Top Of Georgia (TOG)

This is just what we needed, a place to relax. The truck was dirty, the trailer was dirty and we were tired of the Civil War. It is interesting, but we have been immersed in the war for quite a while now. I washed the truck the first evening here and washed the trailer the next morning. We took naps and watched some old movies. They have quite a collection here.

Being tired of war, killing, spies, intrigue, I decided to read a book for fun. So I chose Vince Flynn and read a novel about killing, spies, and intrigue. When we were not reading we toured.

Helen, GA where the TOG is is beautiful. It's in the mountains if you have not already guessed, and very lush. The town of Helen is an old German town, some of the people even have German accents and some even speak German. German food is all over and it's fun to just tour.

This is what it looks like. If I did not say, it's an Airstream park.

The park has several loops and the bridge crosses over into the last loop.

The creek surrounds the whole place and is a delight. 

More TOG.

One of several places to just hang out.

Our nice clean trailer.

Naturally after everything was washed off, it rained, but that was OK the pollen and sap from trees was off.

This is all written after we left because we had no WiFi, cell service or our own MiFi. The park offers full hook-ups including cable TV, but no cell service, so if things don't ring true, or seem out of order, it's all afterthought.

This beautiful vine is poison ivy. Its's all over everything.

The stream coming out of Ruby Falls.

See, Shirley was here.

Me too.

If we had seen one the picture would be blurred.

Great to be alive.

Cool, cloudy with a threat of more rain.

They have these to add to the excitement.

Next day, after the rains, we went to Ruby Falls National Park. Beautiful place. Named after one of the children of the original owner before uncle Sam took over.

We have arrived.

This is the home where the dolls are born.

Shirley in the nursery.

Is she inside looking out our outside looking in?

Babes being born.

Looks like a population explosion to me.

Tough guy.

Very nicely done.

Another day we took in the Cabbage Patch Dolls. Unfortunately they are all made in China now.

More later, we were here for a week. Lots to see.

See Ya! Barry and Shirley

Getting caught up 4-6-12

Our last day in Smyrna was busy. We drove back to Nashville to visit the things we did not see the night we were there. Our tour included the trolly ride with Gray Line, which is always a must. Otherwise you would miss a lot. We had over an hour before our tour so we went to visit the Grand Ole Opry Museum. Typical tourist-like we ran out of time so had to eat on the run as we literally ran to catch the trolly.

The tour on the trolly was very informative. We learned there are over 1700 recording studios in Nashville, drove by several stars homes and condo's and probably saw it all. If we make it back we still have to visit the Disk-jockey hall of fame, which was closed, so I did not get to see my uncle's display. He was not a member of the Opry so he was not there.

Nashville by daylight.

We did walk a lot.

One of the places where groups are waiting to be "discovered."

The historic Ryman Theater was a church originally, Lester Flatt's memorial was to be held here on Sunday.

Some of these old buildings have been here a long time

Next we returned to the Opry museum to complete our tour. Later, exhausted we decided to return to the ice cream place from our earlier visit. Point of interest, the same workers were there and if anything they were still as busy as at night. If fact the only difference between day and night was; this time it was daylight.

From here we drove back to Smyrna for our farewell banquet. Next morning, April 1 we disbanded. Shirley and I armed with maps and our trusty GPS, Lucille, headed for Top of Georgia, an Airstream park where we were to spend a few days and lick our wounds to recover from all the Civil War stuff.

Well, we drove and drove and drove some more. Over roads that were windy, narrow and steep. Did I say   windy? Did I say narrow and steep. Well after several hours of the highway signs not matching the map etc, we turned toward Chattanooga and our trusty Trave-L-Park for the night. Next morning, this time armed with a new map from the GA info center we again headed for Top of GA.

Once again, signs did not match maps and after stopping for a potty break at a Wal-Mart a nice man had us follow him until we got to the correct road. Then it was just "straight on" until we arrived at TOG.

And here we are!

See Ya! Barry and Shirley

Keeping up to date, Thursday, March 29th at night.

