Tennessee - Day 15 - The Hermitage

Cedars of Lebanon State Park, Lebanon
Friday, 15 November 2019

today's route

Today I had only 2 goals: learn something about Pres. Andrew Jackson and get some laundry done.  I felt pretty good to have accomplished both, though not without obstacles of course.  The main one being cost.

The Hermitage

This is one of the banners they have hanging all over the grounds of the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's name for his home.  It proclaims him as the People's President, which is apparently how he was regarded during his time.  But those who are now in charge of his legacy aren't trying to maintain it.

A visitor can pay for any of several tours of the facilities there, but I didn't want to visit the mansion or any of the other buildings.  All I was interested in was the Visitor Center and its exhibits that I thought would help explain to me the kind of president he'd been.  But they have no admission fee that would cover just a visit to the exhibits.  To see them I had to buy one of the tours, the cheapest of which was $19 for a senior ticket.  To someone on a limited budget like myself - and especially to someone who didn't have a very high opinion of what I knew of Jackson - this seems like the elitism Jackson scorned.

I thought about it for a while but finally decided to pay it.

The primary reason for my low opinion of Jackson has for years been his treatment of Native Americans and his role in their displacement.  Added to that his approval of slavery and ownership of a number of enslaved people, and I came in prepared to dislike this man.

The Visitor Center tried to deal with this attitude head-on - apparently I'm by no means the only person who feels this way.  They do it by admitting these two attitudes are stains on his character and by concluding that he represents both the best of us and the worst of us.  They say so often.  They say nobody's perfect and he did a lot of good for the country.  You can make that same case for Richard Nixon, and I can agree with that, but I will still never find anything admirable in Richard Nixon's character.  And that's about what my conclusion of Andrew Jackson is.

Early life
They make a lot of his early hardships because he was the first president to rise from such a humble background - he was our 7th president.  (Before him were Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and JQ Adams.)

His father died before he was born.  Not long after his birth, the Revolutionary War began.  Before his 15th birthday, one of his brothers was killed in battle; Andrew and his other brother enlisted, were captured and, as prisoners of war, contracted smallpox, which killed his brother; his mother died in a cholera epidemic.  So yes he did indeed have a rough start in life.

He studied law, was admitted to the North Carolina Bar, moved to Tennessee (still North Carolina then) and served as Prosecutor in Nashville.  Here he met and fell in love with Rachel, a married woman separated from her husband.  After a few years, they traveled to Natchez and came back saying they'd been married there.  No record has ever been found of this marriage, and she was still married to her first husband anyway.  She sued for divorce from the first husband (a little slow about this) who claimed adultery (accurately), and then she legally married Jackson.  This little episode, while maybe not unusual on the western frontier, came to haunt them because of his later political career.

Military career
Jackson was first appointed colonel and then elected major general of the Tennessee Militia.  In the run-up to the War of 1812, this militia was put on alert that the British might try to take the port of New Orleans to control the Mississippi River.  When the threat dissipated and the order was given to disband and let the troops find their own way back home through hostile Indian territory, Jackson earned the nickname Old Hickory by refusing to abandon them and by escorting them back, even letting the sick ride his horse.

And then, at the tail end of the War of 1812, there was the Battle of New Orleans.

Jackson and his militia actually got to in New Orleans in December 1814.

The troops Jackson cobbled together consisted of about 2,000 TN and KY militiamen, 2 battalions of Creole-born "free negroes," the pirate Jean Lafitte and his men (in exchange for a pardon), and a few Choctaw warriors.  Apparently, they were enough.

the American situation

the British situation

the battle

the result

The irony was that the Treaty of Ghent to end the War of 1812 had been signed Christmas Eve 1814.  But because both nations needed to ratify it, the war wouldn't be technically over until February.  Even if it had been in full force, communications were so slow at this time that nobody had heard the news.

Jackson was a national hero.

Whether or not the New Orleans outcome made any difference in the war, it had one huge result: it eventually propelled Andrew Jackson into the presidency.  But that didn't happen right away.

