NASHVILLE!

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In late July, I went to Nashville, Tenessee with the Guitar Hands Crew (http://guitar-hands.com/), for Summer NAMM 2011.  Guitar Hands is an amazing cleansing lotion for guitar players invented by my friend Dr. Randy Jacobs.  For those of you who don't know, NAMM (http://namm.org/) stands for the National Association of Music Merchants.  This convention is held in Anaheim, CA in the winter and Nashville, TN in the summer.  The Anaheim NAMM is on of the largest music product trade shows in the world while the Summer NAMM caters more to industry meetings and professional development courses.

Performing at the Guitar Hands Booth. Note: Guitar Hands is GF!

Sarah shakes things up at the legendary Nashville honkytonk, Tooties!

Landmark Guitar in Downtown Nashville

Anyway...there I was on a last-minute flight to Nashville!!! I was very excited to go to the country music Capitol of the world but I was super concerned about what I would eat...IS THERE ANYTHING GLUTEN-FREE IN NASHVILLE?!?
Well the answer is yes!!
I actually had really great gluten-free dining experiences in that fine city! I was only there for three days, but I had the best time.
The first restaurant that we went to was the good old CrackerBarrel (http://www.crackerbarrel.com/).  This was my first time to a Cracker Barrel and they couldn't guarantee that anything was gluten free because the wheat flour is flying all the time in that place!! I was seriously starving after the flight and the NAMM show so I decided to take a chance.  I ordered the Country Chef Salad which consists of fresh greens topped with oven roasted turkey breast, sugar cured ham, bacon, Colby cheese, boiled egg, tomato, and red onions.  The salad comes with croutons so I told them to hold 'em!! The server was very nice and understanding and did her best to make sure things were OK! I have to say that the people at the New York Times who recently dissed the Cracker Barrel are just plain snobs..I love that place...and hope that they can come out with a comprehensive GF menu soon :)On the second day of NAMM we ended up going to a restaurant a ways off from the downtown convention center...It was a "favorite" of the locals called Calhoun's ( http://www.coppercellar.com/Restaurant-Calhouns.html).  This restaurant is part of a chain.  We went to the Calhoun's in Gaitlinburg.  Upon arrival I was amazed to see Calhoun's extensive gluten-free menu.  I had the Filet Mignon with mash potatoes and a shot of Jack Daniel's.  Perfect Tennessee meal gluten-free.  Everything was excellent and much appreciated after a long day as a "Guitar Hands Girl"...very tiring work.

Jackie and Sarah relax after a long day of promoting Guitar Hands! HA!

Calhoun's Gluten-Free Menu

Lastly, we made our way to the world famous Gaylord Opryland Hotel...home of the Grand Ole Opry!!
This is a country girl's dream come true!! All the history and glamour of this hotel is too much to take.
My fellow Guitar Hands girl Jacqueline and I strolled the elegant grounds and had very nice conversations with handsome southern gentlemen...what a perfect day!  After all that hard work (haha), we sat down to a glamorous late lunch at one of the finest Mexican Restaurants I have had the pleasure of dining at.  Solario at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel is amazing (http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-opryland/nashville-tn-dining-activities/nashville-tn-restaurants/solario-mexican-restaurant/index.html?intcmp-pl=cnav-cid=GenL-restaurants) The food is excellently prepared, fresh, and sophisticated.  It was far better that most Mexican Restaurants in SoCal and the servers were so friendly and kind.  They were extremely attentive to our gluten-free needs and made certain that everything we ordered was 100% gluten free.  We had the fabulous table side guacamole, the beef and chicken tacos with tomatillo salsa and roasted tomato and jalapeno salsa and finished with the divine coconut flan with caramelized pinapple!! Delicious!! Totally loved this place!! Do not hesitate to dine at the Gaylord Opryland if you are gluten-free in Nashville!

So Delicious and Creamy! Perfect :)

Waterfalls at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel

Can't wait to go back!