We made an overnight stop at Florala State Park (actually
now it’s a City Park), in Alabama but right on the Florida State Line. Great park on a very nice lake, with
accessible walking trails. We drove through town and as we’re walking around a
nice man stopped us and introduced himself to us. He was none other than the mayor of town,
welcoming we us. I guess we have Texas
emblazoned on our foreheads! Or maybe
it’s our accent. Or maybe he saw our
lobster red jeep with a blue canoe strapped to it and figured we weren’t
local. Very nice town!
The next day we headed towards Auburn where we had a few
days reserved at Chewacla State Park.
Very pretty park, has a little lake where you can swim. All kinds of hiking trails and biking and
mountain biking trails. Unfortunately,
the old ankle wasn’t up to a strenuous hike to go see the waterfalls. We chose this location as we wanted to add a
few more National Park Sites to our list of visited parks.
We started by going to Tuskegee Airmen National Historic
Site and then the Tuskegee Institute which is located on the beautiful college
campus there. Tuskegee
Airmen National Historic Site, at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama,
commemorates the contributions of African-American airmen in World War II .At the
airfield, it was a little confusing as to how you visit. There are 2 hangars, but there was no
uniformed National Park person to greet us and point us the right way, nor did
we see signs saying something simple like “Enter Here First”. Oh well.
Once inside into the first hangar, it was interesting. They had taped noises so it sounded like you
were in a maintenance hangar. Then if
you opened a door to a side room, a speaker would come on and explain what you
were looking at. That was cool. In the air conditioned building there is a
really great film to watch that helps to bring this history to life. It’s just amazing to us how these airmen went
through so much discrimination before and after the war, after sacrificing so
much to help protect our country’s freedom.
 |
| Moton Air Field |
Tuskegee Institute was founded by Booker T. Washington in
1881 with the purpose of training teachers in Alabama. It is located on a very
beautiful Tuskegee University Campus. He
also recruited George Washington Carver who arrived in 1896. Carver’s innovations in agriculture,
especially with peanuts, is highlighted at the museum. Unfortunately we were too late to take a tour
of The Oaks – Booker T. Washington’s home.
But it was beautiful from the outside!
 |
| Really good museum! |
The next day we drove back roads to travel to Horseshoe Bend
National Military Park. If you’ve
forgotten your history, this is where Andrew Jackson, on March 27, 1814, and
3,300 Tennessee militia, US Regulars and allied warriors defeated 1,000 Red
Sticks led by Chief Menawa. This battle ended the Creek Indian War and the
peace treaty added 23 million acres of Creek land to the southeastern United
States. This was Jackson’s first step on
the road to national fame and the White House.
This park has a great 23 minute introductory film that you need to watch
before setting out on the driving tour.
They also have a mobile app that you can use when visiting the stops
that was very helpful. The Tallapoosa
River makes a horseshoe bend where the Creek Indians felt like they would be
protected. But alas they weren’t. Again, relearning all this history helps us
remember how many people have fought and died for our United States, allowing
us to freely live and enjoy our life in this country.
 |
| What looks like a small battlefield for so many to have given their life. |
 |
| The river that makes the bend. |
 |
| The posts mark where the Creek Indians built their fortress, never realizing that the battle would come from behind. |
Our next two days found us doing some Tennessee Whiskey
Samples and tours and learning what differentiates their whiskey from
others. We started off at Jack
Daniels. This is a nice, big operation
in the dry town of Lynchburg, Tennessee.
It’s a charming, small town. We
learned that the main thing that sets Tennessee whiskey apart from the others
is that they run it through a charcoal made from sweet gum trees. We had a great tour guide, Brandi. The other thing that spoke to me was that she
mentioned numerous times about how many generations of people work at the
Distillery. She said it felt it kept
them accountable, knowing you had a family reputation to uphold. Reminds me of the days of Phillips 66 Refinery.
My dad retired from there, as well as my husband and myself. My kids have both worked there, my brother in
law and nephew. And then the refinery
wanted to change all that up, and it sure isn’t the same anymore.
 |
| Lynchburg Courthouse Square |
 |
| Back behind is the cave where they get the water |
 |
| His office |
 |
| He kicked the safe and it ended up killing him |
 |
| The barrels |
The next day we went back to Lynchburg to enjoy lunch at
Miss Mary Bobo’s. This is an old boarding house that no longer rents rooms, but
serves up traditional Southern meals and Southern hospitatlity, boarding house
style. So enjoyable, so good! It was a one meal day!
 |
| Good and fresh! |
 |
| A big ole Lazy Susan kept spinning around homecooked food! |
 |
| Dessert was to die for. Chocolate and the whip cream had a little Jack in it. |
From there we left and headed towards the George Dickel
Distillery.
