Pickett CCC Memorial State Park (05/18/25)

 Paul and I are both huge fans of the CCC- Civilian Conservation Corp- a group of young men who signed up during the great depression (1930s), to work on building infrastructure in our country. They were young, single, usually illiterate, and poor. In return for their labor they were paid a small wage, and agreed to send most of it home to their parents. A lot of what these men built is still standing today. 

Over 70,000 young men from Tennessee took part in the program, and Pickett State Park was one of their first projects.

The camps were run by the Army, who saw to their basic needs, and more. The boys learned skills, how to read, and how to be a productive member of society.

Most of the buildings in this park were built by the CCC - They also built several of the hiking trails, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We started with a short loop near the visitor center before moving on.

The other trails we chose were all about the arches.

 

Twin Arches trail is a 2.5 mile loop that takes you past two large arches.

The trail included several sets of steep stairs, and of course, what goes down must go up.

The other trail we did in this area was to Needle Arch-

this trail had a bonus though. Just a short distance from the arch  is a waterfall- Slave Falls.

 

Our visit to this state park in Tennessee took us a little bit out of our way on our path east, but it was worth it.

Little Pieces of History (06-01-21)

 Along the way to MA, we spent two nights in the small town of Elizabethton TN.  It was obvious this was a historic area, and I assumed it would be Civil War era, but I was wrong.  This town played a role in the Revolutionary War.

In the 1700’s this area of Tennessee was Cherokee country. In fact, anything on the western side of the Appalachian Mountain peaks was Cherokee, and anything east of it was English territory.

 England signed an agreement that they would “stay out” of the Cherokee side- and made it illegal for colonists to settle here. Except, some of them really wanted to move here, so they did. They called the area Watauga, named for the river that meanders through the area.

This group of settlers leased the land from the Cherokee, and eventually bought it from them, in what was known as the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals. With the purchase of 20 million acres, it was the largest  private real estate transaction in the history of the U.S. (Unfortunately, the governments of North Carolina and Virginia refused to acknowledge the purchase so it was nullified). So, anyway,  everything was going along swimmingly, until the revolutionary war started. 

At that point, the Cherokee aligned themselves with the British, and the colonists were essentially surrounded. England gave the settlers 20 days to move out, or they would be attacked by the Cherokee. Claiming hardship, the settlers asked for and were granted, a 20 day extension. They had no intention of leaving, having pledged allegiance to the Second Continental Congress- they just wanted more time to prepare themselves and set up a defense.

Mathew Talbot, the local miller, volunteered his homestead for the town defense, fences were put up, and Fort Watauga was created.

On July 21, 1776, going about their daily business, many of the women were outside the fort, milking cows, when the Cherokee attacked. Everyone made it in before the fort gate was locked- except Bonnie Kate. She ran around looking for a way in, and threw her cap over the fence so they would know where she was. Climbing as best she could, she was yanked over the top of the fence by John Sevier ( they married 4 years later).  After 2 weeks of bloodshed the colonists persevered, and the Cherokee left in defeat.

In 1780, the Overmountain Men (people who had settled on the western side of the Appalachian mountains) including those from Watauga, were involved in another, well known battle. The battle of Kings Mountain.

They were in hot pursuit of British Major Patrick Ferguson, who was trying to beat down the Patriots. Becoming aware of being chased, Ferguson retreated until he found a place where he could take a stand-Kings Mountain.

Riding through the pouring rain to confront the British force, the patriots wrapped their guns and ammunition in blankets and coats to keep them dry. Once they arrived, the 900 colonists surrounded the British and attacked. In less than an hour, Ferguson was killed, and his second in command  raised the flag of surrender. Historians consider this battle one of the major turning points in the war for independence.

Our final interesting stop along our route brought us from the revolutionary war to the civil war, and from Elizabethton TN to Middletown VA. Looking for a place to stay, I decided to forgo the parking lot at the local Elks lodge, and booked our first stay at a Harvest Host property.

