

But definitely one of the things I love about Nashville is it's music. The authenticity of the performances here and the community and support for each other that I've seen is really inspiring. 

But to learn more about the history of music in Nashville, the Country Music Hall of Fame is the way to go.

In addition to admission to the Country Music Hall of Fame (CMHF), check out the RCA Studio B tour, and a tour (or at least a visit) of Hatch Show Print.

Read on for more details and photos...

When April was here #waybackwhen (specifically November), I wanted to go on a day trip somewhere else aside from Nashville or the immediate surrounding area. Researching various options (including other nearby states), and asking others who are from here, Chattanooga was the chosen city considering it was nearly everyone's first recommendation.

We initially had the idea to set out super early, had even bought tickets to ride the Southern Belle Riverboat cruise at 12:15pm. But sometimes not everything goes as planned. 

The night before, I got a flat tire. So the next morning — the one where we were supposed to head out super early — we had to go to the tire shop instead. We got breakfast after, thinking we had a lot of time, and left around 11am. After realizing we might just barely make it, we called the Riverboat company at about 11:30am asking what would happen if we were five minutes late, to be informed that the boat had left 15 minutes ago. We were so confused until we realized that Chattanooga is one hour ahead of Nashville. 

We had literally missed the boat.

I was able to get a gift certificate for the money I spent so I could go back later. I'll be sure to share the actual experience. But in case you want to go now then I recommend you get a Groupon.

Here's what we actually did instead:

1. Lunch at Good Dog and dancing on the sidewalk ;)
2. The Incline Railway
3. Clumpie's Ice Cream (made from local ingredients)
4. Drive through Lookout Mountain en route to Rock City
5. Side trip to Georgia look out and a fairytale village
6. Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge — awesome at sunset
7. Carousel Ride at Coolidge Park
8. Took night pictures at the Polka Dot Wall — exact location hard to determine. By Broad and Main St, near The Feed restaurant.
9. Dinner at Sugar's

With additional time, we could have explored:

• Tennessee Aquarium — world’s largest freshwater aquarium
• River Gorge Explorer
• Raccoon Mountain Caverns
• A show at Track 29
• Some more districts of downtown Chattanooga —see a breakdown here.

For all pictures and trip details/experience, read on...

Funny enough, I have to admit I've never seen an actual show in the Walt Disney Concert Hall — I've only been in the lobby or meandering outside it. And that's the thing — although I've heard the acoustics and performances are amazing and it's definitely on my list to experience one day — just from viewing it and walking around this amazing architectural structure is an experience in itself. 

There's some stairs that will lead you up through the seemingly-moving reflective plates. You can go around to the back to see a garden area and a beautiful mosaic flower piece, "A Rose for Lilly," — Frank Gehry's tribute to Lillian Disney — and that will lead you to some stairs with a leaved wall for more #instagrammoments haha. But actually. It was a cute setting to capture Whitney and Chris. 

But wait... there's more! 

READ MORE FOR PHOTOS AND OTHER PLACES NEARBY...

Olvera Street is a beautiful place. From the first time I visited here in middle school, I was absolutely enamored with the bright colors, and positive energy that could be felt wandering down the "street."

I've visited here for their Día de Los Muertos//Day of the Dead event as well as their Virgen de Guadalupe event in December. Other events/celebrations are listed here. Even to be here for no event at all still provides an inspired and fun experience. 

The mission of Olvera Street goes beyond the appearance of a Mexican Marketplace — it was created in 1930 "to preserve and present the customs and trades of early California." According to their website, many of the merchants on the street today are descended from the original vendors.

Not only all that, but it's right across the street from another historic part of Los Angeles that's still in operation and every day use: Union Station (opened in 1939) — making Olvera Street an easy destination/metro ride, and you can take a look inside this historic building. (One thing about Olvera Street is parking can be tricky to find, especially during an event. It's better to plan for a full day in downtown and just park somewhere for the entire day, then take the metro or walk to different spots.)

We were really fortunate this time around because The Avila Adobe, a house built in 1818 and is listed as the oldest standing residence in Los Angeles, was open! So we had the opportunity to go inside and walk around (usually it's closed whenever I've visited because I tend to go in the evening or at night).

Don't miss getting some churros and a picture with the burro. 

READ MORE TO SEE PHOTOS...

LITTLE TOKYO! I've only been to Japan once on a layover from Thailand. We had about twelve hours so we took a subway into Narita and saw just a glimpse of Japan. And I'd say Little Tokyo is a little less than the equivalent of that. It's a very small glimpse into some Japanese shops, cuisine, clothes, and history. 

READ MORE ABOUT THE PLACES TO EXPLORE IN LITTLE TOKYO...