Bell Buckle Offers up an Elite Small Town Tennessee Experience

Let's head down to Bell Buckle for a little slice of small town Tennessee.

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I can remember being a young’un at Gladeville Elementary the first time I had ever heard of the Webb School Art & Craft Show, or more casually known as the “Bell Buckle craft fair.” Taking place roughly an hour southeast of Nashville, it is the preeminent craft show in Middle Tennessee. It feels like a labyrinth of vendors….what feels like thousands…and one wrong turn throughout the town can send you down a rabbit hole and/or a never-ending circle. It is the stuff of legend for good reason. Indeed, the Alabama-Tennessee football rivalry isn’t the only thing that can lay claim to the third Saturday in October.

Last Saturday was no different as my wife, my mother, and I made way for Bell Buckle in order to peruse the crafted goods. Thankfully, the college football slate wasn’t that good last week, so I wasn’t missing out on any of the action. That’s super tongue in cheek if this is your first time here at SoBros Network and haven’t developed a sixth sense for when I’m full of shit yet. Anyway, we got into town around 10AM, and it was an outright shit show. If you want to see this spectacle, the move is to get there as early as possible. We paid $10 to park a little way’s out of town and made the walk into downtown Bell Buckle. My feet were hurting by the end of the day, but that could just be because I’m fat and out of shape.

Nonetheless, there were tents as far as the eye could see:

We saw a little bit of everything from yard sale junk to hand-crafted pens, bird feeders, candles, popcorn, antiques, clothes, holiday decorations, and of course, beef jerky. Somehow, we managed to make it through the bulk of the craft fair without actually buying anything, although I did come pretty close to buying a lamp made out of a Jameson bottle. That shit ruled! We found our annual stop at Molly’s Sweet Shop, where we bought four cakes (relax – they’re like…personal-sized cakes) and a jar of cowboy candy. We strolled around, circled back to the car, and before you knew it, we were on our way back to civilization a couple of hours later. It really is one of the quintessential Tennessee experiences, and it’s a hallmark of fall.

But, beyond that, Bell Buckle offers a ton of small town charm that makes it the perfect place to drive out for a day. You can visit several antique stores. There’s an art gallery, a couple of little cafes/restaurants, and an ice cream shop. Most of all, it’s just a damn beautiful drive. In my opinion, it is on the Mount Rushmore of leisurely Middle Tennessee drives. But you have to take the back roads. Don’t just hop on I-24 and head to the Bell Buckle exit…no. Get off in Murfreesboro at 231, head up towards Christiana, and hang a left over towards 269. Creep right into the back side of town and enjoy all of the scenery. This should come with the warning that I am a notoriously old man driver. My wife makes fun of me because I’m the type of guy to take the back roads, drive five below the speed limit, and repeatedly say things like “look at the shade of the leaves on THAT tree!”

Anyway, Tennessee is littered with natural beauty and heading out to a small town like Bell Buckle is one easy and affordable way to take in the splendor of the Volunteer State.

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.

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