After yesterday's tours we rushed home and by 3:30 we headed for Nashville. Game plan was to leave by 3, but Sam Davis was too interesting. We were to pick up our tickets because the box office closed at 4 pm not to reopen until 6:45. Well, we drove to the wrong place and because tickets are on computer we got them there. This was the new Opry house and they were open. Since we were "lost" we needed to drive to the old Ryman Theater where our program was held. We wanted the Ryman Theater because it was the original and our program was, "Opry Country Classics.

After parking we were able to have dinner near by at Demo's next door to the CMT offices, and still had time to walk around a little. The show was hosted by Larry Gatlin, with guests Elizabeth Cook, Jan Howard, Jim Lauderdale, Chuck Mead, and Leona Williams. All were very talented and great for the theme of the "Bakersfield Sound." Now we need to go see the Buck Owens museum in Bakersfield, CA.

Lost but still taking pictures.

Harold, Sandy, Shirley and me. We were celebrating Harold's birthday.

The new venue.

A little history I did not know.

Proof we were here.

After the show we walked Nashville a little more and observed the night people. The evening ended with ice-cream (what else) and the drive home.

Today, the 30th is our last tour of this caravan, we drove to Franklin, TN and fell in love with the town. Cute is the word. Here we visited the Carter House which was right in the middle of the Battle of Franklin. A two day battle where about 10,000 men were killed. As with all these battles this was the bloodiest of the war. Oh, yes, these men were all killed in about 5 hours.

From here we drove to the Canton Plantation. We had just eaten at a great place and were kinda tired, during the tour as soon as we could, Shirley and I left. We had heard this all before and the guide had no idea how much we knew. Our morning guide was a great guide, the lady in the afternoon gave a canned speech.

Overall view of the Carter House.

The "dots" on the wall are 150 year old bullet holes.

More bullet holes.

Biscuits, nice and hot.

Shirley and her flowers.

More flowers, it is spring here.

Tomorrow, we are taking about going back to Nashville for more tours on our own.

See Ya! Barry and Shirley

Arriving at Smyrna, TN our last stop.

We left Chapel Hill at around 11:30 a.m. we were de-parkers so could not leave sooner. This was kinda messed up because everyone needed to (pardon the expression) dump. We had no sewer hook-ups here and no guarantee we would have one at Smyrna. So there was a log-jam just before the parkers left and one when everyone else left. You have to experience it to appreciate it.

Anyway we had 30 miles to drive and three hours to kill before we could arrive at Smyrna. So our break was a Wal-Mart stop and lunch at a place called a bar and grill. It turned out to be a mexican place just opened and no matter what you ordered we all got the same thing. English was definitely the second language here. But, it was good, fresh and tasty.

Parking was "fun" our site was 5" difference between the left and right side of the trailer. Leveling was difficult. When they built the park one pass by a bulldozer would have made a huge difference. Reminds me of an airport one time in AR.

Thursday the 29th we drove to tour the Stones River National Battlefield where we saw a movie, toured the museum and had a ranger guide. Each battlefield we visit seems to be the "bloodiest" of the war. This one was no exception with over 24,000 men killed in two days.

De-parking can be such hard work.

I did not make this up. A bloody two day battle. The South won day one, the North won day two.

This depicts a man who lay wounded for 9 days before help arrived and he lived.

Usually I show our trailers, here are the towing vehicles all lined up.

Our tour guide and some of the battle field.

Next we drove to visit the house of Sam Davis. Who in the Sam Hill is Sam Davis? Well he was hanged as a confederate spy at age 21. His body was moved three times, the last time he was buried at his home site where he lies with his father, mother and the rest of his family.

As with all things historical, there seems to be some question as to "who done it." Nevertheless, he is revered in these parts.

As for Sam Hill, there was such a person, but he deserves his own Blog one day.

This is a relatively small cotton gin.

Bob is not as grumpy as I seem to be.

Miss tour guide at Sam Davis's

Sam's home, his mother fainted when she saw the wagon arrive with his casket.  There was some hope it was not her son, but it was.

The family monument and graves.

