Trip to Franklin Suggestions

[Rhea Cole]

just a few hous n the evenings

What is it you would like to do with your short time in Nashville?

Lower Broad Street is the bachelorette party epicenter of the world. Look out for the peddle bars.

 

[Cornpone and Molasses]

The Bug-A-Nut Restaurant across from the Carter House is a pretty good restaurant.

Did they recently change the name?

 

[redbob]

Did they recently change the name?

It's been a little while since I have been there, but that's what I remember it being called. I believe the official name is the Bunganut Pig.

 

[tmorr]

It's been a little while since I have been there, but that's what I remember it being called. I believe the official name is the Bunganut Pig.

It is indeed the Bunganut Pig - across the street from the Carter House and next door to the Lotz House

 

[Rhea Cole]

NPS Ranger Lee White grew up on the Chickamauga Battlefield. His long career as a ranger / historian has given him a unique perspective on writing a book about the Battle of Franklin.

Lest's face it, all of us have come away from a visit to a battlefield feeling confused & puzzled more than anything else. Even Franklin, which is very straight forward, can be hard to grasp on the ground. Lee White has applied his decades of guiding groups around the Chickamauga puzzle palace to his Franklin guide.

"Let Us Die Like Men" is both a history & a driving guide. Each chapter takes you to the locality where the action takes place. There is nothing like looking out over an otherwise anonymous scene & having it come to life.
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Link:

Let Us Die Like Men: The Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864

A leader in military and general history book publishing.

www.savasbeatie.com

Note: I have known Lee for a long time. His Chickamauga videos are highly recommended. He is the real deal.
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I assume you are not researching a PHD dissertation. There are granular histories about what happened minute by minute during the few hours between Winstead Hill & the Carter house. These are data points that do not ask the question, "Why?"

My answer to that question is a bit outside the box. Winston Grooms' "Shrouds of Glory" is a narrative history of the Nashville Campaign. He focuses very much on the individual participants. There is nothing fanciful or asserting an eccentric hobby horse alternative history about Grooms narrative. On the contrary, it is meticulously researched. Here is what CWT members think about it.

Link:

Member Review - Shrouds of Glory by Winston Groom | Civil War Books, Stories, & Media

Shrouds of Glory is the story of Hood's command of the Army of Tennessee. Starting with the storm of battles that raged around Atlanta, it ends at Nashville, where his army is irrevocably broken, shattering the last slim hope of the Confederacy. This book is not out to paint Hood as a...

civilwartalk.com

 

[gjpratt]

I agree with @Rhea Cole Lee White's book is an excellent primer on the battle.

 

[lupaglupa]

I was in Franklin this summer. While we mostly looked at sites where family lived and are buried, I did tour the battleground and thought it was very well done. The whole area around the square is pretty and all of the historic markers are interesting and worth reading. We ate a great meal at Puckett's and enjoyed the music there too.

In Nashville, all of the bars (and bachelorettes) on Broadway are fun to see. It's very crowded though. If you like Country music there are a number of places to tour downtown. The National Museum of African American Music is pretty new and very good. And if you like old cars you should check out the Lane Motor Museum. My car obsessed 19-year-old son thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[Rhea Cole]

I was in Franklin this summer. While we mostly looked at sites where family lived and are buried, I did tour the battleground and thought it was very well done. The whole area around the square is pretty and all of the historic markers are interesting and worth reading. We ate a great meal at Puckett's and enjoyed the music there too.

In Nashville, all of the bars (and bachelorettes) on Broadway are fun to see. It's very crowded though. If you like Country music there are a number of places to tour downtown. The National Museum of African American Music is pretty new and very good. And if you like old cars you should check out the Lane Motor Museum. My car obsessed 19-year-old son thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lane Motor Museum

Agreed. There isn't another auto collection quite like it. All of the cars run & are driven. Guaranteed, you have never seen some of these cars.

 

[huskerblitz]

Visited Franklin for the first time this past summer. The people at the Carter House were extremely helpful in getting more info on a grandfather's unit and location when he was severely wounded.

 

[lupaglupa]

Lane Motor Museum

View attachment 532130
Agreed. There isn't another auto collection quite like it. All of the cars run & are driven. Guaranteed, you have never seen some of these cars.

