Karen’s Snapshots!

You are browsing the archives of 2008 July.

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Today was a walk around downtown Nashville.  On my way downtown, I spy a history marker, of course I stop and check out the place of Captain Ryman’s former house, he played a large role in Nashville history. Once I got downtown, I didn’t really have any specific plans or really know what there was to see, so I started at Fort Nashborough, which is where the hotel tour guide said a bus tour started from.  Fort Nashborough is just that, an old fashioned fort on the river bank and shows some of the history about the founding of Nashville.  I continue walking down First Avenue, so on one side of the street is old brick buildings and on the other side is the new Riverfront Park on the Cumberland River banks and the Coliseum, home of the NFL Tennessee Titans, is across the river.  Strolled up and down the streets, through the oldest downtown area on Second Avenue, and on over to historic Printers Alley to check it out and to find a local geocache.  It’s still evident that this was at one time the “men’s quarters” for Nashville. The Downtown Presbyterian Church is a captivating building to look at; It didn’t appear open today, but I understand it is an active church still today. The Arcade, Nashville’s first shopping center, was the perfect place to find an ice cream on this hot muggy day.  Just up the block was the Tennessee State Museum and I decided to view the many rooms of history and artifacts they have inside.  Free admission and well worth spending some time viewing the exhibits.  There is a lot of history in this area and Tennesseeans are very proud of their part in the forming of our wonderful nation.  The Ryman Auditorium was the next notable building I saw.  The Ryman started life as the Union Gospel Tabernacle, a place to hold gospel revival meetings, and eventually became associated with country music in the 1943 when the Grand Ole Opry moved there.  Continuing on, past the Church Street Park, with the interesting puzzle painting on the building side. The Hermitage Hotel just looks impressive and stately on the outside; the fancily dressed doormen definitely help with the image. The Schermerhorn Symphony Center is a gorgeous elegant building with fountains and statues.  My final walk in downtown was across the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge to check out the river and the city skyline from an elevated spot; it’s a very peaceful spot to sit and relax for a bit.

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I spent the morning sleeping late and just relaxing–I’ve done a lot of driving over the last week and was just tired.  But after lunch it was time to go and see what was around Nashville.  After looking at the map, I headed off in the direction of the national park, but got sidetracked by a sign for the Sam Davis Home in Smyrna Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville.  Sam was a Civil War legend who was hung as the young age of 21 (1842–1863) for being a spy.  The home, built in 1820, was his childhood home and is typical upper middle class home.  While the buildings, including slave quarters, are a museum now, there is still a working cotton farm on the 160 acre site.

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I spent the morning visiting with my Aunt Luanna and then we had a nice lunch at the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store®. After, we drove the 20 miles over to Monterey, Tennessee, where her and my father grew up.  As we’re on the highway going there, the skies opened up and the rain poured down in buckets–it was so bad that she pulled over to the side of the highway, as did most of other cars, and we waited it out because we couldn’t see the front end of the car, it was that bad. Monterey is tiny town of less than 3,000 people and it doesn’t look to have changed in years.  We drove by the Monterey High School, Home of the Wildcats, where I learned that my father and uncle Randall were apparently pretty good football players.  Then we went over to the church to check out the community room that she’d rented for the annual family reunion she was coordinating for next month.  Some more driving around town, past the house that I remember my grandmother living in when I was a child and then over to my Uncle Randall’s new home for a visit with his wife.  Her sister and nephew were there visiting from Nashville, also to check out the newly redocorated home that they were just moved back into.  After a lovely visit, we did the obligatory stop at the old fashioned Dairy Queen for some ice cream.  I said my goodbyes and headed west towards Nashville, where I was planning on spending the last few days.  On the way, I did a rest stop in Baxter and seeing a sign for a history marker, off course I was off to explore a bit.  I found the Baxter Seminary history marker, took my pictures for logging into the Historical Marker Database, and then promptly got turned around trying to guess my way back to the highway after a bit of exploring and did a bit more sightseeing of Baxter than I’d planned on!  Oh well, getting lost is half of what a road trip is and I do eventually make my way back to the highway and then to Nashville before it’s too late.

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Time to leave my friends and head north towards Crossville, Tennessee to visit with family.  Before I leave, I spend some time exploring the town of Athens, Tennessee a little bit.  I started out at the Veteran’s Memorial Park and then strolled downtown around their lovely courthouse.  I’ve decided that I really really like brick buildings.  Downtown is also home of the historic Tennessee Wesleyann College and I explored that some too. Established in 1857, TWC is a small college and absolutely charming.  It was summer, so there were no students around, but I loved the atmosphere of the campus.  On campus is a plaque and statues that tell the touching Nocatula Legend–the Romeo and Juliet story of a Cherokee Indian maiden, Nocatula, and an English officer who died there.

I arrive in Crossville in the afternoon and I call my Aunt Luanna and go to her house.  Throughout the evening, various relatives dropped by to visit.  My Aunt Linda from Kentucky was there, as she had just arrived back in Tennessee after a holiday in Alaska with her sister Rebececca, who lives in Crossville and her brother Freddie, who went home to Texas.   Aunt Luanna’s son Chad, my cousin, and his wife Nicole and children Addison and Clay were there.  My uncle Randall and his wife came by.  Rebecca’s daughter, my cousin Tara and her daughter Becca came by.  Aunt Luanna’s daughter Niki, my cousin, and her kids also stopped by for a bit.  I also met Ralph, Luanna’s husband.  It’s been 14 years since I’ve seen my father’s family, so it was my first time meeting the kids and some of the spouses.   One thing is for sure, I come by the “outgoing talkative blond” thing honestly… LOL!

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Today, we drove along the Tellico River Parkway to Bald River Falls in the Cherokee National Forest.  The drive is beautiful and winds and follows the Tellico River. After enjoying the niceness of the falls and checking out some cool bikes, we headed back and stopped for lunch along the river.  Back to Etowah for some more hanging out, chatting, geocaching, laughing and having a relaxing time.

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