Jack Daniels If You Please, Along With A Side of History!

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!