Political Career
Jackson had served in both the US House and the Senate much earlier, but with his newly earned celebrity, the Tennessee Legislature selected him for the US Senate again in 1822.  This time he was paid attention to, and the powerful folks realized he wasn't just an uneducated hick but instead a force to be reckoned with.

He was one of 4 who ran for the presidency in 1824 - up against Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, Speaker of the House Henry Clay, and Secretary of Treasury William Crawford.  Jackson won a plurality of both the popular votes and the electoral college votes, but a plurality isn't enough.  A lack of a majority threw the election to the House of Representatives (ain't our Constitution interesting?).

Clay was the lowest votegetter but as speaker was able to influence the house.  Adams was elected.  Shortly afterward he chose Clay as his Secretary of State.  Many believed a "corrupt bargain" had been struck and that the people's choice had been denied.

Jackson was convinced the country was being governed by elites who were getting rich from their time in power.  He believed they were governing for themselves and not for the regular folks.  He was by no means alone in these beliefs, which actually contributed to Adams's undoing.

The 1828 presidential campaign, which started almost before Adams was inaugurated in 1825, was nasty.  Adams criticized Jackson's military career (aside from The Battle) as showing he was willing to revoke people's rights; and he especially criticized Jackson's morals as shown by the irregularities in his marriage, calling Rachel a bigamist.  Jackson railed against the corruption in Adams's administration and the elitism in Adams's aristocratic appearance.  Probably everybody was right, but public opinion favored Jackson.  He won in a landslide.

Three weeks later, Rachel had a heart attack and died.  The inauguration, for Jackson who was in mourning, was not a time for celebration.  But his supporters flooded the city to witness the event.

His presidency

starting off with a bang

a new kind of presidential philosophy

The exhibits seemed to me to have some significant gaps, and they said little about Jackson's first term.  However, there were several crises that came to a head in 1832, which is when he was running for his second term.

The first regarded the Bank of the United States.

Withdrawing the US's money from the bank in 1833 earned him a censure from the Senate

A second crisis arose about the same time.  South Carolina started talking about states rights and secession long before the 1850s.  This time the talk was led by Jackson's own vice president John C. Calhoun who laid out a blueprint for secession. 

But this exhibit leaves out the most incendiary part, according to Wikipedia.  There it says Jackson sent US warships to Charleston harbor and threatened to hang anybody who worked toward nullification or secession.  (link supplied farther down)  Jackson thought splitting up the Union dishonored the deaths of his relatives during the Revolutionary War. 

a much blander explanation

Subsequent presidents have cited Jackson's stand on keeping the Union together above all as of critical importance.  He set a precedent for Lincoln to resist secession.  In fact, Lincoln said he considered that question as having already been settled by Jackson.

While all this drama was going on, in 1832 Jackson defeated Henry Clay again for the presidency.

This museum is, of course, primarily interested in burnishing Jackson's reputation, but they couldn't ignore public opinion regarding Jackson's treatment of Native Americans.  However, these exhibits are all I found about it.

As you can see, they leave out a few details.

In general, the museum seems to cover this issue by saying over and over that his treatment of Native Americans and African-Americans remains controversial to this day, and that he was actually embodying some of the worst of America, where his other actions embodied some of America's best.

They really do say this over and over.  And I mean "say."  They've got lots of videos all over the place and everybody on the various videos says this at some point or another.

My summary
I suppose they're right in that, like all human beings, he did good things and he did bad things.  It's just that his bad things were, to me, so spectacularly bad.  On the other hand, he was the product of his time and his upbringing, as we all are, and it looks like he didn't question many of the assumptions he was raised with.  His ownership of slaves made him a rich man, because of all the extra cotton they farmed for him.  So maybe he couldn't afford to look very closely at the system that brought him wealth.  That certainly seemed to hold true for many others in the South.

