I was walking down Franklin St today with my 3 year old daughter after having lunch at the Blackhorse, man it was cold outside. As I was walking I noticed that there were a lot of new businesses popping up; mostly law offices but there were two coffee shops next to each other and since it was cold I went into one; Decadence and I was happy to find that it was a nicely decorated and comfortable place, reminded me of Central Perk on Friends. I ordered a Hazelnut Cappuccino which was pretty good and to my surprise they were giving away free cupcakes so my daughter and I each got a Red Velvet cupcake with Cream cheese icing. I also got a giant chocolate cookie to give to my son when he came home from school, which he informed me was “really freakin good”. Do yourself a favor and take a stroll down Franklin St and check out some of the new businesses and all the remodeling that’s going on. I’m happy to see Clarksville is fixing up its downtown area.

It’s great to see the old buildings getting new life in them and I hope something cool moves in to take over were the Deli was and the vacant Club 101 on Legion St. Cities like Fredericksburg VA, Leesburg VA, Georgetown and Old Town Alexandria have done a great job of revitalizing their historic areas with nice restaurants and upscale stores. Richmond VA turned it's old warehouse district into two sections that are tourist hotbeds, Shockoe Slip www.shockoeslip.org which is all galleries and restaurants and Shockoe Bottom which is mostly trendy bars packed with college kids and yuppies.  Franklin TN is a nice old town but it has more of a Mayberry feel to it and not as lively and “cool” as the peevishly mentioned cities and districts. Maybe one day Clarksville will become like a much smaller version of Old Town Alexandra in VA.

I hope the Mayor and the city planners will take a trip to visit these places and maybe that might help guide Clarksville into a New/Old city and not just another boring concrete slab.

Ron Dayley is known to most as the owner of SSF Submission Academy but in an earlier life he was a DoD contractor and was assigned to the CIA, FBI, Pentagon and the Dev Group out of VA Beach.  Ron was lucky enough to travel with his fighters and with the Navy Seals he was assigned to and in his travels he has experience all sorts of exciting and fun foods.  Ron is a self proclaimed "foodie" and enjoys trying new foods, anything and everything is on the menu.

Standard disclaimer: Opinions expressed in submitted articles, like the Food Critic, are those of the submitter and do not represent Clarksville.com LLC.