Monday, 18 November 2019
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| today's route |
I'm finally going farther west in TN than I've been all month, though not really all that far today. My main sight to see was the home of Pres. James K. Polk in the town of Columbia, south of Nashville.
The electronic highway signs have a new message today: Buckling Up Could Save Your Giblets.
I've been seeing lots of dead deer on the highways, but on today's roads the carnage seemed much worse. I saw 3 in only about a 2-mile stretch, not counting many others.
I passed fields with lots of horses and sheep and goats - not all together, though.
I keep seeing lots of Mockingbirds, reminding me they're the Office State Bird.
Columbia
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| Maury County Courthouse |
About 3 blocks away is the old brick house labeled as the "Ancestral Home of James K. Polk 1816-1845." Since his parents built the house while he was away at college and he only lived there for a few years between college and the time he got married, "ancestral" is not quite accurate. But every other house he lived in is no longer in existence, so they've preserved this one to have a place of record of him.
Polk was complex enough that I'm going to do a separate post on him and his presidency, rather than try to lump it in with the rest of today's itinerary.
The phrase "Middle Tennessee" is used continuously in this part of the state. It apparently includes Nashville and stretches down to the southern border. I see it attached to all kinds of businesses - plumbing and auto repair and any old profession - as well as schools such as Middle TN State University back in Murfreesboro.
Today Google wanted me to go on a shortcut, but when I turned off Route 31W onto Route 246 I suddenly saw a sign saying the clearance ahead was 10' 10". I was willing to risk an 11' clearance, but I think a couple of inches shorter might just be an inch or two too short. Anyway, I turned around and went back onto Rt. 31W. Which turned out to be just fine and took me straight into downtown Franklin. In fact, the other road would have joined this one a few blocks shy of downtown, so I'm not sure it would have been a better road. I really cannot figure out how Google's algorithms work.
On the route I took, I passed through the town of Spring Hill where there's a GM plant that produces Cadillacs and employs 1,100 people. This area isn't particularly populous so it must be a seriously important employer around here.
I passed a business with this sign out front:
A few puns
Make me numb
A few math puns
Make me number (heh heh)
Spring Hill is also the home of the TN Children's Home, which I passed. I thought maybe it was a state orphanage or something, but when I looked it up, under the "our services" section I found something that seemed a little weird to me. https://www.tennesseechildrenshome.org
When I was looking up this place, I also found another similarly named organization that apparently has no connection with this one but has its own very strange story. https://en.wikipedia.org/Tennessee-Childrens-Home-Society
Franklin
I went to this town because I'd heard that 15 downtown blocks are on the National Register of Historic Places. In fact, it's one of the "Main Street" communities of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Seemed worth making a slight detour for.
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| downtown Franklin |
I drove around about 12 city blocks, just to try to get a feel for the town. I passed a historical marker that said it was the Bucket of Blood Neighborhood. Couldn't stop to take a look but have found it at this link. https://www.hmdb.org/marker
Back on the road
I'd turned onto Route 96 and suddenly ahead I saw this incredible overpass. As I passed under it I saw a sign saying it was the Natchez Trace Parkway. Amazingly, this photo isn't copyrighted so you can see it too.
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| Natchez Trace Parkway |
Once again, Google sent me down a 4-mile shortcut that turned out to be barely wide enough for 2 vehicles, and I count myself fortunate that there was nobody else on it when I was there. Turned out it took me into the back of the campground.
Tonight's campground
When I entered the park I passed a sign saying part of the campground was built by the CCC in the '30s.
The CCC didn't have an easy time of it - they quarried the stone that they used to build the cabins - so I can't really complain much in comparison. But from a 21st Century point of view, things were a little weird.
Because I came in the back way, I hadn't seen a Visitor Center so it was disconcerting to find the campground office closed. The campground host parked next door wasn't there and no sign said when anybody would be back. I couldn't get a wifi signal and had neglected to write down the campsite number I'd reserved. I finally just drove around the campground until I found a site where my name was posted. That was lucky, actually, because the campgrounds don't always post those.
While I was driving around I saw a couple who were walking 2 Border Collie mixes. They were unusual in that one dog was a pale brown and the other was the usual black. I was sure I'd seen them in another campground so I stopped to ask them. They said they'd just bought their camper and this was only their 2nd trip. But their first one was last month at Barren River Lake State Park in KY, where I stayed for several days, so I'm sure that's where I'd seen them. When I said I'd be in Alabama next month, they said they had reservations in Gulf Shores then. I didn't ask the campground, though. Gulf Shores at Christmas is likely a popular destination so I probably wouldn't find a spot. Which reminds me that I'd better make Christmas reservations now.
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