Downtown Franklin

The circle on the edge of downtown. 

Franklin is a suburb of Nashville. In fact, I realized while planning for this trip that oftentimes people will say Nashville but really mean a suburb of it. We were told the conference was being held in Nashville. It was actually in Franklin. 

The city of Franklin is large, well, compared to where I live in Maine. Franklin has a population between sixty and seventy thousand people. My town? It has between four and five thousand. However, Franklin has done well in preserving its downtown area. I headed there on Monday morning to wander around. 

These trees were fascinating. 

Finally figured out they are magnolia's about halfway through the week. 

Loved the name of the store. I refrained from going in though. 

I love paper goods and knew it would be too much temptation. 

There were historical markers and quaint shops. I wandered in and out and just took in the wonderful spring-like day. After I grabbed some lunch at Chick-Fil-A, I headed out to do some more exploring. We do not have many Chick-Fil-A's in the Northeast. In fact, there is only one in Maine and it's located 2-1/2 hours north of where I live. I am not going to share how often I ate there during the week. It was a lot!

Nearby there is an old factory that has been converted into shopping. The Factory at Franklin. 

Inside the entrance to The Factory.

It was full of neat little shops including a bakery and this guitar store. It was actually closed but I loved the sign on the door!

I spent quite a bit of time wandering a large antique store located there. I always enjoy a good antique shop. I rarely buy anything but the history of the items is enjoyable. 

Ending the day, I did something I have never done before...I went to the movies...alone. I have to say, it was fantastic. I say Hidden Figures and it was absolutely phenomenal. If you haven't seen it, do it! 

While I enjoyed all that Franklin had to offer, my hubby was stuck inside at the conference all day. I'm not sure he minded all that much...

And yes, that is the actual studio and Dave's chair he's sitting in.