🎄🎄🎄🎄2016 December 10, Saturday Christmas Adventures🎄🎅🏻

I grabbed my purse, camera bag, a blanket, a box of Tissues, and gloves before walking outside into the brisk cold. 
Our windshield was covered with star-shaped ice, and the leather seats were freezing cold. 
I spread a fuzzy, warm blanket over my seat while I waited for it to warm up, which didn't take too long due to the heated seats. 
I had dressed in layers with thermals, jeans, two thermal shirts, a coat, and boots. I was one big bundle of warmth.
I coughed and hacked all the way to Walgreens in Lawrenceburg, where we purchased a bottle of Mucinex Fast-Max Clear and Cool to help alleviate a cold, flu, and sore throat. 
I felt like that Mucinex man had been following me for the last two days. 
I took my first dose, which burned my raw throat. We also bought two bags of Ricola Cough suppressants a bag of Swiss Cherry and a bag of Cherry Honey from Switzerland.
We stopped in Spring Hill to fill up at Murphy Gas and Burger King, where we purchased three French sticks, a piece of sausage, and a cinnamon roll. 

We saw a group of young fiddlers playing Christmas Carols. They were dressed in full-length, white, blue, brown, pink, & red dresses.
Bonnets, caps, or hats covered their heads, and scarves were wrapped around their necks. 
We walked back in time to a Victorian Christmas, and as we strolled the streets, we met many different characters. We meet Santa Claus, A Victorian Father and Mother Christmas, Ebenezer Scrooge, the Grim Reaper, the Nut Cracker, Bob Emily & Tiny Tim Cratchit, and Jacob Marley.

Victorian Father and Mother Christmas

Santa Clause

Old Hum Bum himself, "Ebenezer Scrooge"
He said I don't like people and I don't like pictures as he posed for his portrait. 

Dickens of Christmas Characters

The Nut Cracker and the Frisky Little Mouse 

Group of Dickens Characters

Bob Emily & Tiny Tim Cratchit

Father Christmas Approximately

 seventy-five vendors, each in a white tent, lined Main Street.

Their booths were filled with heritage crafts, holiday items, and specialty gifts. 

Vendors were encouraged to dress in period attire to enhance the ambiance.

We saw a horse-drawn carriage, carolers, Charles Dickens characters strolling the streets, and the smell of Victorian food.

One booth was giving free cups of hot apple cider, which felt good for my sore throat. 

We saw Booties, Whimsy Wonderland, Country Wood, Boudreaux's Bro Kitchen & Catering, the Heritage Foundation Booth, and bell ringers for the Salvation Army. This sign said "Franklin Rotary Breakfast will match your donation", Mix 97, Ace's Kettle Corn, Cinnamon Roasted Nuts, Almonds, Cashews, Pecans, locally owned. It made Walker Creek Confections, Tennessee Glass Stains, Mix 92.9, Gracy's Farm Fresh Honey, Kaleidoscope Frames, Chocolate Moonshine of Tennessee, Franklin Fudge Factory, Unique Funnel Cake House, Artist drawing a reindeer, Stoney Creek Farm, a blacksmith, a bookbinder, a sock netter, Imagine-box Emporium  Peach-skin Sheets, Colorado Wassail Company, a man playing glasses full of water, Puckett's Trolley, White Mercantile,  The statue guy, & large black furry poodle.

The Thirty-second Annual Dickens of a Christmas Heritage Foundation was a bandstand where groups performed.

The last character we saw was the tormented ghost, damned to wander the earth forevermore as a punishment for his greed, Jacob Marley.

Jacob Marley

As we exited downtown Franklin, we felt as though we were leaving behind a quintessential Victorian Christmas.
Even the Old Hum Bum himself, Ebenezer Scrooge, could not ruin our Christmas. 

🎄🎄🎄🎄2012 December 8, Saturday, A Dickens of a Christmas in Franklin Tennessee

2012 Saturday, December 8, Franklin, TN

Was it a Dickens of a Christmas in Franklin, Tennessee?

My husband and I ate breakfast of eggs, sausage, and toast. 

We arrive in Franklin, Tennessee, about 10:00 A.M. 

My husband and I walked around taking pictures of costumed characters from Dickens' story"A Christmas Carol.

I rode the horse-drawn carriage around the Public Square for $2.00. 

The carriage had four padded bench seats that would seat up to twelve people of normal size.

It was pulled by a couple of horses, one of which was brown and whit, and the other pitch black.

We saw holiday bazaar arts and crafts throughout the public square. 

There were musicians along the streets; we saw violinists, handbell choirs, harpists, and carolers. 

I grabbed a picture of Scrooge, the  Old "Humbug" himself. 

My husband took a picture of me next to the Grim Reaper.

I took several pictures of the Cratchit family, along with Tiny Tim, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, and Bob Cratchit (who are actually Franklin police officers on duty), Father and Mother Christmas.

We sampled peppermint pretzels and watched the Morris Dancers perform a Cornish dance featuring swords and sticks from the mining communities of Cornwall.

It rained for the first part of the morning. We saw many people carrying umbrellas, but the rain did not deter the festival.

We ate lunch at Papa Boudreaux's Cajun Café & Catering Co. and spent $33.15.

The building was painted purple and trimmed in bright yellow, with iron-metal tables and chairs sitting outside. 

Inside, there were long wooden bench tables that could seat up to eight people, and the total occupancy max is 49.

On the outside of the restaura,nt on the purple do, or was a sign that read," Restrooms are for paying customers ONLY! Sorry, we are a small establishment…….SignedPap's Management.

Scrooge walking the streets of Franklin

Wet Streets of Franklin

I took pictures of many historic markers, including the courthouse. Behind the marker was a sign that read, "Franklin on foot."

What once was the local courthouse is now the Visitors Center in Franklin.

Another sign that Union Headquarters Was Planning for battle was located near a manger scene.

The St. Philip Chaotic Church Marker was in front of the Church.

The Old Factory Store is now a bookstore where, there was several authors were singing book.

We also saw the Masonic Temple, Hiram Lodge No. 7 & building and marker, which was on the Civil War tour number 17.

We saw the Ewen Cameron marker at the Presbyterian Church.

We stopped inside the Starbucks Coffee store to use the restroom before we left Franklin.

We passed many war markers as we walked back to the van. We saw the Chickasaw Treaty Council, Fa Field Hospital, caring for the wounded, the Franklin Special School District, the Franklin Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and Hincheyville Markers.

Christmas Tree in the Center of Town

Lady in Pink

Carriage Rides

Cratchit Family

We rode to Leipers Fork around 1:30 P.M. to watch the Christmas parade, but it was canceled due to the weather. The town was hit by lightning earlier that day. 

The participants of the Christmas Parade had gathered and dispersed after the storm.

Many of them had to travel down Main Street, and we saw many.

We saw a sign that read "Possum Holler Garage Like US on Facebook."

Radio Flayer Wagon 

Possum Holler Garage 

We saw Radio Flayer Wagon atop a Jeep full of riders full of Christmas Cheer.

We saw a Possum Holler Garage tow truck pulling an old Plymouth car behind it.

We saw an F-150 truck pulling a boat on top of a wagon with riders wearing Santa hats.

We saw an Old Chevrolet Truck with the inscription "Posser Holler Garage" pulling an outhouse, inscribed on the side, which read "Old NO. 7."

There was a round hole cut in the outhouse, and it had a reindeer hanging out of the hole with four legs closed underneath. On the backside of the outhouse was a satellite dish, a sign that read, "Merry Christmas.

A sign that read "Possum Holler est. 2006, "The other White Meat", "24 Wreck Her Service", "You Bend We Mend 'em".

Behind the signs was Frosty the Snowman, with a couple of reindeer and a sign that read, "  TAY BACK 100 FEET EXPLOSIVE GAS."

Riding in the  1921 Clampett's truck

STAY BACK 100 FEET EXPLOSIVE GAS."

We saw the Hillsboro United Methodist/Bank of Leiper's Fork historic markers located at Old Hwy 96 W.

We walked through the Winters Arts located at the Locke Building.

We went inside the Serenity Madison antiques and mercantile store.

We stopped inside the Laurel Leaf Fashion Store.

We saw the Puckett's grocery restaurant with men sitting outside.

My husband made a picture of me sitting in Clampett's old Ford Truck. It had a homemade wooden bench for sitting.

Inside and hanging along the old truck, I saw a jug of moonshine, a washtub, a trunk, a five-gallon bucket, a frying pan, and a dead opossum lying in a wash pan, hanging under the backside of the truck, just waiting for Granny Clampett to fry.

We saw an outdoor theater that was located inside, which had a live Christmas tree with hundreds of colorful bulbs strung around it. On either sid,e standing straight and tall were nutcrackers. 

As we wereleavingi, we saw the Church of Christ at Leiper's For,kWhich Meets Here,e EST 1831.

We walked around the many stores but didn't buy anything.

We left around 2:30 P.M., traveling down the Natchez Trace to Lawrenceburg, TN.

We stopped at Kroger's in Lawrenceburg, where we purchased baked chicken, two slices of red velvet cake, chocolate-covered almonds, and rolls. 

We took all that food home to have a feast.