See Ya! Barry and Shirley

More of the 26th and the 27th of March

After our lunch at the Farmer's Family Restaurant we drove to Elm Springs, TN to visit the headquarters of General Frank E. Armstrong which is now the International Headquarters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Not much bipartisan talk here. History as we have been taught is wrong. A favorite quote is, "history is written by the winners." Kinda got the gist of the way things would go from the name of our guide,  "Squirrel."

Next day the 27th we drove to Spring Hill to visit the Rippavilla Plantation where John Bell Hood met with his generals to plan the assault on Franklin. This place was huge! They had many slaves, raised tobacco, and corn. Lunch was served here and it was wonderful.

The guides were pretty neutral as to how things were, after all slavery was legal then. They seemed to feel the right side won the war.

Next we drove back to Chapel Hill to visit the boyhood home of Nathan Bedford Forrest on the backside of our park area. The guide was good, he had spent many years trying to preserve the site. The old house reminded me of my granddads house in AR when I was a little child. Best of all, were his stories of Hood. Hood was nuts, but he knew how to fight and that seems to be very important to some southerners.

Only in the south.

Very impressive place.

Closest neighbor across the way, same house, same architect.

Rippavilla Plantation.

The abode of Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Two old codgers solving the worlds ills.

Some of our group gathered for more stories.

The evening was spent at our last drivers meeting and getting ready to go to Smyrna, TN or last stop which is 30 miles from Nashville.

See Ya! Barry and Shirley

Monday, March 26th.

Today, we toured the Zion Presbyterian Church in Mt. Pleasant, TN. This was very interesting because the guide was knowledgable. As he said he knew the dirt on everyones grandaddy. He also introduced us to Sam Watkins who wrote a book entitled, "Company Aytch." He spelled "H" phonetically as the soldiers would say it. It was his view of the war from a company starting out with over 120 men and ending up with just 7 men. Most of his lifelong friends perished in the war.

From here we visited St. John's Episcopal Church. This was a "plantation" church, for the use of one planation only. Slaves in the loft, whites on the ground floor. Very devout I guess. This church was owned and built by a relative of James Polk, the former president. Lots of wealth, just like now.

Lunch was at the "Farmer's Family Restaurant" in Columbia, TN. It was not my favorite but I did not leave hungry.

It's not all blood and guts, the inside of the church was very nice.

I could not resist this photo. The dog must be he church troll as he complained that we woke him up.

Roseanne and our guide in deep conversation.

Ol' Sam lies here. I have already read half of his book. He was very bright and his comments are very candid.

St. John's is a very well kept up place.

Many of the confederate generals rode by here and said it would be a nice place to be buried, three days later they were.

A little history.

Shirley and her Dogwoods. She and Roseanne both wore blue hats this day.

Tomorrow, we tour Rippavilla.

See Ya! Barry and Shirley

Chapel Hill, TN April 24 & 25

Saturday the 24th was a day off so we drove with Bill and Judy to visit president Polk's home in Columbia, TN. These are always interesting and I get to learn a little more about the men. President Polk was the 11th president and is the earliest one where pictures of him are available while he was in office. He served only one term and met all of his campaign promises. What a concept! Anyway, he annexed Texas, dealt with the british and their claim to Oregon and got the heck out of office.

He died of cholera 3 months after leaving office. He was a sickly person his whole life, but apparently worked 16-17 hours a day while in office and told friends he was feeble. His wife, Sarah, was an educated woman and was his soul mate and helper. When he died she became a recluse.

From here we toured the town and found a great place to eat. Nice people, good service and would go back except we would weigh hundreds of pounds.

From here we visited a "junk" store, I was outside when it began to thunder and got inside just as it began to pour rain. We decided to go home and had no dinner we were so full but we decided to "taste" some of our purchase from the day before at the Jack Daniels Distillery. Then off to bed for another early rise.

Sunday, the 25th, we went to breakfast with 6 other people and then visited the rest of the day with some of our folks. The afternoon was filled with a pet-GAM, where those with pets got to show them off.

She sure is in a lot of my pictures.

This is Polk's kitchen, no pictures were allowed in the house.

Shirley and Judy in the garden.

Part of old town Columbia.

Wonderful place to eat.

Tomorrow, back on organized tours.

See Ya! Barry and Shirley