Usually Harvest Host is a brewery, winery or a museum. The expectation is that if you stay there, you will purchase wine, beer, food, or whatever else the host site offers.  This was a farm. A beautiful, historic farm.

The owner was very friendly and we chatted with him for quite a while as we parked behind his barn. He told us of the woes of getting the property recognized by the historical society (the original section of the house was built in 1790), and the history of the property.

The Battle of Cedar Creek took place in October of 1864, one of the more decisive civil war battles in the Shenandoah Valley. The short version is that the Confederates, led by General Jubal Early were well on their way to victory when the general decided to halt the attack in order to reorganize.

That pause gave enough time for General Sheridan to arrive with more Union troops and the North ultimately won the battle- the Confederacy never regained a foothold in the Shenandoah Valley.

Continuing our conversation, I asked Bob “what his deal is”. As I mentioned, most HH sites expect you to buy something in exchange for parking.  Well, Bob doesn’t sell anything. However, he does have a 501C. During Covid he was looking for ways to help those in need, and he focused on providing food and essentials to those less fortunate. It grew from he and his friends filling up their trucks with food for the food bank, to something more substantial and organized.

He thought Harvest Hosting would be an easy way for him to increase his ability to help. We were very happy to make a donation to his cause (https://thorndalefarmva.com/friends-of-thorndale-farm).

The Journey Eastward (05-29-21)

 We travel to Massachusetts quite often, which can stress out the driver, if we are trying to get there fast. It’s a Lot of miles. So, this time we built in a few extra days, so we could slow down and smell the roses. We didn’t Stop to smell them, because we didn’t want to take THAT long to get to Boston.

Planning our route took some time. The RV park in MA had availability the day AFTER Memorial Day. That meant we had to be on the road for Memorial Day weekend. Most RV parks and campgrounds have a 3 day minimum and book waaaaay in advance for that weekend. So, we looked for Elks lodges (some have RV parking) and Casinos along the way (most allow overnight RV parking)to have options. 

We also joined Harvest Hosts, a membership group that offers overnight stays at breweries, farms, museums and wineries. I am not sure we will use it, but most of our RV friends are aware that there are record numbers of RVers traveling this summer, and supposedly most places are already booked. We shall see, but it doesn’t hurt to have more options.

Our first stop along the way was in El Paso for a few days to see Paul's mom. It’s been very hard, during Covid, to spend any time with her, so now that we could, we spent 4 days taking care of paperwork, and visiting with her.

You realize how big the state of Texas is when you need to drive across it, so we broke up the journey with another stop, this time to see friends Wil and Gayle. It’s always fun to spend time with them, and it helps that their driveway is big enough for our rig! After two nights we said goodbye and continued on our way.

Our next two day stop along the way was Alabama, Fort Payne AL, to be exact. 

Every once in a while you come across a gem...this area, and specifically Desoto State park, was one of those. The park has awesome campgrounds, complete with cable and WIFI, hiking trails, waterfalls, a swimming pool, and lots of attractions in the area. We could have easily spent a week here.

The first thing we discovered is that Fort Payne is home to Alabama.....that is, the band Alabama. We realized it when we passed by life size bronze statues of the band members. There is also a museum, but we didn’t have time for it this trip.

With only one day to explore, we hit the ground running. We took a short hike to Laurel Falls, which is an unimpressive trickle right now. From there we drove to Desoto Falls, which was much more impressive.

In the 1920s, a self taught engineer, Arthur Miller, built a hydroelectric dam at Desoto Falls, which generated electricity for the nearby towns. There was a limited supply, however, so power was available from sunset until midnight. A few years later, enough women had bought electric irons that the decision was made to also “turn on” the electricity on Thursday afternoons, so the women could iron.

Beneath the falls there is a small lake, suitable for swimming.

