Its Hot and Its Cold

Our day started bright and early at 7 am, when I woke up not to my alarm that I had carefully set the night before to serenade us with “The Monkees Theme Song” by the Monkees, but by bright light streaming through our window and two pings emitted by Ana’s phone signalling a text from Ms. Sciacca. The Monkees will just have to wait until tomorrow. We spent a few minutes lounging in bed trying to convince our still tired bodies to come to life and drag us out of bed, but pretty soon we were able to, and the day began. 

Once we were ready to go, we made our way down to the lobby to convene with the rest of the group, meeting up with Anna on the way. Once in the lobby, we decided on where we would eat our first breakfast in Nashville, looking for something within walking distance, which for us California kids here in the Nashville climate is somewhat limited. We settled on a small café called “Atmalogy”, not far from the hotel and as soon as we stepped inside I knew we had made the right choice. 

The local breakfast spot felt like we had taken a plane back to Berkeley, but with its own Nashville twist. It is divided into various rooms designated for working eaten or just hanging out, with a chill atmosphere that put me at ease immediately. The first thing that drew my attention was a hanging swing in the corner of one of the front room. I love swings. I was able to contain my excitement however for long enough to order, where I along with 3 others chose variations of avocado toast, keeping the California spirit alive. While we ate our photo worthy breakfast we chatted about, vegetarianism, the school renovations of WCCUSD, our future aspirations and everything in between.

Breakfast!

Thankfully we were able to fit in some time on the swing after we had eaten and even left a message about the ILC to all those who pass through. I am not sure how long the café will leave our less than subtle marketing up on their wall, but in the meantime, we are hoping for a few more hits on the blog.

Advertising

After breakfast, it was time for our official campus tour, but we still had a little time to kill until it started, so we made a pitstop in a Barnes & Nobles just a few doors down, half of which has been converted into what amounts to a Vanderbilt merch store. The place is jam-packed with every possible price of apparel and accessory marked with the trademark Vanderbilt logo, making it the perfect spot for us to do our ILC sponsored souvenir shopping. Just as we were making our way to the registers, a tip from a helpful employee saved us from paying much more than we needed to, she explained that after the campus tour we would be given 25% off coupons that we could use for the items inside the store. Had it not been for this hero in disguise many of us would be left with little of our generous budget for potential UPenn

We made our way to the start of the campus tour on foot, and just we finished up the 1-hour informational session ready for the walking tour of campus to begin, an uninvited guest crashed our party. The sky opened up, and what started as a light rain transformed into a torrential downpour in a matter of seconds. Our guide led us to safety in a large common area and cafeteria frequented by students and began to tell us more about Vanderbilt, all the while thunder clapped loudly overhead. When it became clear that the storm was not letting up we headed into a nearby theater for an impromptu prolonged Q and A session, during which we supplied more of the Qs than any other group. This actually turned out to be nice as we were able to hear more about the students own experiences at Vanderbilt and the university as a whole, even if we weren’t visiting different places as we listened.

Hearing the students talk opened my eyes to a lot of things that I didn’t even realize are very important to me in terms of finding a college that is a good fit. They emphasized how Vanderbilt is a school that really understands the expression “work hard, play hard,” maintaining a stable balance between the two, and one that was less about a competition where students tore each other down to reach the top, and more about building on one another to do so. The school focuses on a conscious community, forged on four years of on-campus living and a collaborative environment introduced on day one. These were traits that clicked with me immediately, and I now know that I will be looking for them in all schools I consider as the college search heats up.

We emerged from the darkened auditorium only to find that the rain had just stopped, the world around us still dripping and now covered in shiny puddles, it was as if the entire campus had just gotten off a water ride at an amusement park. We decided to make the most of it and take ourselves on our own impromptu tour, making it all the way to the other side of campus where the freshman dorms are located. Using Google Maps, which has been turned out to be more of a confusing enemy, than the well oriented helpful friend it was designed to be, we ambled back the Barnes & Nobles where our carefully selected items had been put on hold.

The freshly drenched campus

We marched through the door with our heads held high, coupons in hand, ready to engage in so savvy shopping. Ana and I stopped to find a few souvenirs for family members back at home while the others perused the store finalizing their choices. After making our purchases we made a quick stop at the hotel to stow our new goodies and then headed on to lunch, at this point we were pretty hungry as it was already 2 PM. 

Yesterday we resolved to go to Hog Heaven, a small BBQ joint of ILC legend that last years Vanderbilt cohort had raved about. Upon arrival we found it to be just as they described, stored in the back of a parking lot with no inside ding area but instead a tented covering over a few picnic tables. Even before we got close, it wafted the delicious BBQ sent and we all took note. It turned out to be a very easy and yummy place to be a vegetarian. We finished off the meal with chocolate cobbler, a concoction that is definitely deserving of becoming a universal restaurant staple, but then again, maybe the uniqueness was part of what made it so special.

Ana and a gorgeous view of the park

We moseyed on over to the Parthenon, only a few minutes walk from lunch and stared up at the massive tan structure. Below the structure itself, a small art and history exhibit ishoused, showcasing both exhibits from when the reconstruction era when the Parthenon was built, all the way to shows from modern artists. Above sits the massive chamber displaying the intimidating statue of Athena Parthenos, clad in gold with piercing eyes that appear to be watching over the entire room, and far off into the distance.

Athena Pathenos

On our way back to the hotel for a brief blogging session, we made our way slowly through Centennial Park, observing the historical statues sprinkled throughout, and the wildlife that calls it home.

After taking some time to regroup at the hotel, we made our way back out into the city streets, but this time by car, the clouds once again unleashing their stormy wrath on the city. We found our way to a place that was surprisingly not barbeque themed but instead boasted an almost California-esque sandwich and wraps vibe. A friendly cashier greeted us and helped us with our order, that seems to be a theme here as we have found southern hospitality to be very real and ubiquitous.

Dinner was followed by a quest for Music Row. A quest that did not turn out to be the successful kind, with Google Maps, once again proving to be no help, but to its credit the five different people we asked also all pointed us in different directions. We scurried off this way and that, passing by recording studios and several groups of party goers on alcohol-fueled bike-like contraptions. In the end were forced to admit an at least temporary defeat, with a promise that will be back to fight another day tomorrow, armed with daylight and fresh eyes.

Us posing, not yet knowing how lost we were 

We tackled a little more than 9 miles of walking over the course of the day, and all of us agreed that we can be quite proud of this accomplishment and that we may even return to California little fitter than we left.