Tennessee

5/31/2018 I left Villa Rica mid-morning traveling to my next destination at the Marion County Park in Jasper, Tennessee. Stopping only for lunch at the Gondolier Restaurant in Calhoun, Georgia the meal was consumed along with a delightful conversation with the owner, Dimitris Pateritsas. We discussed the beauty of Greece, Dimitris’ home country, and in particular the areas I should visit there. Arriving late afternoon at the Marion County Park, I was fortunate to be placed in a picturesque campsite directly on the Tennessee River shoreline. The encampment setup was performed in a very, very humid environment that exhausted me and I was exceptionally thankful to get the air conditioner working within the travel trailer. After I settled, I had dinner then slept off the effects of last night’s farewell soirée. 

6/01/2018 I wasted a day that started out poorly, literately pouring a very hard rain, but by afternoon the sun shone brightly and all the clouds vanished, producing a beautiful day. I cleaned the camper, updated the blog and watched stupid movies just relaxing with no responsibility or troubles. The day was topped off by a beautifully calm Tennessee River sunset.

6/02/2018 Starting was slow this morning but was finally accomplished so off I went to today’s primary location: the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park overseen by the U.S. National Park Service (USPS).

This park was established August 19, 1890 then officially dedicated in September 1895. The Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park is the first and largest of its kind operated by the USPS at 8,973 acres or 14.02031 miles² yet does not cover the entire battlefield that includes two states: Georgia and Tennessee.

 The Battle of Chickamauga was fought September 18 - 20, 1863 and can be tracked by using the USPS Touring Chickamauga Battlefield map (lower left corner) and employing the tour information telephone number 585-672-2619. After failing to find the Lookout Mountain battlefield, I exchanged that endeavor for the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum.   Arriving near closing, I briefly reviewed the museum though I did not find any mention of my friend, Craig Sutton. I then maneuvered my way to and examined the train terminal station made famous by a song with its titled namesake Chattanooga ChooChoo. Afterwards while driving around downtown I found Chattanooga to be a rejuvenated city with a vibrant urban life. 

6/03/2018  I woke up early, too early to leave the Marion County Park and head to my new campsite. The next site is at the Poole Knobs Campground outside Nashville whose check in time is 3:00pm, so I delayed my departure for the 1 hour 40 minute, 104 mile trip to coordinate with check in time. Housekeeping of the camper and the Blog then securing the trailer for departure consumed enough time so off I went. I still arrived early in a campground not far from the city of Nashville but secluded enough to not realize it. Unlike the Marion County Park that was open on the Tennessee River shoreline, Poole Knobs Campground is a lakeside oasis yet surrounded by green thickly forested hills. From my campsite I am unable to view the J. Percy Priest Lake on which Poole Knob was configured by the Corps of Engineers. The J. Percy Priest Dam impounded the first lake built by the Corps of Engineers to have recreation as part of its mission. The dam, completed in 1968, impounds 42 miles, with 14,200 surface acres of water. 

The structure of the campsite was dreadful as I had to back up, at an angle, up a steep hill, into a narrow site. Exasperated, the use of frequent cuss words were used to ease this backing and trailer securing process. Afterwards, I settled nicely into the quiet, coolly shaded campsite then planned tomorrow’s activities. 

6/04/2018  If there is a Mecca for whiskey drinkers, I was there today. Yes, I went to Lynchburg, Tennessee, home of the venerable Jack Daniels and where all Jack Daniels products are made. Jack Daniels is a Tennessee whiskey which is bourbon that after distillation is filtered through sugar maple charcoal thus creating that distinction. The 90 minute walking tour, along with our host Bob, encompassed an overall explanation of the Jack Daniels distillation and bottling processes that was capped off with a sampling of four whiskeys created at the transcendent Jack Daniels distillery. All I could do at the conclusion of the tasting was to quote Charles Dickens’, Oliver Twist, "Please, Sir, I Want Some More" but nay, “the tour is over sir so you must leave” was Bob’s reply. Moreover, I wished to make the 1 hour 22 minute, 62.0 mile return drive through the narrow winding backroads of Tennessee to the Poole Knob campground unimpaired by alcohol. Once back at the mobile residence, after today’s pilgrimage, I felt as though my life was now complete.

 

PS. I asked Bob, our Jack Daniels Distillery tour guide, what “Old No.7 Brand” on the whisky bottle label represented and he replied that only the former proprietor (1911–47), Lem Motlow, knew and he died without telling anyone. 