I ended where I began: as with Richard Nixon, the truly admirable things Jackson accomplished as president aren't enough for me to overlook the truly abominable things he did.  But I am glad to know there were some admirable things.  For a much more detailed account (and less biased than the museum's), here's the Wikipedia link.  https://en.wikipedia.org/Andrew-Jackson

Laundry
I did get clean clothes.  The laundromat I found not far from The Hermitage overcharged just about as much as The Hermitage did.  But their machines worked and my clothes got clean.

From there we went back to Lebanon, this time to a state park.

Tennessee - Day 14 - Knoxville and points west

Nashville East KOA, Lebanon
Thursday, 14 November 2019

today's route

There was a very heavy frost overnight, and the ground almost looked like it had snowed again.  Fortunately, it didn't seem to have affected the road surface so the drive was easy.

Knoxville
I drove first south to take a quick tour of Knoxville.  If I were staying in town for a few days, there are several museums and things I'd like to see, but given my timeframe and the weather, I decided to just take a driving tour of the highlights.

Sunsphere

Sunsphere and environs

The main sight I wanted to see was the Sunsphere, which is also the easiest thing to see.  It's 266' tall and is visible from anywhere at all near the downtown area.

It was built for the 1982 World's Fair and is one of the only remaining buildings.  In fact, it was closed for some years until enterprising businessmen reopened it a few years ago.  The public is allowed free access to the observation deck on the 5th floor and there are restaurants on a couple of other floors.

The 74' ball is just a ball - not something people can go inside.  The gold color comes from actual gold dust impregnated in a vinyl film that's laminated to the double-pane glass windows.

I got several good views of it as I was driving around, including a close-up view of the base as I drove alongside.  This photo isn't mine, though, it's from the internet, as you can tell from all the greenery.  The ball I saw appears more gold than in that photo, for some reason.

Old City
I drove around some of the main area of town that's called Old City, for obvious reasons.  For instance, I passed the Bijou Theater with a sign on the marquee saying, "Entertaining Knoxville for 110 years."

One thing I quickly noticed was the amount of public art in the downtown area.  In just a few blocks I saw 5 or 6 public sculptures.  I couldn't find any noncopyrighted copies of them but this website gives you an idea.   https://knoxvillepublicart.com/current-collection  A couple of them I noted particularly.  In the middle of the 10th row down is a sculpture called The Oarsman.  It's in front of the Sun Trust building and is a bit startling to see.

The statue in the middle of the last row is called the Burn Memorial and commemorates an interesting moment in history.  Harry Burn was, at 24, the youngest senator in the TN State Senate in 1920.  The 19th Amendment to the Constitution had been ratified by 35 states, but still needed one more before American women could have the right to vote.

Harry knew he should vote for it but didn't want to upset his very conservative constituents so decided he'd vote with whichever the majority was.  Unfortunately for him, the vote was a tie and his was the deciding vote.  His mother Febb (really) had written to him to "do the right thing" so he voted to ratify.  I don't know how much of a political career he had after that, but it was that one vote that ensured half the (white) American population could vote.  Yet another example of the serious need for us all to vote - even when we think we know the outcome.

University of Tennessee
Only a few blocks from the main part of downtown is the beginning of the school's buildings.  Access is up a steep portion of Cumberland Ave. to what's called The Hill.  University buildings were all originally built on this hill and On A Hallowed Hill is the school's alma mater song (their words).

From there the ground levels out some and school buildings spread out for quite a few acres along Cumberland Ave.  The University was founded in 1794 and now has about 28,000 students.

They abbreviate the name as UT, but I am myself an alumna of what I regard as the real UT - University of Texas.  To my Texas-trained mind, even their school colors - (ordinary) orange and white - can't be compared for coolness with UT's burnt orange and white, as you can see for yourself.

Cumberland Ave. is a 3-lane street, and at one intersection I found all traffic stopped for a while because a tractor-trailer rig was trying to turn left.  But it was a tight corner and the driver couldn't finish the turn until the young woman in a red Jeep in the turn lane backed up to give him more room.  Which she did inch by inch.  There was nobody behind her and as far as I could tell, she was just so focused on the left turn she wanted to make, she wasn't willing to move.  So about 10 of us sat there and waited for reality to sink in.  And she backed a foot more.  Then she backed another foot.  And another one.  Dopey.

