A Treasure from a Tennessee Antique Mall

In a post last week about our recent trip to Franklin, Tennessee, I mentioned visiting the Franklin Antique Mall. The mall is huge and has a variety of everything ... from fine antique furniture and paintings to flea market items. I enjoyed browsing and saw several things I liked, but it was love at first sight when I saw this little primitive clay vase. I loved its simplicity and thought it would be pretty on the Welsh dresser in our breakfast room. But when I turned it upside down and saw the signature on the bottom, I knew I had to have it. I assume that the "Sr." stands for Sister Eustelle, and I love the fact that it was made by a nun almost 70 years ago, if that date is authentic. Here it is in its new home ... Don't you just love finding something that makes you happy every time you look at it, even though it doesn't have any real value to anyone but you? I wish I could tell Sister Eustelle how much I like her little vase.

A Town called Franklin

That sign is telling the truth when it proclaims it is winter in Frankin, Tennessee. Included on Southern Living's "Best Small Towns" top ten list, Franklin is a quaint historic suburb of Nashville, and even though it was dreary and cold yesterday when we arrived downtown, it was still very picturesque and charming. We spent an hour or so exploring and I was able to get a few pictures, in spite of the busy morning traffic. At the center of Franklin's historic district, is the Square (you can click on the pictures to enlarge them, if you'd like). And here is a view of its tree-lined Main Street. My pictures don't do it justice, but I think you can see why it is on Southern Living's list. We spent a very pleasant half hour or so in Curious Gourmet, an upscale kitchen shop which also offers cooking lessons. They have everything you could possible want or need for your kitchen, from fine quality utensils to a gorgeous AGA range like the one below, which was on sale! We enjoyed visiting with the very knowledgeable and gracious shopkeeper, Elizabeth, who told us about some of the historic sites to see in Franklin. After leaving downtown, we found a few antique shops to explore, and the Franklin Antique Mall was my favorite. Here are a couple of other shops that are close by ... Franklin is steeped in history and its townspeople take great pride in preserving its historical homes and buildings. There's a lot to see and explore there, but yesterday, there were some other places I had read about that I wanted to find and capture with my camera ... so we didn't stay long. I'd love to go back in the spring and spend a few days just soaking it all in, hopefully, on a bright "sunshiny" day! Tomorrow, I plan to share some of those "other places" we found, and I hope you will join me.

On the Road

This is coming to you from beautiful Nashville, Tennessee. Today is our son Benjamin's birthday, and we're meeting him and his girlfriend for dinner tonight to celebrate.

Tomorrow, we're going to explore historic Franklin, Tennessee, and some of the backroads surrounding Nashville. I hope to have some adventures and photos to share soon. Here are some pictures from a stop we made today.

If you would like to learn more about that amazing bridge, you can click here.