My Nashville

How would you spend your ideal weekend in Nashville? What would you do? Where would you go? Perhaps most importantly, where would you eat? We asked three local couples to answer these questions and dream up the perfect Nashville weekend. They’ve written up itineraries showing exactly how they’d spend two days with no previous commitments or engagements. From facials to football games — and just about everything in between — their dream weekends are an inspiration and a reminder of all the wonderful things Nashville has to offer.

Lorie and Gavin Duke

From their stunning Belle Meade home to their playfully adventurous sartorial style, everything about Lorie and Gavin Duke feels effortlessly cool. It’s no wonder then that the philanthropically minded couple has played a pivotal role in some of the most fashionable and chic events in town. Gavin, a landscape architect with Page | Duke, has designed gardens for the Antiques & Garden Show for over 20 years, and in 2014, he served as the designer for the Swan Ball. Lorie — whose long list of chairing responsibilities include the Swan Ball Auction, the Antiques & Garden Show Preview Party and the Sunday in the Park Décor and Design Committee — is taking the helm of the Symphony Fashion Show this April alongside Birgitta Williamson to welcome Jason Wu to Nashville. Find out how this dashing couple would spend a dream weekend in Nashville.

DAY ONE

5 a.m. — Break a sweat Gavin is usually at Warner Park on the trails by 5 a.m. He is an avid runner and begins his day running the trails with friends. It is a usual occurrence to see him out there in the dark with his headlamp on! Meanwhile, Lorie would grab coffee at Starbucks (her favorite) and drive out to Franklin to visit her horse and ride with all her “barn girlfriends.” We call it therapy time. We may go on a trail ride or ride in the ring and get our workout in for the day.

11 a.m. — Gorgeous glow After running and riding, it’s great to go to Karee Hays Esthetics for a medical-grade face clean-up and glow! Karee and her team of professionals keep our skin fresh and clean. (Men need to glow as well.) It’s one-stop shopping for all things skin-related.

12 p.m. — Leisurely lunch One of our favorite lunch spots is Epice in 12South, a family-owned Lebanese bistro with great fresh food and nice wines. It’s fun to have a nice leisurely Saturday lunch there and maybe walk down the street to Las Paletas for a delicious gourmet ice pop for dessert.

1:30 p.m. — Fresh flowers Next, we’re off to The Tulip Tree to pick up beautiful fresh flowers for our home to enjoy for the weekend and week ahead. They are so fresh and last forever! We love and adore everyone there, and it is always a treat to stop in. The best!

2 p.m. — Shop ‘til we drop We would go by G&G Interiors in Westgate Center to peruse their gorgeous furnishings, linens and accessories. We always pick up something fabulous there, whether it be a Cire Trudon candle (the oldest candlemaker in the world) — sheer bliss for the home — or some beautiful linens. So, so elegant, and the store is beyond gorgeous! It’s a dream for Nashville.

3 p.m. — Stocking up on wine We would more than likely pop into Harvest Wines to grab a few bottles of wine to have on hand. It’s almost happy hour after all! Laura and Ames are adorable and very helpful. (We also shop at The Wine Chap. Richard and his team are great and so helpful with our parties.) 4 p.m. — Puppy love We would take our two Brittanys, Georgie and Gabe, to the dog park at Warner Parks for some playtime and exercise.

7 p.m. — Date night Time for a romantic and fun dinner out at Rolf and Daughters. We love this restaurant! Always so delicious and fun — every time. We never want dinner to be over!

DAY TWO

9:30 a.m. — Church service We usually try to attend church service at Woodmont Christian Church. Our minister, Clay Stauffer, is amazing, and we love him and his family. His sermons are so inspiring, and they have a wonderful youth Sunday school program for our daughter, Poppy.

11 a.m. — Sunday brunch We love Le Peep in Belle Meade. We’ve gone there for over 10 years. (Table 3 is also a favorite spot — love the bloody marys.)

1 p.m. — Great outdoors We’d take a nice long walk around Cheekwood, one of Nashville’s treasures. We were married there in the Wills Garden and love to stroll through the gardens as often as possible. It’s such a special, special place for us. We are very fortunate to have this place in our city.

3 p.m. — Mid-day movie We’d catch a movie at the Belcourt Theatre. It’s the coolest place in town to see a movie! And we love the snacks they serve too — not just your typical movie popcorn.

