Bea’s in Franklin
Could there possibly be better news than when a great new coffee shop opens in your own home town?
No. There really couldn’t.
Bea’s opened its doors in Franklin right after Memorial Day and it’s already hard to imagine how we got along with it until now.
Bea’s has another location in Bovina, but the opening of two new shops in Franklin also brought along a Franklin version of that well-loved cafe, and Franklin has become even more wonderful because of it.
No longer need we drive to Delhi for a great cup of coffee and a scone. We’ve got ’em right here at Bea’s. I’d have taken a picture of the scone when it was all pretty and stuff, but it looked too good. I ate it. Scones are irresistible.
Scones….ahhhhh.
KB, who likes scones but not to the level of addiction, had an egg sandwich. Freshly baked ciabatta bread, a buttery egg, your choice of add-ons. He was very, very happy.
Who else is new in town? Sean Scherer’s Kabinett & Kammer for one. It’s a very hip, very cool curiosity shop – vintage items displayed in unexpected combinations. Think antique meets artistic sensibility. This isn’t your mom’s antique shop.
And right beside them all at 422 Main is Gary Graham at 422, a place you have to explore and investigate to really begin to understand. Graham is a fashion designer, I suppose, but in reality he tells stories with clothes. And they’re my kind of stories. A bit macabre, a little melancholy. He combines historical fact with fictional characters, uses vintage fabric patterns and fabrics, or newly woven copies of vintage fabrics, to create clothes that evoke an event or a mood. That sheer overdress made out of what looked, to my untrained eye, like organza, had a price tag on it that seemed out of place away from Graham’s former Tribeca location. But then I read what inspired it….a double suicide in the Delaware River known as the Ophelia drownings…two young men persuaded to dress up in diaphanous gowns and drown themselves by a charismatic madman. Graham has another collection inspired by the Bedheads…a group of young locals who terrorized their neighbors and may have committed a murder.
I admit it — I have a macabre streak. So I’m loving this stuff.
If you have a macabre streak, too, come visit Franklin. Check out Gary Graham at 422.
And after you grab coffee at Bea’s go next door to Franklin Durable Goods at 438 Main Street. Neil and Tom currently have a truly disturbing collection of wax death masks for sale. Disturbing in the best way possible. Or perhaps you’d like a collection of porcelain baby doll faces. I have twelve, and I have not yet decided what to do with them. They creep me out in a very good way.
And then you can explore racks and racks of vintage clothes to create your own slightly dark fashion statement.
When you’re done, it’s a short walk back down Main St. to Blue Farm Antiques and Letterpress Printing. Whatever you find there won’t be there long. Phil has an amazing eye and things fly out of his shop.
And if it’s time for a serious meal, never forget The Tulip & The Rose, Franklin’s creative and welcoming food hub. The menu is varied and delicious and if you want to meet this town’s artists, here’s where you’ll find them at meal time.
Franklin – come for the New England-y charm, stay for the weirdness.
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