Back to PetsMart
Before I left town I stopped off at the PetsMart I'd been to a couple of weeks ago.  When I was there before I bought an extra dog bed that was on sale for $22.  I put it on top of Gracie's regular bed because I thought she might need extra padding and insulation.  Turns out both dogs like it so much they very nearly argue about who gets to sleep on it.  I've seen them both sleep on it together.

Dexter's currently sleeping on 2 beds, stacked together, but they're both about 18 years old and I figured maybe they need some extra padding and insulation themselves.  Luckily, the beds were still on sale so I got another one.  And now both dogs are happy.  Glad I could accomplish that for only $22.

Back on the road
On my way into Knoxville and again on my way out of town I encountered a level of traffic I thought was excessive for that time of day.  I know Knoxville's a big city, but it's not that big - about 185,000.  Yet both entering and leaving I was looking at something almost like Houston's evening rush hour traffic.  Weird.

We were driving along the highway when - suddenly - all the snow and ice that had been frozen to the hood of the RV blew up onto the windshield and completely covered it.  My wipers took care of it, but it was a little scary for a minute.  Dexter was looking at me for reassurance, so I told him everything was fine - but it took me a minute to make my voice sound calm.  But I really had tried to chip off as much of that ice as I could before we left the campground, and again when we were in the PetsMart parking lot, so I really don't think I could have avoided it.  It just needed to melt.  Glad I was only going about 60 mph.

I spent several hours today driving on I-75, my old friend from central Texas.  About an hour out of Knoxville it branches off to the south and I continued on I-40.

Out in the middle of absolutely nothing I found an enormous facility labeled H.T. Hackney Co.  Curious, I looked them up and learned it's one of the country's largest grocery distributors.  There's really nothing at all around there.

I passed a sign saying it was the turnoff to the Y-12 Security Complex and the Oak Ridge National Lab.  Oak Ridge is actually closer to Clinton than to Knoxville and I'd vaguely thought about visiting there.  I'd heard there's a museum of atomic energy, which I thought might be interesting, and from somewhere I heard there's a national historic park that gives tours.  If I'd been staying longer in the area, and if the weather had been better, I would have.  Just not this trip.

Actually, I've never heard of the Y-12 Security Complex and looked it up.   https://en.wikipedia.org/Y-12-National-Security-Complex  From this link it sounds fascinating.  And even though it appears to be part of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, this link about the facility sounds more boring.  Maybe it's just depending on who wrote them.  https://en.wikipedia.org/Oak-Ridge-National-Laboratory

I passed another highway sign for the turnoff to the home of Sgt. Alvin York, the most highly decorated soldier of WWI.  His story, as told in this article, sounds completely typical for both the WWI era and for a rural Tennessean of any era.  In other words, typically American - but America at its best.  https://en.wikipedia.org/Alvin-York

As the highway climbed to a ridge top, I started seeing frost along the sides of the road.  Not something to give me confidence in the road surface, but it all seemed okay.  Too much traffic along the road today, I guess, for there to still be any frost on it.

From that altitude I could see the foothills again in the distance.  Here, though, the hills looked lower and much farther away than those I saw on the other side of Knoxville.  Of course, that's probably because they were lower and farther away.  Still pretty, though.

I passed the town of Crossville, which claims to be the home of the US Chess Foundation, and also the Golf Capital of Tennessee.  I think it bases that second claim on the nearby golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus.

I passed a large manufacturing plant labeled StonePeak - High Tech Porcelain.  Wondering what high tech porcelain could be about, I looked it up and found some unusual tile products.  You can see for yourself here.  https://www.stonepeakceramics.com

And on to tonight's campground.  Along the way we crossed back into Central Time, so we were all ready for supper by about 4:15.  It looks as though I'll be staying in this time zone for more than another year, so this should be our last adjustment for a while.  With Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee all having 2 time zones, we've been going back and forth for quite a few months now.  It'll be nice to settle down with just one for a while.

