Beer, Bacon and Bourbon — oh my!

Williamson County Convention & Visitors Bureau

Beer, Bacon and Bourbon — three words that still the heart of the most steadfast Southerner.

Now, all we need is a festival honoring all three!

            Well, shut my mouth, if Franklin, Tenn., hasn’t organized one.

            The first, Beer Bacon and Bourbon will take place Saturday, March 5, at The Factory at Franklin, featuring top local craft brewed beers, various bacon-themed hors d'oeuvres and the finest Southern bourbon. It will also host a first-of-its-kind “Tennessee Home Brew Exhibition,” which will give guests the opportunity to try home-brewed beers from across the Tennessee and award a “people’s choice” winner. Tickets to Beer Bacon & Bourbon are $75 and can be purchased online at beerbaconbourbontn.com. 

            Franklin, Tenn., is a quaint town located just outside Nashville, home to great shopping in the historic downtown district, music venues, Arrington Vineyards and the site of the Civil War’s Battle of Franklin. It’s also a stop on the Natchez Trace Parkway and the Americana Music Triangle.

For information on Franklin and Williamson County, visit VisitFranklin.com.

And if you’re a lover of bacon and bourbon, check out the review we did on “Southern Living Bourbon and Bacon: The Ultimate Guide to the South’s Favorite Foods” by Morgan Murphy.

Barbells, bacon and Buckinghams at the beach: Daytona Beach has ecclectic June offerings

            I don’t get the current fad of eating bacon and other pork products. Didn’t we just get advised to avoid these fatty food products? I’m so confused.

Not that that keeps me from eating bacon, mind you.

And now we have the Bacon Beatdown June 26-28 in Daytona Beach, Florida, a three-day serious — and we mean serious — fitness competition where people compete in rope climbing, gymnastics, power lifting and Olympic lifting movements, then eat bacon? Organizers call the event, which attracts thousands of competitors and spectators, a “food and fitness festival celebrating bacon, barbells and badassery.”

If you think you have what it takes to compete while enjoying bacon, visit www.thebaconbeatdown.com.

I’d rather be pulling my tie-dyed shirt over my rolls, I mean muscles, and enjoying libations at the Hippie Fest and Happy Together Tour on June 19 at the Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach. It’s a groovy outside festival and concert that begins at 4 p.m. with music starting at 7:30 p.m. by The Turtles featuring Flo and Eddie, The Association, The Grass Roots, The Buckinghams, The Cowsills and Mark Lindsay, former lead singer of Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Cheré Coen is an award-winning travel writer specializing in the Deep South. She is also the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.