6 p.m. — Pizza night Sunday pizza night: It’s tradition for us now, a time to relax and start planning for the week ahead. We would either order pizza in (from Mafioza’s) or Gavin would prepare his famous homemade ones.

fletcher foster & Dennis Johnson

Fletcher Foster and Dennis Johnson made Nashville their full-time residence in 1995. Since then, they have been making an impact on the city’s entertainment, real estate, social and philanthropic circles. Fletcher is a Music Row veteran whose Iconic Entertainment Group manages several artists including Kelsea Ballerini, whose headlining Unapologetically Tour launches this month. Dennis has applied his expertise in marketing for companies such as Disney, Opryland and Universal Orlando to become a successful real estate agent at Worth Properties and a sought-after visual designer. When their hectic schedules permit, they travel to new and exotic locales, but when in town, their weekends are quiet, spent visiting favorite shops and restaurants and enjoying time with friends and their dogs, Mason and Zachery.

DAY ONE

6:30 a.m. — Sunrise One of the advantages of living on an eastward facing hill is experiencing the beauty of sunrise. Each morning is completely different depending on the time of year and the weather. Some days, you can see forever, while others you may be sucked into a bank of passing fog.

7:45 a.m. — Morning news Weekend mornings are about enjoying a cup of our favorite coffee or tea and reading the paper. Despite the fact that most news is delivered digitally, we enjoy the less stressful form of getting the news by holding the paper.

9 a.m. — Breakfast for a cause Founder Becca Stevens is an angel. What she has created at Thistle Farms is truly a loving gift to us all. The newly expanded and remodeled cafe was designed by our friend Ray Booth and is stylish and comfortable. Sitting within an environment of such love and compassion is enough to empower you to get out and make a difference in someone else’s life. Our dining experience ends with a visit to the shop. We usually pick something up as a gift for someone special, and we generally throw something in for ourselves. (It’s the one place you don’t feel guilty about that.)

10:30 a.m. — Shopping for antiques In order to fuel the right side of our brains, we love to hit the local antiques shops. We especially love to find creative ways to repurpose items that many would think of as junk. Finding two items, such as an old chandelier and an iron sphere, allows us to imagine how we could engineer putting them together to make a unique hanging light fixture. A few of our favorite shops are the Winchester Antique Mall in Franklin and Gas Lamp Antiques and Gas Lamp Too in Nashville. We seem to always come out with a new creative project.

1:30 p.m. — Lunchtime Of all of the great dining options in Nashville, one of our favorite spots is the lunch counter at Nordstrom. We love to watch the chefs prepare the variety of dishes. (OK, since neither of us are Wolfgang Puck, we are really there participating in what we think is a Cooking 101 class.)

3 p.m. — Relaxing on the back deck Our international travels, particularly to the Far East, inspired us to create an environment that embraces all the senses. On a slightly breezy day, the wind chimes that surround the house play magical tunes, not one tune the same. On a rainy day, the rain chains (our gutter system) that surround the house are like dancing waterfalls. Whatever the weather condition, we are constantly reminded of living mindfully and are thankful for each and every moment.

7 p.m. — Dinner with friends For as long as we can remember, Margot Café has been our go-to spot. Margot McCormack created one of the first “foodie restaurants” in Nashville and is a true craftsman at her trade. We always request one of the tables near the kitchen so we can enjoy watching the culinary production that seems to happen so seamlessly. We particularly enjoy when Margot has a few moment to mingle with her guests.

DAY TWO

7 a.m. — Newspaper and coffee/tea With Sunday morning comes the Sunday paper.

8 a.m. — Watching CBS Sunday Morning One of the best shows on TV — the stories are out of the ordinary, always interesting and leave you feeling good.

11 a.m. — Church service at West End Methodist Church Nashville is filled with a variety of inspiring places to worship. This is our time to step away from the hustle of the world and reflect on the things that are most important.

12 p.m. — Brunch or football Josephine has a cozy and inviting feeling that somehow makes you feel like you are in a room full of friends. One of our favorite things is the Brussels sprouts. However, if it were football season, we’d head to the Titans stadium to meet up with our friends Sylvia Roberts and Jeff Stone for a game of high-fiving.

4 p.m. — Dog walk Our two dogs Mason and Zachery are clear on their purpose in life: protecting us and each other. Walks are more of an endurance test than a relaxing jaunt through the park. There is no enjoying the scenery; it’s a tug-of-war where they generally win.

6:30 p.m. — Dinner at BrickTop’s or J. Alexander’s Both restaurants consistently serve delicious, well-plated dishes. Personally, we think the ribs at J. Alexander’s are the best in town. We generally sit at the counter in the bar area so we can watch a sporting event, and if we are lucky, we run into someone we know.