Tennessee - Days 12 & 13

Clinton KOA
Tuesday, 12th and Wednesday, 13th November 2019

We did indeed get the promised cold weather and snow.  It rained most of Monday night, and that turned to hard driving sleet very early on Tuesday morning.  Then it got quiet and I figured it had finally started to snow.  (I didn't sleep soundly that night, as you can tell.)  Sure enough I got up to about a third of an inch of snow.  But because of the sleet, I was pretty sure the roads would likely be icy for some time.

In fact, the forecast was for the temp to not go more than a degree or two above freezing all day - and I'm pretty sure that's what happened.  Several times when I checked weather.com it said the wind chill was keeping the apparent temp down in the 20s all day.

So I stayed put (except for numerous dog walks - they both love snow) and made a huge pot of Brunswick Stew.  I did some work on the blog but also took some time off and read a lot of The Firm.  After all, it's mostly set in Memphis, which is where I'm going in a few days, so I counted it travel research.

The icicles hanging from the front of the cab aren't as long in this photo as they got by Wednesday morning - a couple of them grew longer than a foot.

But it was sunny and up to the low 40s Wednesday.  About 1:00 PM we suddenly heard a loud flummpp! and all the accumulated snow and ice from the roof slid down in a heap on the engine.  Startled us all.

It's supposed to get down in the 20s tonight, but I'm not nearly as worried about driving on the roads tomorrow because it looks like all the ice is getting melted today.  Unless there's another storm tonight - not predicted - then driving should be fine tomorrow.

I've been planning to go from here down to Chattanooga, but I started finding trouble getting a reasonably-priced place to stay in that area over the weekend.  I finally switched directions and decided to head for Nashville for a few days.  For some reason I had better luck with finding camping spots over there.

Just as well we're leaving - the campground has picked up several campers with large dogs, some of whom (the campers) make no effort at all to keep our dogs separated.  This campground is big enough that we've been able to dodge dogs before this, but with these new ones specifically not recognizing the need to dodge, it's no longer big enough. 

And it's not just my dogs that are a problem - one time I'd managed to hide us behind a tree but one of those other dogs started barking at us anyway and sent Dext into a tailspin.  It was all I could do to hold him.  Idiot dog owner (the other guy).  I've learned defenses that work with friendly or aloof dogs, but I can't do anything except dodge more aggressive dogs, and that idiot wasn't letting me dodge.  Of course, if that's my only complaint in life, I'm a very lucky person.

Tennessee - Day 11 - to Clinton

Clinton KOA
Monday, 11 November 2019

A salute today to all veterans, and in memory of the veterans in my own family, I thank you for serving our country in our armed forces.

today's route

Eastman Chemical Co.
My route today took me on a ring road past Kingsport which, though I've been staying here for the last 4 nights, I've seen almost nothing of.  The main thing I saw today - couldn't miss seeing it - was Eastman Chemical Company.

This site was founded in 1920 by George Eastman himself (as in Eastman Kodak) and now covers an enormous area - I was stunned to see it.  The main plant itself is 900 acres; with 550 buildings, the entire facility sits on 4,000 acres.  It claims to be one of North America's largest chemical manufacturing sites, and I have no trouble believing it.

What was odd to me was seeing it plunked down in far eastern Tennessee.  Kingsport has about 54,000 residents, and the plant employs 7,000 people, so clearly it's a major employer in the region.

I looked online for photos that looked like what I saw but couldn't find any that weren't under copyright protection.  Imagine the largest oil refinery you've ever seen, and then imagine it about 5 times that size and you'll have an idea of what I saw.  Huge.

Continuing on the road
I was driving west and southwest all morning along the scenic route rather than the interstate.  It was US Hwy. 11W and I found it much more comfortable to drive than the interstate, mostly because of the different speed limits.  I'm happy going 55 mph on good 2- or 4-lane roads; I never go as fast as the 70 mph limit on interstates so have to worry more about staying out of the way of other traffic.  And I see more on these side roads.

