What no one tells you about the senior fall break to Nashville is that a lot of your time will be spent on the rooftop of the Jason Aldean bar dancing with people you already see every weekend in South Bend. The Jason Aldean bar will feel a lot like Newf’s, only if Newf’s were towering over Broadway and vodka sodas went for $13 each, not $5 (so basically not like Newf’s at all). I guess the one Newf’s-y element is that everyone will be there, and the lights will be flashing different colors.
No one tells you that when you get a bunch of Notre Dame kids together and give them the opportunity to drink for days on end without being judged (for the most part), they will only rise to the occasion. This will, inevitably, result in blackouts, barcodes and bad decisions for many seniors, so keep an eye on your friends.
No one tells you that there’s a bar called Robert’s and you should ask for the recession special. It’s $6 for a fried baloney sandwich, a moonpie and a bag of chips, and even though you will not go to Robert’s nor order the recession special, you will be glad to know this information.
No one tells you that you will bump into some of your friends from middle school and high school. The guys from middle school will be the first people you see in Nashville, and you’ll be somewhat surprised that they exist in a place that isn’t Alexandria, VA. And you’ll remember, in one moment of sparkling beauty, that this world is so profoundly small (or maybe just that everyone goes to Nashville for fall break).
No one tells you that the Duncan guys will absolutely colonize the far left elevated surface at Aldean’s multiple nights in a row, and you will seriously wonder why they feel the need to be there when most of them are not even dancing (no hatred, Duncan is a great dorm).
No one tells you that all your vices will follow you to Nashville. Say, for example, hypothetically, your affinity for drunk cigarettes will indeed be satisfied by some O’Neill men who will offer you (and your friends), hypothetically, a drunk cigarette.
No one tells you that the pedal bar will be the most transcendent experience of your 20’s so far. You will pedal like your life depends on it and say hi to every unassuming group of people on Broadway. You will feel like the mayor.
No one tells you that the guy who fell off the stage at Olf’s will, inevitably, be at risk of falling off the stage at a Nashville rooftop bar, too (you’ll see him onstage and wonder if it’s appropriate to say, “Don’t fall like last time!” or if maybe you should keep that one to yourself).
No one tells you that when the lead singer at the honky-tonk asks your group, “Where are you guys from?” you will reply “Indiana” with your full chest (even though only one of you is actually from Indiana). He will sing “Sweet Home Alabama,” but replace Alabama with Indiana, and you will wonder if anything more romantic has ever happened to you in your entire life.
No one tells you that you will spend $13 on a vodka soda and have a heart-to-heart with the bathroom attendant in Nudie’s (her Venmo is @Nashboss, by the way) and also wear chelsea boots all weekend (since you left your vintage cowboy boots at home — tragic).
No one tells you that the senior fall break trip is awesome, but completely and totally missable.
It’s missable because a lot of people won’t remember half of it, and you probably won’t meet anyone new, and you probably won’t engage much with Nashville outside of a honky-tonk.
But, no one tells you that, even though it’s completely and totally missable, you’re glad you went. You’re glad you went because live music is the one thing that reaches your soul and breaks the curse, and your group got Bingo five times on the absolutely heinous Nashville Group Bingo card you created the first night. Of course, you have the rest of your life to go against the grain — to make your own fun in your own city, to be a stranger in a crowd — but for the first and last time in your life, Broadway felt like it was only yours.
Kate Casper is a senior at Notre Dame studying English with minors in Digital Marketing and Italian. She strives to be the best waste of your time. You can contact her at kcasper@nd.edu.