View attachment 532131

View attachment 532132

View attachment 532133

We got to see the French car in the third picture running (the one with the large wooden blade at front). It was impressive and a bit scary.

 

[Rhea Cole]

We got to see the French car in the third picture running (the one with the large wooden blade at front). It was impressive and a bit scary.

I would like to have seen that. Surely the driver would be showered with gravel?

One of my neighbors worked there. It was down right astonishing what would appear in his drive way. Lane's philosophy really is to keep the collection running.

The Frist Art Museum had a show made up of the Art Deco jewels of the Lane & other collections called, " Sensuous Steel."

During a member's only evening the hoods were opened… ahead of me were three deeply impressed car guys. As they ogled the outrageously sinuous black two seater, one of them asked:

"What would it be like to sit in this thing & start it?"

"I wouldn't know whether to drive it or make love to it."
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Link:

Sensuous Steel: Art Deco Automobiles - Frist Art Museum

Sensuous Steel: Art Deco Automobiles is an exhibition of Art Deco automobiles from some of the most renowned car collections in the United States. Inspired by the Frist Art Museum’s historic Art Deco building, this exhibition features spectacular automobiles and motorcycles from the 1930s and...

fristartmuseum.org

Note: If you are traveling with children, the Lane Museum has the best kids play area I have ever seen.

 

[JimW]

There's a great small bakery named The Triple Crown if you have a sweet tooth

 

[gjpratt]

I discovered Bishop's during a Franklin Civil War show. It's on my rotation now. Even on a Sunday.

Bishop's Meat & 3

Bishop's is more than just food that sticks to your ribs; it is a community-focused restaurant providing the highest quality foods.

www.bishopsmeat3.com

 

[NFB22]

Roger that. That will eliminate some Civil War sites from consideration...Fort Negley, Nashville National Cemetery, Mount Olivet Cemetery and Nashville City Cemetery for example.

And Nashville City Cemetery is right next to Fort Negley.

Also, if you're a presidential history nerd like I am. James K. Polk is buried on the grounds of the Tennessee statehouse and the only surviving home that he once resided in is south of Franklin in Columbia and is open to the public.

 

[TennesseeZ4]

I live in Franklin, some places related to the Civil War that I feel are must sees:

- Carter House, Carnton Plantation, Lotz House, all in one place on Columbia Pike. To to all three may take an entire day. Add in Fort Grainger which is nearby.​

- Just a bit South, in Columbia, Rippavilla Plantation is worth the visit, it is where Hood had breakfast with his officers the day of the Battle of Franklin. Also mentioned was James K. Polk home which is there as well.​

- If you can get to Fort Negley in Nashville, it's rather unique. I went to the reenactment 160th anniversary this past weekend, they have cleaned it up a lot.​

- Out East of Nashville is the Hermitage, quite a nice place.​

- On the West side is Belle Meade Mansion and Belmont Mansion, both beautiful old homes.​

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Regarding food in Franklin there are a number of local eateries that are quite appealing: the Factory at Franklin has been redone and has a number of restaurants: Edley's BBQ is quite good: Saffire and Etch are a little more upscale: Mojos Tacos (SW) and White Alligator (Cajun) are worthy diversions: Hattie B's Hot Chicken is also there. Every Saturday morning from 8 ~ 12 there is a Farmers Market at the Factory.

Downtown Franklin has a couple of great breakfast spots: Ruby Sunshine and Franklin Mercantile: more along the lines of dinner would be Red Pony, Cork & Cow, 55 South, 1789. A popular local spot with music in the evening is Puckett's.

Nearby in Brentwood (Cool Springs) area are all of the national restaurants, J. Alexander's, Perry's Steakhouse, Bonefish Grille, et al., along with a few local spots like Drakes, Brewhouse South.

Liepers Fork is a quaint little out of town spot with a restaurant Fox & Locke, also some art galleries and shops. Nearby is Liepers Fork Distillery which is good diversion.

Agree with the Lane Motor Museum, very special collection Jeff Lane has assembled.

IMO the downtown Nashville scene is just party city these days, the never ending party buses, the bachlorette gaggles; Broadway has morphed into Bourbon Street North in many ways. If you are a party animal, that is where to go.

Come on down! Spend lots of money! Keep our taxes low! Kidding, if you want more info, PM me. Enjoy the trip, we love living here.