Bloggers Mark McPhillips, ‘20 and Daniella Maney, ‘20 embarked on a road trip this summer with their friend Samuel Piller, ‘20 before coming back to Conn. We will publish a series of posts about what they experienced along the way.... (Read Post 1)

It was the most abrupt beginning to a day on our road trip yet: the three of us were startled awake by the Fairfield Inn & Suites’ fire alarm. Dani, Samuel and I got dressed as quickly as possible and made our way outside. We overheard hotel staff discussing the cause of the commotion and discovered that a guest had merely burned their toast. It was a pretty comical incident but rather frustrating for the three of us as well as the other hotel guests.

We packed up our things, got ready for the day and piled into the CR-V once again. We then started toward Nashville, Tennessee. It was my turn to drive and I said that we should stop for food sooner than later. We decided on a Panera in Germantown. We got our lunches and brought them outside but were quickly interrupted by intense rain. We moved under the protection of the awnings and finished up our meals.

We got back on the highway toward Nashville and continuously encountered huge downpours. It was a bit scary to drive through with my lights on and wipers speeding away but we made it safe and sound to Nashville in about three hours. The plan was to meet my friend David, who I became friends with seven years ago at sleepaway camp in the Poconos, but he was at work. We stopped at a coffee shop called Barista Parlor instead and got a taste of the palpably hip Nashville culture.

After the coffee shop, we went to the restaurant where David cooks: Sunflower Cafe, a delicious vegetarian place. I got to see my friend for a second and then we went back out into Nashville to explore a little more. We drove around Broadway, one of Nashville’s most touristy streets, for a while and waited until David was done with work. We met him back at his apartment, located next to Belmont University’s campus (where he is a student), and got acquainted with our living space for the next couple of days.