When, after a full meal, a taste of dessert whets an insatiable appetite for a month of meals, one regrets dessert. Well, not always. We spent half the day and the evening yesterday with friends in Franklin, Tennessee. The “full meal” was the leisurely drive through Arkansas and Mississippi, the enjoyable evening in Tupelo, and the trip on the Natchez Trace Parkway from Tupelo to just south and west of Franklin. The dessert is Franklin. The town is incredibly active and vibrant, its historic downtown bustling with activity on a Wednesday afternoon. The scenery in and around Franklin is gorgeous. Its appeal is, I think, its history, coupled with its progressive presence (not, sadly, progressive in the political sense). The town’s governors have, in the recent past, ensured the preservation of its historic downtown, while allowing (perhaps encouraging) modern ideas of entertainment and commerce to thrive. Outside that historic core, the town looks much like other growing communities injected with tax dollars and investor monies. Lots of restaurants, upscale businesses, corporate headquarter So, and the like. The challenge will be to rein in growth so that the historic core does not become just another antique attraction.
Back to dessert and its antecedent. I could make a full meal of Franklin! There’s so much to see and do, a quick visit makes it impossible to consume a full meal. We must come back and spent a few days here, soaking in the community. Nashville is only twenty minutes away and the area boasts some of our favorite stores: Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, and Costco, as well as two Flying Saucer locations, places where I can feed my love of good draft beer from around the planet.
Alas (to use another blogger’s favorite expression 😀), we must head toward home today, as we have commitments to keep back in the Village on Friday.
The aforementioned location-based happiness would be nothing without the generosity and hospitality of friends. Thanks, Maddie and Robin, for your kindness and hospitality. We hereby invite you to come back to the Village and stay with us for a few days, allowing us to repay your hospitality! (I am purposely scheduling this post to go live after we head home. 😀).