As I was coming into "Historic Surgoinsville" (named for founder Maj. James Surguine, a French Huguenot, though I don't know why the spelling changed), I looked down below from the high hill I was on and saw a beautiful winding river.  Turned out to be the Holston River, which I'd never heard of but it runs from Virginia down to Knoxville.  There it joins with my old friend the French Broad River to become the Tennessee River, which eventually empties into the Ohio River.

Historic Rogersville
Not much farther along I came to "Historic Rogersville" (Tennessee really goes in for -ville town names, and really plays up the "historic" part).  I don't know what made Surgoinsville historic but I do know about Rogersville, and I'd say "historic" is an accurate descriptor.

It was founded in 1775 (historic enough?) by Davy Crockett's grandparents and by Thomas Amis.  Amis was born in North Carolina and served during the Revolutionary War as the procurer of supplies for the troops - shoes, clothing, ammunition, food.

He supported the cause with fervor, including mortgaging his property to buy the supplies.  But it was when he helped hide the Swamp Fox (Francis Marion) from British Troops that
Amis really got in trouble.  He and his family barely managed to skip town ahead of the British coming to confiscate his goods.  They moved to western North Carolina (what's now Tennessee), where he built a mill, blacksmith shop and other enterprises.  His home became a stopping point for many luminaries traveling in the region, including Andrew Jackson, Daniel Boone and Rev. Thomas Asbury (Methodism founder).

On his property is a spring known today as the Ebbing and Flowing Springs.  The springs are still owned by the family though are open to the public; they're billed as one of only 2 springs in the world with a water flow that rises and falls as regularly as the ocean tides.  I was unsuccessful in finding out where the other springs is, and I found a site online that claims there are actually 23 of these springs in the US, though again without saying where the others are.  Anyway, there's one here.  For a tiny bit more information, check this link.  en.wikipedia.org/Ebbing-and-Flowing-Spring

Rogersville also gets to claim the title "historic" because it has Tennessee's oldest inn and oldest courthouse and oldest post office and, beginning 1791, Tennessee's first newspaper.  More basis for the claim than many places have.

More on the road
All morning I had mountain foothills on my left.  These foothills, by the way, are no mere mounds.  They're mountains in their own right, to me anyway, but to geologists they're the supporting cast to the stars: the Appalachian Mountain Range.

Still a long way from a big city, I passed a plant for Daniel Paul Chairs.  I'd never heard this name but out of curiosity looked it up.  I recognize several of these styles as being in hotels and conference rooms everywhere.  If they originated here, I'm very impressed.  Here's the link in case you're curious too.  http://www.danielpaulchairs.com/catalog

Cherokee Lake is the huge body of blue water you can see in the route map above.  I drove past several places where inlets from the lake passed under the road, and it was easy to see that the lake level was way way down.  Feet down.  At one I saw a raft of boat walkways that was resting on dry land.

Reminded me of when Lake Travis was so dry a few years ago.  Momma and I drove out and saw many of these boat mooring walkways high and dry.  Cherokee Lake was like that.  I've been hearing for quite a while that this whole area has been experiencing a drought for much of the year.  Many (including state rangers) have said the fall colors this year were lackluster because of it.  So I guess that's what's wrong with Cherokee Lake.

As I got nearer to Knoxville, I saw an ad on the roof of a barn for Lookout Mountain: "See 7 states from Rock City atop Lookout Mountain," it proclaimed.  Lookout Mountain is down by Chattanooga; it's about 2,400' high and is on the border with Georgia and Alabama, but I'd think you'd need pretty good eyes to see 7 states.  I haven't decided yet whether to check it out - there's an incline railway to the top.

Along the route today I was seeing more signs for it being the First State Road and found I'd made a mistake the other day: the road runs from Memphis to Kingsport, not Asheville as I'd said earlier.

