TENNESSEE September 1-16, 2015

After 2 wonderful months in the mountains outside of Asheville, NC we spent the next month just one state east seeing as much of Tennessee as we could in 30 days. The drive on I-40 E has to be one of the most scenic interstates we've seen as it winds through a beautiful forested landscape. Our first stop was at Douglas Dam Headwater Campground on August 31. It was our first TVA park and just east of Knoxville and, I've got to say, camping below a dam is an interesting experience.  

Deciding to catch a visit to Knoxville on our way back we continued east to a beautiful Tennessee State Park at Cumberland Mountain and a 2 night stay. The park's interesting history began as part of the Cumberland Homesteads Project, a New Deal-era that helped relocate poverty stricken families on the Cumberland Plateau to small farms centered on what is now known as the Cumberland Homestead Community. The park itself was acquired in 1938 to provide recreational area for the 250 families selected to homestead and it is still a stunningly beautiful park even 78 years later. The park centers around the man made lake and in addition to 140 campsites there are furnished cabins, a golf course, large pool area and backcountry camping. 

 Our second day there we took a day trip south to visit Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee's largest and most visited state park, 26,000 acres. We hiked along gorges and waterfalls and through lush hardwood forests. Fall Creek Falls , at 256' is one of the highest waterfalls in the eastern US. Thanks to the amazing work of the CCC in the 1940s work began restoring the forest and constructing park amenities which include an 18-hole golf course, horse stables and Olympic-sized swimming pool in addition to cabins and 222 campsites.

 Before leaving Thursday morning we took a beautiful walk around Byrd Lake and across this best know landmark stone bridge, the largest masonry structure ever built by the CCC.

 Just outside the park is the visitor center for the Cumberland Homestead Project and only a short distance away we could see one of the remaining 250 houses built of the locally quarried sandstone.

 The designs included gabled roofs and one or two chimneys, covered porches and interior pine paneling. absolutely darling!

Our next stay would be a week at Cedar Creek Campground on Old Hickory Lake, just 15 miles NE of Nashville. This was another wonderful COE Park, a perfect place for Paul and Foster to spend a few days while I flew back to California. I was joining family members for a special time honoring and saying our last good byes to my brother Harry, spreading his ashes in his favorite place, Morro Bay.  

I loved sharing memories and time with my nieces and nephews and a chance to enjoy time along the coast in absolutely gorgeous weather.

 But as always the days went by too quickly and soon I was on the shuttle back to LAX and my flight back to Nashville.

 There were so many things to see and do in Nashville and we started with a visit to the Cheekwood Gardens and Art Museum, featuring  the unique sculptures of Jaume Plensa of Barcelona. The museum has its origins with the Maxwell House coffee family, who later purchased 100 acres of woodland in West Nashville and built a country estate in the 1930s. The property later became the botanical gardens and art museum of Nashville in 1960.

 We drove on into town to visit the Frist Center for Visual Arts where we saw additional Plensa works. This is one in a series called Silent Faces.  The museum is housed in the city's historic U S Post Office building which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a fascinating art deco building.

 The following day it was time for our history lesson and a visit to The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson.  Visiting most of the day we toured the mansion, the garden and grounds including the slave quarters finishing with Jackson's tomb.

 We still had a good part of the afternoon left so we toured the state capital building. It's one of Nashville's most prominent Greek Revival buildings and it is one of only twelve state capitols that does not have a dome.

Not far from the capitol building was the Parthenon, a real replica of the Parthenon in Greece and originally built for Tennessee's 1897 Centennial Exposition. The most interesting sight was walking into the main building and being greeted by the 42-foot statue of Athena!  Huge, absolutely huge!!!! The building also serves as Nashville's art museum on the lower level which features a group of 63 paintings from 19th and 20th century artists donated by James Cowan, a fabulous collection.

 A real treat for us as we travel is reconnecting with new friends we've met along our travels and so we spent the next morning having breakfast at the Loveless Cafe with Ann and Chuck Niver, very fun. We had met several years before while volunteering at Hunting Island State Park in SC.

After a week's stay it was time to move to a new campground, so on to Cages Bend COE Park, close enough to Nashville to give us another three days to explore. We had reservations for the Grand Ole Opry Friday night and what a blast!!! It's one of those iconic places that must be experienced at least once in a lifetime. Great fun, great music.  

 Saturday we were back in the city for a tour of the Ryman Auditorium. Built in 1892 as a great tabernacle it soon became the center for community events, political rallies and entertainment hosting such amazing talent it was often called the "Carnegie Hall of the South". In 1943 The Ryman became the original home of the Grand Old Opry until 1974. It has been recently renovated and continues as a  performance hall for the concert industry.  After the tour we spent a couple of hours along the famed Honky Tonk Highway, catching music at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, Legends Corner and Layla's Bluegrass Inn, a perfect way to finish our week in the number one country music city.

 Our Nashville stay ended with a beautiful sunset followed by a bike ride the next morning before moving eastward. So on we went to Defeated Creek Campground, an awesome Corps of Engineers Park and lucky us...we got the best campsite in the park, #71. Three days to just sit and enjoy a gorgeous view and walks or bike rides; we stayed out of the car completely. A nice break from big city sight seeing.

 Three days later we were back at the Douglas Dam Tailwater campground for just one night.  This time water had been released from the dam flooding some of the borders of the campground. Reading this sign did unnerve us a bit, especially when the siren would sound and we knew that there was going to be a water release. Don't think I'd want to stay there much more than an over night.

Even though we'd only been in Tennessee for two weeks we needed to get back to Asheville so I could meet with an eye surgeon to discuss the process of removing a growth on my eyelid...so we returned to our sweet friends at Lake Powhaten for just two nights, planning to return to a new part of Tennessee once we had the doctor appointments.