A Tennessee wander

A longtime favorite of mine....this Tennessee backroads wander....just southwest of Franklin to the little village of Leiper's Fork....is a must-do when in the Nashville area.

With Mayberry-esque squad car and bright orange General Lee bidding a friendly welcome, you know you are approaching a special place. Pristine rolling hills and rustic wood fences line the road into this historic little town which is home to so much more than first meets the eye.

Unassuming and totally charming, Leiper's Fork is quite a sleeper, with it's scattering of little shops, galleries, inns, and of course....

.....great food! Among several excellent eateries in Leiper's Fork, is the legendary Pucketts Grocery which provides the perfect place to listen to world class musicians while savoring down-home country cooking.

But Leiper's Fork isn't just about gorgeous scenery, rich history, fun festivals, and celebrity residents.....

.....it's also home to my all-time favorite antique shop: Serenite Maison.

You know when you walk up to this shop that you are in for pure pickin' pleasure!!

From a floor-to-ceiling, totally cool, vignette just inside the front door....

.....to just about every square inch of this gorgeous shop--it takes about a half dozen trips around just to appreciate the amazing detail and quality of all there is to behold here.

It's really the best vintage "junk" I've ever seen....arranged in the most unique way....which is a PURE delight!

And my FAV--the antique lighting--were some of the most unique I have seen gathered in one place!

Ok, I'll take them all!

Dragging ourselves away was difficult, but it was awesome to get a chance to meet Marty and Alexandra, the perfectly delightful proprietors of all this loveliness, and chat for awhile. You girls ROCK!

Next door to Serenite Maison is an excellent handmade leather goods shop called West & Company that is home to fabulous leather artists who make everything from these stellar boot designs......

.......to luggage, bags, belts, clothing, shoes, jewelry and so much more.

On the way back to Franklin, brakes squealed at this new shop called West Main Antiques. With a rocketship made from rusty old junk on the front.....it was a must-see!!

And refreshingly....it was even cooler on the INSIDE!

Owners Bill Powell and Barry Scales, and 'Metal Morphosist'  Kris Nethercutt have apparently read our minds and packed this place with anything and EVERYTHING vintage industrial COOL.

I could have stayed in here all day--especially when I discovered they have a backroom filled with rusty junk stacked floor-to-ceiling and which is incredibly fun to dig through.

 This killer piece (there were a pair of them) with original heater fan unit on chippy wood door, industrial light, and electric box w/conduit intact was the COOLEST!! At 360.00 a pair I was drooling over these. They were really large, and I could just picture them hanging on my huge exposed brick loft wall----if I HAD one!!  Sigh.

Reluctantly we pressed on to Franklin because daylight was burning....

.....and dozens of shops awaited! Yay....they have an Anthropologie downtown now!

Which is where this cool table was sitting in the front window.

Here are some pics of just a few of the things that caught my eye as we flew through as many shops as possible before they closed.....

Chandelier made from jewelry chain

Unique chippy aqua chest

Vintage iron floral piece on white chippy wood

Cool design tractor bench

Nice pale green vignette

Tractor chain curtain

This was my first visit to our pickin ROCKSTAR's new place: ANTIQUE ARCHAEOLOGY.  Here is the view of the building AA is located in....when coming under the interstate from downtown.

It's a really HUGE building with a killer cool water tower on top.

AA is kind of in the middle of it--and it was nice to be there Sunday morning....way before they opened and no one was around because I've read there are lines around the block to get in otherwise!

Iconic trademark mural

There is an art gallery right across the street, in the taller section of that building

This is the view looking back toward the Nashville skyline.   You know, you just can't help but appreciate Mike (and Frank and Danielle) not only for his unfailing enthusiasm for pickin'.....but for also bringing light to it in a more glamorous way as an actual profession! I mean SERIOUSLY....it wasn't something you even admitted to if you were a decent middle class girl back in the day....and I still get 'The Look' when I try to explain to some people what I do. (of course it's been not-so-great for getting those backroad deals we used to because everyone now thinks their stuff is priceless because of these tv shows!) But I still watch every single episode and am still glad to see Mike staying true to his passion and vision of bringing us great armchair  junkin'.