One of my favorite places to visit outside of Henderson KY is Franklin TN.   The community of Franklin TN presents themselves to me as a people of eclectic mix: spiritual, fitness minded, artistic, open minded and educated.  They seem to be quite a mixture of ethnic groups and I see people of various age groups mixing and doing things together.

Franklin Tennessee is the home of some quite famous Twitter and blogging celebrities.  Michael Hyatt, Steve Anderson, Spence Smith and Randy Elrod all of which call  Franklin TN their physical home.

Franklin recently was named to the 2009 list of Southern Living Magazines’  “Best Small Town” top ten list, Franklin is a charming suburb of Nashville, Tennessee.

In Franklin you will experience a beautiful blend of upscale urban development and cultural history rich with hip places to shop and eat as well as historic attractions that tell the story of the Civil War’s Battle of Franklin.

Some places that we find interesting in Franklin TN are:

Hotels

–Aloft (Franklin TN / Coolsprings) We actually stayed here during our late July 2009 visit.  It is nice but not all that.  Think next time we will be back at Courtyard Marriott Cool springs.  The bar was nice, rooms very small and didn’t have extra pillows.  They had a lot of accessories for electronics but didn’t give you any cables to use them.  The best way to and cheapest way to get a reservation was online.  The system was awful; it took me almost 30 minutes to make a 2 night reservation.  The personnel that worked the place were very nice.  Some we noticed were not that polished.

The Courtyard Marriot Cool Springs (2001 Meridian Blvd Franklin TN) is a great new place as well.   A trendy hotel especially the corner rooms.  This is our perfered place to stay while visiting Franklin.

Great Breakfast Places

Puckett’s (Both in Franklin and Leiper’s Fork)  Franklin store is downtown and it is next door to Merridees at 120 4^th Ave in Franklin.  You don’t want to miss a visit to Franklin without stopping by Puckett’s.

Merridee’s Breadbasket 110 4^th Avenue S Franklin- Highly recommend.  We eat there every time we are in town. (Parking Across the street in free parking garage).

The Starbucks at Five Points is really good too.  The typical Starbucks brand but with a twist.  They are a building that is participating in a project to use Solar Power.  Ask the barista about this initiative that is going on in this store.

Downtown Shops of Interest

Franklin Tea Great place to by gourmet tea.

Curious Gourmet This is where we got our one of a kind wine barrel lazy Susan for entertaining at home. The staff are very friendly every time we visit we manage to get a product demonstration.  This time it was the Cusinart Grind & Brew.  Think one of those will make it in my house sometime.  We bought a few kitchen items.

Various other shops up and down main street that are very interesting.  Take time to walk both sides of the Franklin main street.  There are several antique stores and gift shops.  You never know too when you might run into a celebrity like Alan Jackson, Miley Cyrus (they live in Franklin area) or possibly Dolly Parton (she lives in the Brentwood TN area).

The Factory at Franklin this is as you come into town from Cool Springs.  This is ok but not our favorite.  They have a nice Viking Store along with Cooking school in this converted old factory.

Excellent Mexican: Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant-  The very best fish taco’s 316 Williamson Sq Franklin

The place for a Evening Meal or Appetizers Wild Ginger (Fun Fusion Cuisine).

The most exquisite but practical Gym I have ever seen and  very new!  Prairie Life Fitness.

A unique Bicycle Shop Harpeth Bicycle Shop.

Harpeth True Value Home Center This is the place were we purchased the Yankee Flipper Squirrel Proof bird feeder.   Also saw and demoed the Weber Summit Grill. This hardware store seemed to have more of a variety of unique items than most True Value stores have.

Sometime when you want a quick getaway to a really unique town and Franklin TN is the place.

Tell me about your visit to Franklin?