6/05/2018  Before retiring last night, I purchased a ticket to the Grand Ole Opry for this evening’s 7:00pm performance. With that in mind, I drove into Nashville to spend the day and explore the Country Music Capital of the World. Needless to say, I did not know that this week is CMA Music Festival 2018 in the Cumberland River Greenway/Second Avenue Historic District creating massive traffic congestion with little to no parking in the area. After securing very expensive parking ($50 for 4 hours) in a private lot I began my foray into the wilds of Nashville. I first began my walk through the Second Avenue District observing the legendary stretch of honky-tonks and dance halls with the destination being the Greenway where I thought I could view the Cumberland River. Wrong, due to the Music Fest the Greenway was closed off with performance stages that began there and proceeded up Broadway for several blocks. They take their Country music seriously in Nashville. I walked for several miles around the historical district past the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Ryman Auditorium which was the original venue for the Grand Ole Opry. 

Large window opening onto the sidewalk.

Exhausted, I had lunch at the Margaritaville restaurant next to a large window opening onto the sidewalk. While sitting there, I observed, along with the usual urban street dwellers that congregate in tourist areas, people having their pictures taken with the masked facsimiles of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un. I also sensed how clamorous the district is with the resonance of traffic and with the cacophony of musical instruments blaringly thrusting from every building orifice. Afterwards, I began walking again until about 3:00pm when I returned to my truck in the overly priced parking lot. Once there, I wearily climbed aboard the truck then drove past the Tennessee Capital building before heading to the Grand Ole Opry.

At the Opry, I was fortunate to watch the wonderful performances of Terri Clark, Bill Anderson, Ashley McBryde, Ricky Skaggs, Darius Rucker, Chris Janson and Carrie Underwood thus concluding a day well spent. 

6/06/2018 Having gone over budget yesterday, both physically and monetarily, this day was spent lounging around, entering and revising Blog posts, and planning for tomorrow’s departure from the Poole Knob Campground outside of Nashville. Undecided and having no particular interim destination, I will steer eastward with the vague intention of landing somewhere in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains.  Film at Eleven.

6/07-09/2018 Late last night I made reservations at Elkmont Campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The reservations are for June 17 thru 22 so I need to hang out somewhere until then. I have to mention that campsites are hard to get anywhere in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park so I had to take those dates for my visit. With further research, I found Rhea Springs County Park near Spring City, Tennessee in east Tennessee; the Rhea Springs campground has several outstanding reviews on the internet and is free, so I headed in that direction.

Upon my arrival and while setting up, I met my campsite neighbors, Mark & Kim Bruce and quickly we became friends. The Bruce’s are from Michigan and now Florida and are great people so the three of us spent my first three nights at Rhea Springs hanging out, eating and overindulging.    

6/10-13/2018 Summer in the South, the heat and the humidity are overwhelming for a desert rat like me. Let’s not forget the bugs; mosquitoes, no-see-ums, fruit flies, etc, etc, all day and night. That said it is very beautiful with all the flora, fauna, rivers and lakes. It has been very warm and humid here and I do not have air conditioning, so it has dampened my creative ambition, hence no blog updates. I will be leaving here tomorrow for the Lazy Acres RV Park in Lenoir City, Tennessee that has power, think air conditioner, water but no sewer connections. After spending a week with no power or water it will be nice to have both since the heat and humidity have increased and will get hotter later this week.

6/14/2018 It was a short 2 hour drive to the Lazy Acres RV Park that was lengthened somewhat by the detour required to dump the holding tanks. Once on site, I quickly supplied power to the trailer so I could start the air conditioner and thus have a cool trailer after set up completion. It was great to have a cool place to eat and sleep once again.

6/15/2018 Today I drove into Knoxville to look around and have lunch. Afterwards, I drove east on Interstate 40 eventually leaving the interstate heading south for a golf course that, upon arrival, was too crowed and too late for me to play. Still hot and humid, I headed back to my air conditioned trailer for the rest of the evening. 

6/16/2018 Unable to secure my RV site at the Lazy Days RV Resort more than 2 days I relocated 26 miles east to the Whispering River RV Resort in Walland, Tennessee. It is a very nice, peaceful resort with a pool full of kids. Unfortunately, I am not sufficiently close to the pool to thoroughly appreciate the screeching and squealing offered by that amalgamated assembly of vacationers. I sat with my neighbors, dad and daughter, this evening until late evening engaging in a wonderful conversation. What a nice end to the day.    

This is my last day in the rolling Tennessee hills as tomorrow I am heading into the Smokey Mountain National Park, Elkmont Campground.