Desoto State Park sits atop Lookout Mountain, which travels north towards Chattanooga TN. We headed in that direction to visit Ruby Falls, a 145 ft waterfall, 26 stories underground. We bought our tickets online, and our small group was taken down an elevator, into the cave. Once there, we saw the usual cave decorations, stalagmites and stalactites etc.

 After a 15 minute walk we arrived in a “room” where the dramatic music and light show showcased Ruby Falls. Pausing long enough for everyone to get their fill of pictures, we turned around and headed back. The return trip was much faster. The pathway is so narrow that when one group passes another, the group heading back has the right of way, and the other group has to pull off to the side and wait.

Riding in the elevator, we did some quick calculations. There was one more attraction we wanted to see- Rock City. Their website was unclear as to what time they close, so we just started driving there, figuring we had nothing to lose. Unfortunately, there was a detour due to a closed road, so it took us longer than expected, but no worries, we got in 5 minutes before they closed the entry gates.

We spent a pleasant hour wandering around this place. 

There were all kinds of narrow cavelike paths, gardens, gazebos, swinging bridges, huge boulders, waterfalls, and a patio from which you can see 7 states( Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia). 

As an add on, the original owners added a children’s cave experience which featured figurines from nursery rhymes. No surprise, Paul didn’t know many of them, but I did.

Both nights at this campground we were treated to a live concert from the people in the site next door. A few campers pulled up chairs to listen and enjoy the music. I did that the first night, but it’s bluegrass, not our favorite, so one night was enough.

Memphis Tennessee



Duck Walk at the Peabody



   Day 2 of Memphis.  Somehow I was just as interested in seeing the "Peabody Ducks" as I was in seeing anything else in Memphis.  The Peabody Ducks ride down the elevator in the very sophisticated Peabody Hotel every morning at 11 am.  They run down a red carpet towards the waiting water fountain, where they spend the next 6 hours before repeating the red carpet run back to the elevator and up to their temporary (3 months) home.  We lined up, along with about 50 school children, to wait for the ducks to arrive. The Duck Master explains the history, then rides up the elevator to retrieve the ducks. He warns the audience to snap pictures as soon as the elevator doors open, because the ducks do not Walk down the red carpet.  They run. Boy was he right.  I took a movie of the "walk" and was barely able to blink before they were in the fountain. After the Duck Walk, a high school choir sang Christmas carols and it was quite lovely.

    Once we watched the 3 second show duck show, we headed over to the main attraction of Memphis.  Part of me didn't really want to go see "Graceland", just because. But I also figured it's a once in a life time experience.  And after seeing it, it will be.  Once in a life time, that is.

    There were two sort of opposing impressions that I got at Graceland.  My first impression was that  the house was not what I expected.  I was expecting a very fancy, huge mansion, and really, Graceland looks more like a home.  It is still decorated in the style of the 1970s, complete with shag rugs.  The rooms are big, but they aren't enormous. None of the private rooms upstairs are open to tours, but the downstairs and all the out buildings are.  Graceland sits on 13 acres and has a stable for the horses and a building just for playing racquetball, as well as other buildings. 
By the time we left, I was tired of the seemingly dozens of little museums with their attached gift shops. Which leads to my second impression.  WAY over done. And overpriced.  The house and grounds tour was kind of neat, seeing Lisa Marie's swing set, which looked like the same one I had growing up.  But there was one museum for his cars, one museum for his clothes, one museum dedicated to the year 1968, his two private planes etc etc.  It was all those added on features that were too much. 
Although there is not much information there that focuses on Elvis's private life (only one wedding picture that I could see), I still came away with a better understanding of him and the impact he had on his generation. I just missed the "Elvis" generation growing up.  Of course I knew who he was and liked his music, but I was more in the Rolling Stones/Beatles generation.
Yesterday we left Memphis and landed in Hot Springs Arkansas.

Memphis TN

Home of Elvis Presley, some of the best BBQ in the country, and the birthplace of Rock and Roll.  Oh, and the original owner of Piggly Wiggly lived here, although he didn't own the store for long.  He lost it and went bankrupt about a year after he opened the first store.

