In honor of my birthday today, I share with you a place very special to my heart – NashVegas. I have spent multiple birthdays here, along with New Years Eve’s, Bachelorette parties and on and on. And that is just the premise of my post – how much Nashville has changed over the years…wah wah.

Back in 2011 I was featured in the Toronto Star (read it! read it!). I had nothing bad to say about Nashville, it was my second home. I loved it so much I would come back on average 6 times a year. Those were the days…

It is only an hour flight from Chicago. Or an 8 hour drive – which in that case, you can hit up Dinosaur World on I65. It is so easy to get to/from there, that apparently everyone and their grandma soon figured it out and now they have paved paradise and put up a parking lot. Literally.

My favorite alley is now a hotel and a parking garage. My friends lost their jobs at The Dog House and Stiddle and Feel (aka Fiddle and Steel), my fav karaoke spot, Lonnie’s, had to move from their historic spot. It was just a sad moment in history. Three story bars started going up on Broadway and all of a sudden there was a crying bride-to-be everywhere you looked. Prices of beer went up $2 a bottle and they started charging you to just walk in to the Honky Tonks to hear music. Music City turned into a hockey-loving, we hate the Blackhawks town and before you know it, airlines were charging us double.

One thing will never change though, and that is the generous Southern hospitality. The artists and bartenders alike know and appreciate the value of a dollar. Tourists took over their town, yet they continue to welcome us with open arms. Some preserved country history, and for that, I call them out: