As Liz Lemon says, don’t you “want to go there?” This is Sol, a funky and fun 
restaurant on Main Street off the square in Franklin, Tennessee. My husband and I wandered in on a recent late-night meander and instantly were captivated. Only the bar was open so we plopped ourselves down and enjoyed exploring the whimsical Mexican menu — and decor. Both are sort of casual-cool with an eclectic twist. It’s Frida Kahlo meets Iron Chef and obviously a popular gathering spot for the young and hip. We felt right at home (!) and happily devoured some deliciously fresh nachos washed down with cold beer — one of our favorite meals — and vowed to come back when we could work our way through the dinner menu: salmon wrapped in a banana-leaf, fish tacos and a poblano-potato cake especially looked good. We remember this same space when it was an upscale Italian sort of restaurant and marveled at the transition. Downtown Franklin is a happening place, worthy of a visit just to walk and eat and shop. Check out Sol at http://www.solonmain.com/ (that’s where these photos came from — it was way too dark, in a good way, for pics the night we were there) and learn more about Franklin at http://www.visitwilliamson.com/
On that same trip to Franklin, we also ate at Basil Asian Bistro, on 
Carothers Parkway across I-65 from Cool Springs Galleria. If Sol is vibrantly energetic, then Basil is calmly zen. It’s white tablecloths and quiet conversation but with the same appreciation for fresh ingredients and authentically prepared food. The extensive menu offered sushi, pad thai, curry and other classics. Luckily, we were with our friends Ted and Elayne, who had picked Basil for our lunch and steered us to their favorite dishes — and they were right. My husband and I especially loved the inventive sushi, the crisply cooked vegetables and the strong and fragrant hot tea. Good food and good company can’t be beat. We’ll be back. Go to http://www.basilasianbistro.com for details.
If you’re headed to Nashville, Tennessee, put Tin Angel on your 
places-to-eat list. Heck, it’s worth making a trip there on its own. From the tin ceiling and weathered brick walls to the menu featuring fresh and innovative dishes to the feeling of neighborhood and convivial warmth (important on freezing winter nights when it’s literally, you know, freezing), Tin Angel is one of my new favorite places. We visited the West End restaurant on the strength of a review my husband had read in the Nashville Scene (
My wonderful yet workaholic husband actually took a few days off recently and we headed to Nashville, Tennessee, for time with family, friends and a peacefully quiet hotel room. We like Embassy Suites — the two rooms to spread out in, the consistent quality of service and 
cleanliness and of course the free drinks and snacks in the afternoon. (What? 
We’re easily impressed!) We loved this bar-food gizmo set up in the lobby for the daily happy hour. It had all sorts of crackers, pretzels, nuts, candy and mixes for do-it-yourself creating — the perfect accompaniment for beer and lazy discussions about where to go and who to see and what to eat later that night. Good times! It doesn’t take much to amuse us when it’s just the two of us on vacation. If we have access to real coffee (me), Diet Dr Pepper (him), reliable Internet and plenty of newspapers, we’re content. Throw in good restaurants and time to do whatever we want whenever we want to and we’ve gone beyond content and straight into happpy. And by the way, one thing we did while on vacation was catch “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” If you haven’t seen it yet, go immediately. It’s a moving and powerful story you’ll think about long after you leave the theater. I was disappointed it didn’t garner more awards at the Golden Globes, but I’m hopeful it will clean up at the Oscars — it’s that good.
Training began this week at the newly finished Demos’ restaurant in Florence, 
Alabama. “Today (Monday) is our official first day of training. We won’t open until the end of the month,” said Felicia Demos, chief financial officer for the family business, in an e-mail. Demos’ is a middle Tennessee icon, with restaurants in Murfreesboro, Nashville, Lebanon and Hendersonville famous for offering delicious homestyle food at great value and with excellent service. My husband and I are both from middle Tennessee and we eat at Demos’ whenever we’re nearby. I cannot believe our luck in getting one practically in our own backyard. We must have been living right. Who knew? Visit 
I’m 51 and a grandmother and somewhat capable of 
handling things on my own (no, really, I am) but I still want to go home to my parents’ for Christmas and have everything as it always has been. Like the John Deere village my mom puts up — my dad had a John Deere dealership before he retired and now he buys every JD catalogue and ad that comes up for auction anywhere in the world, or at least in Illinois. And like the 
ornaments I put on the tree when I was a kid, and now my 20-something-year-old children help me put them on their grandparents’ tree — great-grandson 8-month-old Nolan is no help since he would only eat the hooks. And then there’s the great holiday food that only Grommy — what my children call my mother — can make: TV Mix eaten in 40-year-old wooden bowls, graham crackers covered in butter and brown sugar and hot cocoa stirred from scratch in an ancient heavy saucepan. Grandmas definitely are special, and I’d better get my act together if I’m going to be the same for Nolan. But I’ve had lessons from the best, so hopefully I”ve got a headstart. One of my favorite parts of going home during the holidays is coming back to my house with fresh-cut holly and fir branches from my dad’s nursery — one of his other retirement projects. I cannot keep up with them! At least this year I’m making my own Chex mix — I’ll have to call my mom, though, to talk me through.
Donna Reed. I know, I know. It’s a heartwarming American classic. It’s a Frank Capra masterpiece. It’s a multi-layered holiday icon. It’s everybody’s favorite. So why isn’t it No. 1 on my list? Because it used to scare the #$%^ out of me! The drunk pharmacist who boxed young George’s ear and made it bleed, the mean and rowdy crowd at the bar, the cheap and hateful Mr. Potter who caused such misery — these disturbing black-and-white images did not bring me comfort and joy when I was younger. And as I grew older and understood the sacrifices George made and the dreams he lost and the drab and dreary life he felt he was living, it made me sad. George did have a wonderful life but bitterness and regret kept him from realizing it — what a waste for all those years. I mainly feel sorry for him. It’s a good thing Clarence comes along to shake him up because I sort of want to do that myself. And here’s the thing: Where were all George’s friends before the bank shortfall? Why does it take a crisis to bring them together and make them value him? Do these people ever stop by to say “hello” or to eat lunch or go to a ballgame? And will they do that now? Or am I being too cynical? You have to admit, though, it’s the kind of movie that breeds cynicism if you didn’t have a healthy dose of it already. Like me. Come back tomorrow for No. 3 — a bonus two-fer. Can you guess what they are?
Shining faces … precious voices … proud parents … Is there anything more moving during the holidays than children’s Christmas choirs? Not much. And it’s especially heartwarming when you don’t even have a child up there and you haven’t spent the past three months in frantic dashes to rehearsals or the past three days in frantic hunts for a white blouse that everybody can agree on (ah, memories!) — you simply can sit back and enjoy. And that’s what I did this past weekend at the annual Community Choir Christmas Concert sponsored by the Rotary Club in Manchester, Tennessee. This is my dad’s project. He’s been organizing this concert for the past 14 years — combining choir music and Rotary, two of his favorite things. He loves it and everybody who comes to listen feels blessed. I’ll bet there were concerts like 
this everywhere this past weekend, along with open houses, parades and parties as December deepens and the 25th gets closer and free weekends and evenings get scarce. A side benefit to all the activity? Catching up with folks you may only see once a year. Several of my high-school classmates sing in the community choir, so we all go out afterwards. I know what you’re thinking when you look at this pic: “There is no way these people graduated high school 33 years ago! They are far too young and hip to be 50-plus!” Thank you for the compliment. And in fact you would think that if you had heard our conversation — riding new Harley-Davidsons (and this was not the lone male alum, either), installing environmentally friendly pool-filtration systems, eating the raw-food way and discussing details of the upcoming class-reunion Caribbean cruise. And of course there were a few grandbaby pics passed around.
Coffee with Cathy 