Tara and Ben Armistead

Nashville natives and friends since high school, Tara and Ben Armistead married in 1984 and recently welcomed their first grandchild, Clare, into the family. The outdoors enthusiasts stay connected over their love of the natural world. Tara follows her passion as a landscape architect, working on residential designs and civic projects that impact the community — Azafrán Park for Conexión Américas being the most recent undertaking. While transportation logistics fill his workdays, Ben spends his time off outdoors, including the pursuit of his goal to visit every national park. (This year, Acadia and Theodore Roosevelt are on his list.) Surrounded by family and close friends, Tara and Ben’s dream weekend would be spontaneous, adventurous and spent outside as much as possible.

DAY ONE

6 a.m. — Lazy morning Be quiet and listen to the morning. We would read a poem and be a little lazy, then fix a breakfast of cottage cheese pancakes, Black Forest bacon and scrambled eggs with pesto — a trick from Lisa Froeb.

7:30 a.m. — Explore the outdoors For Tara, it’s time for a long hike at Warner Parks or at Taylor Hollow (The Nature Conservancy’s first preserve) and the adjacent new Larkspur Conservation property. (The wildflowers will take your breath away.) Tara goes to the woods to discover what is new and to listen — not only to her surroundings but also to her heart. Benji will take the morning and meet his friends to play tennis, golf or go on a long run — anything very active!

10:30 a.m. — Off to the farmers market Time to buy some ginger-turmeric pineapple juice, homemade bread, fresh flowers and so many heirloom veggies — especially tomatoes when they are in season — that it would be hard to carry the bag to the car.

11 a.m. — Teatime Next stop: a visit to The Café at Thistle Farms for a cup of tea. There is a feeling of always being welcome there, and the food is crazy delicious. We would fill the tip jar with cash to overflowing. And if we had an extra minute, we would go by Crossroads and have one of the teenage interns help wash our dog. (We leave so much happier after spending time there!)

12 p.m. — The birds and the bees Time to check our bees. Our dream is for our backyard hives to be full of honey, pollen, and healthy, productive bees. Benji would feed his birds and hope to see lots of hummingbirds.

1:30 p.m. — Bike and a beer We would either bike the levee and downtown pedestrian bridge and go to Bearded Iris for a beer, or we would bike Shelby Bottoms and race around Cornelia Fort Airpark. If we had lots of energy, we would bike the Leiper’s Fork loop. We ride in a big pack — you know who you are!

6 p.m. — Dinner at The 404 Kitchen Serve up a black Manhattan with Woodford Reserve’s rye whiskey to begin. We love their food, but our favorite part is talking with sous chef Laura Hebenstreit. 9 p.m. — Music We would go for a small venue and an unknown, really talented musician. Nashville is packed with them! Recently we went to a Musicians Corner Christmas, and we didn’t recognize any of the musicians — except Levi Hummon — but every song was amazing.

DAY TWO

6 a.m. — Kicking off the morning Benji would bring us coffee, and we would plan our day and watch the sun rise before reading The New York Times in our living room. (We have extra-big windows that let the light stream in.) Then we would head to St. Augustine’s chapel on Vanderbilt’s campus. The early morning is peaceful and quiet; it’s a moment to be still and focus on gratitude and kindness and generosity.

8 a.m. — Tee time One of our favorite short jaunts is to play golf at Sweetens Cove. Dogs are welcome, the greens are impossible, and it’s in the middle of nowhere.

12 p.m. — Take a hike We would take a long hike off trail in the Savage Gulf looking for springs and sinkholes and wildflowers. We would finally find a trail through the new Stone Door that would take us back to our cabin in Beersheba Springs.

6 p.m. — Unwind Soak in a big tub with something very cold to drink!

7 p.m. — Perfect dinner party in Beersheba It would be relaxed and simple. Benji would set the atmosphere with music, a roaring fire and a crazy table setting with lots of candles, serving dishes that Clare has collected from local artisans and beautiful moss from the woods. Tara would grill something that she hadn’t tried before — and it would turn out to be delicious. There would be plenty of Rafanelli red wine, and best of all, our table would be crowded with friends. (Because this is a dream, there would be no clean up, only dancing.)

11 p.m. — Sleep under the stars We would inflate an air mattress, add pillows, linens and a big comforter and sleep under the stars on our porch. We would watch the moon rise and listen for owls. It would be luxurious!