Good Eats in Nashville, Tenn.

I've been meaning to do this for a long time, but I guess it's better late than never. I've been to Nashville, Tenn., a few times and there are two great restaurants I want to tell people about.

#1: The Pancake Pantry. As the name indicates it's a great place for breakfast, but be sure to arrive early! On my first trip to Nashville, I arrived with my friend Stefan and found that the line was already out the door and wrapped around most of the building. This was on a Sunday morning around 10ish. I finally got indoors and had a meal on my second visit.

The pancakes are truly great. The service is fast, and the wait staff is attentive. I never lacked for refills on my coffee nor did I ever have to ask for extra any. I'm a firm believer that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and this place proves me right!

#2 Sole Mio. As a young boy, I lived in Italy. So I'm extremely picky when it comes to "authentic" Italian cuisine. However, this place delivers! How good was the meal? Even my mom approved! The gnocchi is handmade and the gorgonzolla sauce is incredible!

Want further proof that this is a great place to eat? On another trip to Nashville, I took two coworkers there. One of them is of Italian descent, and even he agreed that the food was excellent and lived up to his expectations.

Two More Shirts, Two More Shot Glasses

People collect all sorts of trinkets, and one of the items I collect are the Hard Rock Cafe "City T-shirts" and their cordial shot glasses. I don't recall when I started this collection, but it's been going on for at least the past 10 years. I specifically remember going to the Hard Rock Cafe near Copley Square in Boston and purchasing a "city shirt" and shot glass in 1999.

During the holiday break, my collection of Hard Rock Cafe paraphernalia grew yet again. I received a shirt and shot glass from Honolulu for Christmas from my German friend Stefan, and a classmate of mine bought me a shirt and shot glass from Nassau, Bahamas, while on his cruise.

I also decided it was time to display my map of Hard Rock items from around the globe. I have bought some of the T-shirts and shot glasses, but a majority have been purchased for me as gifts. Unfortunately I have not always received a shot glass with each T-shirt, so the map reflects that I only have a T-shirt from a certain city or that I only have a shot glass from that location.

Below is a map legend. If there is a black circle at the center of the marker it means that cafe has either closed or moved to another location in the same city.

• Teal = Have both "City Shirt" and shot glass
• Pink = Have only "City Shirt"
• Green = Have only shot glass