   I am not a huge Elvis fan.  I like his music well enough, but was never interested in all the hoopla about him personally.  And yet we will visit Graceland tomorrow.  Today we found Beale Street, which is "the" street in Memphis. A lot of the action is there, with lots of restaurants and live music. This morning we visited Sun Studios, where Elvis and Johnny Cash both got their start.  It was interesting to realize that Elvis was only 18 when he started recording songs here, although it would take a couple of years for his style to develop into something that caught on like wildfire.  As part of the tour they play recordings of some of the early recording sessions, back when they were live, and every band member was in the room together. Ray Orvis was among the people who recorded here. In fact, this studio saw many, many stars come through the doors over the years.  It is still used as a recording studio at night, and many big names like to record songs here, looking for the good "karma".   It was a small building with a lot of history attached to it.

        After strolling down Beale Street and eating lunch at one of the many BBQ places, we headed to the Pink Palace, a museum housed in a mansion originally owned by  Clarence Saunders, the owner of the original Piggly Wiggly.  There is a full scale replica of his first store in the museum.  I was amazed to see some of the brand names on the shelves: Procter and Gamble, Ivory Soap, Bertolli, Quaker Oats, Kellogg, and Lea and Perrin. Clarence never lived in the home, since he lost everything to bankruptcy before it was finished.  On Tuesday afternoons, admittance to the museum is free, so we saved $20 by coming today instead of tomorrow! 





Smoky Mountains to Anderson SC

This National Park has a scenic drive, as most of them do.  We try to drive these roads since they usually have a lot of  "bang for your buck".  The average person spends 4 hours when they visit a national park, and the scenic drives are designed so that visitors can see lots of interesting things in a short time.  Here, we passed by trailheads for several interesting hikes.  We hiked 5 miles (R/T) to Abrams Falls. Had we brought swim suits we could have gone swimming once we got there, but I didn't even poke my foot in the water.  The humidity is so high, I was afraid my feet wouldn't dry enough to go back into my boots. Once we were back in the truck, we continued on the drive.  There are many old buildings that were preserved and we stopped to look at some of them.  The Oliver family lived on this land for over 100 years before the land was taken to make the park.  Many of the original buildings are still here, although some of them have been moved.  One farmhouse has a "stranger room"- a room attached to the main house but with no access to the interior of the main house. They used it when someone passing through the area needed a place to sleep.

     Once we had seen enough, we veered off and went exploring down a narrow gravel road.  Halfway to the end, a bear crossed the street right behind our truck.  We watched him disappear into the thicket.  I did get a picture but not a great one.   Further down the road we were surprised to see a Mama bear and her cub cross the street.   We realized that if we turned left onto the next road, we'd see them again, so we did that and watched them approach.  Once they went off through the woods again, we moved to the next road and waited for them.  This time I got out of the truck and onto the toolbox in the back, so I could get a better picture. This was a main road, so when the bears did show up, a lot of cars stopped to watch them, but we had prime seats!
     The weather once again ruined our plans for the afternoon.  We were hoping to go tubing down the nearby river, but the heavens opened and the rumble of thunder could be heard, so we gave it up and went home to eat dinner.  The humidity is pretty uncomfortable and we were both looking forward to getting to a campground with electricity.
Yesterday we drove from the Smokies to Anderson, SC.  Anderson is near two large lakes -Hartwell and Keowee. We are checking the area to see if its "retirement worthy" for when we decide to stop traveling. The lakes are great but the towns don't seem to be what we are looking for.  Our original intent for this week was to spend it in Lexington, SC, near Lake Murray, but we decided that since we'll be there for 2 weeks, we can afford to take this week to look at other lakes.

     We took off this morning and headed to Stumphouse Tunnel.  This tunnel was supposed to connect Charleston SC with the midwest, and was started just before the civil war.  Unfortunately, the mountain is solid granite and of course there were no power tools to use.  They averaged clearing about 200 ft of tunnel per month and after excavating 4300 ft  of the 5800 ft needed, they gave up.  Its been abandoned since then but the first 800 ft is open to the public.  There's also a very pretty waterfall nearby- we just viewed it from the platform and didn't hike down to it.
 

Hiking the Smokies in the Rain

July 12, 2010
Today was a great test for my new North Face Gor-tex jacket. When we left this morning to go hiking, it looked like it might rain so we brought our rain gear with us. Before we even got the trail, it had started. The trail was 5 miles round trip to Alum Caves Bluff. It is warm enough that the rain wasn’t bothering us, and we only have 2 days here, so we want to make the most of it. My jacket worked great, although, being in the rain for hours, you’re still going to get pretty wet. We were both wearing our quick dry clothes, so once the rain stopped for a while, we were pretty comfortable again. We did see a pretty view at one point, but the rain pretty much wreaked havoc on the visibility. In fact, once we finished that hike, we drove to Clingman’s Dome, one of the highest peaks around, but by then the fog was so thick, visibility was about 100 yards. And it was still raining. Not drizzling. Raining.


      On our way in to the park yesterday with the trailer, we tried to stop at the Visitors Center to learn about the park and get information so we could make plans but we were foiled by the fact that ALL the RV parking spots were taken by cars, and not RVs. Very irritating. Since we didn’t get there yesterday, we stopped in this afternoon.

         Smoky Mountain National Park got its name from the blue/gray mist that hangs around the mountains most of the time. It is the most visited national park, with 9 million visitors a year- more than double any other national park. Half of the land for the park was bought with money donated by the people of Tennessee and North Carolina. John D. Rockefeller donated the rest of the money needed. The campground we are in has over 200 sites, and its one of 3 campgrounds in the park. They do take the bears here pretty seriously. We had to sign a paper acknowledging that we are aware that we can’t leave any food items outside if we aren’t out there with them. No coolers, no food, no grills. And if you do leave a cooler out- the rangers take it, and leave a note for you to go to the ranger station if you want your cooler. And you get to pay a $75 fine. There have been several bear attacks and they have had to relocate or euthanize many bears, due to campers leaving food around.

Once we had our fill of the visitor’s center, with the rain having stopped, we headed out on a 2.6 mile walk to Laurel Falls. It is a paved trail, which made it less than exciting, and the falls were ok, but nothing spectacular. I am not sure any falls will be spectacular after seeing Yosemite, but you never know, and at least we got some exercise.

We have no internet, or phone, so I posted this when we drove into town for fuel

Land between the Lakes, TN

     Land between the Lakes used to be called Land between the Rivers, but many years ago, after repeated flooding, people were moved out of the way, dams were built, and Kentucky Lake and Lake Barklay were formed. After all that, the land between the two lakes became a national recreation area. After being here for 4 days, I want to say that there really isn’t much to do here, but that wouldn’t be fair. There’s not much to do here that Paul and I like to do. There is hunting, fishing, ATVing and not too much else. We drove the road that goes through the center of the peninsula and it was like driving down a toboggan run surrounded by trees. There wasn’t much to see along the way, except a few deer in the fields. Of course there is boating, and we did take the inflatable out a few times, but the wind kicked up pretty fast and we had to head back while dodging 1-2 foot “seas”. It calmed down later, but while we were out there, we did notice that the lake is murky enough that you can only see down about 2 feet.
         We visited Fort Donelson yesterday to get an idea of the civil war history of the area. Before the civil war, no decision had been made as to whether this area really belonged to Tennessee or Kentucky, and no one cared, since it made no real difference. But Kentucky initially remained neutral during the civil war, and Tennessee fought with the Confederates, and the decision was made to fight against the Union with the South. Unfortunately for them, Ulysses S. Grant was the general who was in charge of the Union army and he quickly gained control of the fort, taking 13,000 men as prisoners. Securing use of these two rivers opened up Nashville and the surrounding area for the Union army to invade.
         The weather has been hot and muggy, as it has been pretty much everywhere in the country. It’s been nice to have the air conditioning, although we have sat outside a lot, because somehow there are NO mosquitoes here at ALL. I have no idea why, but there weren’t any in Branson either. We’re not complaining about that, that’s for sure.
        Tomorrow we leave here to head across Tennessee, bringing us closer to Smoky Mountain National Park, our next destination. We’re a little nervous because once we get there, we’ll have no electricity for 3 days, so I hope its not too hot and humid.

New Orleans, LA

The Natchez Trace Pkwy was an easy ride, and probably would have been fun for us to explore, if it hadn’t rained all day the day we were driving it. We did stop at one museum along the way, but that was about it. We also took one wrong turn which was a big mistake. Most of the museums, trails, and scenic views require you to turn into a parking area that isn’t totally visible from the main road. No problem, except, after we made this particular turn into the road to the parking lot there was a sign that said “No RV Turn around”. It would have been more effective if the sign had been visible before the turn off. 30 minutes and many frayed nerves later, Paul finished his 20 point turn and we got out of there. That pretty much soured us on taking any more turns off the main road. We did spend the night at the free campground on the Pkwy and it worked out awesome for us. It was our first FREE night, with no fee! Once we arrived at New Orleans, we were immediately happy with our decision to pay more to stay within walking distance of the French Quarter. The RV Park is the nicest one we’ve been in, with great sites for parking, a great hot tub and pool, and we were greeted by a guy wearing a SUIT! Hahaha. More upscale than we needed but it served our purpose well. Our first night we decided to walk to the French Quarter, just to check it out. Many hours later we staggered back home. We tried a “Hurricane” which is one of the strongest drinks around. Bourbon Street is one of my new favorite places. Similar in spirit to Duval Street in Key West. So much music coming from so many venues! People everywhere, walking down the street with drinks in their hands, wandering from one club to the next. Its so Alive! The weather was perfect for it- in the high 70s. The next day, during the daylight hours we walked to the river front- almost took the ferry over to Algiers, but decided at the last minute to not do it. We walked Canal street, ate lunch at a restaurant in the French Quarter, and headed home to rest up for night time. This time our plan was to walk down to Frenchman Street where most of the Jazz music is played. I don’t know, maybe we were just in the wrong mood, but it was so quiet there, we lost interest after a while, and headed back to Bourbon Street, for another lively evening. Halloween in New Orleans is similar to Mardi Gras, but on a smaller scale. The buildings are decorated, the bars are decorated, there are parades, music, you name it. Eminem performed last night and tonight KISS is performing live downtown. Yesterday we moved to our new park, just outside the city- we’ll take their shuttle into town, then have to take a cab back. We washed the Everest yesterday- took us a loooong time. I have no idea how it got so dirty! Most RV parks won’t let you wash the RV, so we took advantage of the fact that this one does. Today is Halloween so we are headed into town for an early dinner, hopefully we’ll be in time to see the parade…..

Nashville, TN

Nashville is only about 100 miles south of Mammoth Cave, so we had time that day to do some shopping. We didn't buy much, but did get a couple of things for the Everest that Paul has been wanting. One is a special Level that you can mount on the Trailer so its easier to find out if its level, before you actually get out of the truck. I learned a lesson with this Nashville portion of our trip. If we are going to want tickets to something that is popular, we need to either plan far enough in advance to get good seats, or be content if we get lousy seats, or no seats at all. It all worked out fine, but next time I will know to pay more attention.I wanted to go to the Grand Ole Opry while in Nashville, but didn't realize that not only would Trace Adkins be performing that night, but also Montgomery Gentry and The Oak Ridge Boys.Tickets were hard to come by- we ended up in the second to last row, but luckily the acoustics are great there, and there really isn't a bad seat in the house. We attended the concert Saturday night- the late show, which didn't start until 9:30. The way this show works is that there are many acts, and the three I mentioned were only 3 out of about 12 performers. Each of them played a couple of songs, although since the Oak Ridge Boys were last, they did a couple of extra songs, and ended with "Elvira". The other tour I wanted to go on was the "NashTrash" Tour. According to Tripadvisor, its the #1 rated attraction in Nashville. Its sold out for over a month, so the only way to get on the tour is to go where the bus loads and wait for "standby".So, we started our adventure in Nashville by waiting at 9 am on a Saturday, to see if we could get on Standby. We couldn't, because everyone showed up who was scheduled to take the "tour". As it turns out, it was Tennessee History Weekend. That was great for us.... especially since it takes place at the park we wanted to check out. Bicentennial Mall Park in Nashville, is an incredible park. There are granite posts and walls all around the park that have the history of Tennessee engraved in the granite, starting with a billion years ago (which interestingly enough, mentioned God, and not evolution). There is also a map of Tennessee engraved in granite that is probably 25 feet by 75 ft. A lot of towns and rivers are shown on the map. Really awesome. There is a farmer market there every weekend.Since it is History weekend, there are people dressed in period costumes for the time periods that include wars. So there are people from the 1700s, up through the vietnam war. At different times during the day, they have a variety of re-enactments, including a civil war battle, a world war II battle, and speeches from Daniel Boone and Abe Lincoln. It's a great day in Nashville! After walking through the "timeline" and seeing the exhibits, we wander over to see if we can get on the 2 pm Nashtrash Tour. This time we made it. I think the performers ( two sisters) felt bad for us, since we had been there since the morning. The tour is actually a comedy show, that does a little touring of the town. These two are hysterically funny! They spent the first 20 minutes learning the names of all the people on the bus (33 people), and teasing then about where they are from, etc. They are originally from Michigan so when they heard we are from there, they made many wisecracks about the state and what part of the “hand” they are from etc. We had a blast! They also allow people to bring their own booze, and if you didn't think of it, like us, they make a stop at the Country Music Hall of Fame, and you can buy a drink and bring it back to the bus. Too funny! Sunday was regroup day for us- we did laundry, went food shopping, hung around and in general did nothing much. We were going to go bar hopping Sunday night, but Paul wasn't in the mood, so we skipped it. Monday we drove out to Franklin, TN, to explore the town that was pivotal during the civil war. It was pushed into the limelight by the book "Widow of the South" which is based on the true story of Carrie McGavock of Franklin TN.On November 30, 1864, a major battle took place in Franklin, right outside the home owned the Carter family. The Carters, and several of their neighbors, hid in the basement of the house while the battle raged for 5 hours. They all survived, but in those five hours there were almost 10,000 Union and Confederate soldiers killed or wounded. The Carters' son was a lieutenant for the south who was mortally wounded in that battle. One of their outbuildings had so many bullet holes, apparently it ranks as the “most bullet-ridden” building in existence in this country today.Nearby, Carrie's McGavock’s house was used as a hospital, and she, instead of hiding away, helped the surgeons and the soldiers the best she could. Two years after the battle, she dedicated 2 acres of her own land so that the confederate soldiers, who had been hastily buried after the battle,. could be properly buried. After an early dinner, we hit the bars in downtown Nashville. We started at Coyote Ugly, and despite the constant urgings of the bartenders (all women), I did not get up on the bar and dance with them. We also didn’t do body shots, although it was tempting…from there we just meandered in and out of the tons of bars in the area, listening to live country bands. It was fun, more for me than Paul, who was driving, of course. In New Orleans, he really wants to stay at a campground that’s walking distance to the French Quarter, so he can relax and not drive. At this moment, we are driving the Natchez Trace Parkway. We have left Tennessee and are in Alabama. We hope to spend the night in one of the free campgrounds along the parkway.