This is a much smaller scale
distillery, but located in a quiet, beautiful “holler”!
We enjoyed our tour.
It seems now we have that sourdough smell
from the fermenting of whiskey up our nose.
 |
| Do you notice the misspelled word? They were imitating Ireland. |
 |
| My notes from our little sample! |
Our last day in the Manchester, TN area we decided to go to
Stones River National Military Park.
This was a very major battlefield of the Civil War, one of the bloodiest
encounters where Union and Confederate soldiers fought. The opposing armies totaled 81,000 men
battling to control Middle Tennessee.
The Union Troops made their final stand here, defending the Nashville
Pike and railroad – both of which were vital lines of supplies for the
Confederate troops. The battle started
December 30, 1862 and ended on January 2, 1863.
(I also have to mention this is the first time we were participants in a
caravan tour, which was perfect for this park!)
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued January 1, 1863. Lincoln needed this win to be able to enforce
the proclamation. This win cost the
Union army casualties of 13,249 and the Confederate Army 10,266 men. In the end the Union army marched into
Murfreesboro and declared victory. Murfreesboro became a launching point for
campaigns headed through the heart of the South and dealt a deathblow to the
Confederacy.
 |
| Our tour guide is illustrating how tall these rocks are. The Union thought this was a great spot, until they had to retreat and climb over bodies, etc. |
There is also a National Cemetery here, where you will find
the Union soldiers from this war, and also veterans from WW1 and WW2 up through
Vietnam. It’s just beautiful. There were black men in blue uniforms. Some
of the tomb stones have the initials USCT which stands for United States
Colored Troops. They made up 10% of the
union forces. There are 6,100 Union
soldiers of which 2,500 of them are unknown.
I know you’re wondering where the Confederates are buried. About 2,000 Confederates are buried in
Confederate Circle at Evergreen Cemetery in Murfreesboro. For many, first buried on the battlefield,
this was their third resting place.
 |
| U.S.C.T. stands for United States Colored Troop |
 |
| A small section was for current war veterans, up through VietNam. |
After the war, 11
th US Colored Infantry soldiers,
including William Holland (tombstone below) and other formerly enslaved people,
started a new life in the area around the national cemetery, building homes, a
school, churches and a store.
They named
their community Cemetery, which endured until 1927 when creation of the national
battlefield park uprooted many of them.
Our next stop is Nashville!
We stayed at the Nashville KOA, located near Opryland. A very nice park and we were really grateful
for the shuttle that we could catch from here to downtown and Whiskey Row on
Broadway Street. We had fun seeing the
sights here! Stopping in and walking
around some of the famous bars, maybe enjoy a cold adult beverage, and listened
to a lot of music! We also had a visit
from my cousin’s daughter Ali who lives about 2 hours away! It was fun to spend time with her.
 |
| We love seeing things that our 36th President, Lyndon B. Johnson, did. He's everywhere! |
 |
| One of my all time favorite singer! |
 |
| Look who I found! |
 |
| Many a country start got their start in that purple bar over there! |
 |
| What a variety of ways to travel the downtown area! |
 |
| Not much of a Kid Rock fan, but he sure had some good music happening! |
 |
| Love the piano! |
 |
| Good music here too! |
 |
| My cousin Ali, illustrating the height of Little Jimmy Dickens! |
 |
| No caption needed if you know George Jones! |
 |
| One of my favorites! Didn't realize she was on the Walk of Fame! |
 |
| So glad Ali found us in Nashville! |
A trip to Nashville isn’t complete if you don’t attend the
Grand Ole Opry! That’s exactly what we
did Saturday night. It didn’t
disappoint. Of course we were in the
nose bleed section, but it was still awesome to see all of the talented
musicians. The last time we were here
was prior to 2010, when the Opry flooded and was rebuilt. It’s definitely not the same, but is still
outstanding.
 |
| Jeanie Sealy |
Next up is our final leg of our trip to North Carolina. Stay tuned!