Coming into the outskirts of Knoxville I saw a billboard for "Authentic American Vodka."  Curious, I read the fine print and discovered it was advertising Deep Eddy vodka - as in Austin, TX, Deep Eddy.  I keep being amazed at the reach of Texas vodkas.  Wasn't it in New Jersey that I saw a billboard for Tito's vodka?

Along the road into Knoxville and then when turning north to leave it I've been driving with these foothill mountains on either side.  I understand that western TN is significantly flatter, being in the Mississippi River valley, so I'll enjoy these mountains while I have them.  Really pretty, especially on a sunny fall day like today.

As I drove north I started seeing more fall colors than I'd been seeing in the east.  Milder climate?

Then I drove into "Historic Clinton."  Here's the local link to its claim to "historic" fame.  https://www.historicclinton-tn.com/history-of-clinton  Certainly parts of its downtown still have an older flavor.

I grabbed this photo while I was waiting at a red light.  Isn't that Art Deco style?  Both the theater and the drug store are still functioning.  The courthouse is out of sight on the left.

Clinton 12 and Green McAdoo Cultural Center
I was there because of the Clinton 12 - twelve African Americans who were the first to desegregate a school in the South after Brown v. Board of Education.  The focus for preserving this history is called the Green McAdoo Cultural Center.  I'd understood from their website - and again from the signs on their doors when I got there - that they'd be open on Mondays.  Apparently they've changed their hours, and they were closed.  I was very disappointed. 

Now that I've found this website that I'll attach the link for here - https://backroadplanet.com/clinton-12-story - I'm even more disappointed.  This link gives a really good summary of what the fuss was about and what I missed seeing in the cultural center.

I took my own photos of the statue and other outside views that that website shows, but his photos are better so I won't use mine, except this one . . .

. . . and these that show what's carved along the wall.

start of quotation: "...but we are positively and definitely against the disintegr..."

part #2: "...ation of our community and our body politic that we cherish ..."

part #3: "... we cherish above all things, realizing that where anarchy ..."

part #4: "... prevails, none of us have anything of any ..."

end of quote: "... value and none of us have any freedoms any more."

The side and rear panels cite a sermon called "No Color Line at the Cross" by Baptist Rev. Paul Turner in January 1957.  See the website link above for more information about that.

I checked the website again (and it definitely said the center's open on Monday) and I'd checked the times posted on the center's doors when I walked the dogs a couple of times around the center (ditto).  So I called their number and their recording is where I learned they're not open until Tuesdays.  I left a message telling them if they really weren't going to open until Tuesdays, they should change the information on their doors and on their website to save others the deep disappointment I was feeling. 

My problem was that I knew snow and freezing temperatures were forecast for tomorrow (Tuesday) and my plan was to hunker down in the campground, not go traipsing around town (built on some steep hills) to come back to the center.  So between their hour change and the weather forecast, I didn't have much chance to see the museum.  I know these things happen, but I really was (and am) disappointed.

It sounds like these young people as well as most of the town of Clinton acted bravely in a time of great upheaval.

A bit more driving
From there I went a little way down the highway to the tiny town of Norris, pop. 1,500.  This odd little place was built in 1933 by the TVA as a model planned community to house its workers.  It's still very attractive because of lots of very large trees.  Oddly, it reminded me of a New England town as much as anything.

Norris may be a model community, but when I went down the road labeled as being for the recycling center, I found a dumpster labeled for cardboard only.  And a sign saying they no longer accept glass.  And nothing else.  Not even a bin for aluminum cans.  So not my idea of a good model community, however attractive it looks.

And from there to the campground not far away.  A level site at last!

Tennessee - Day 10

Warriors Path State Park
Sunday, 10 November 2019

I extended our stay for yet another night so we could spend another day in the campground.

I haven't been feeling quite up to snuff these last few days and finally looked up flu symptoms on the internet.  Except that I don't have a fever, it looks like I might have a mild case of flu.  I had most of the other symptoms, and am frankly finding it a nuisance.  I can't honestly recall ever having had the flu before so am thankful that if that's what this is, it's a mild case.

It got down to about 25° early yesterday morning, which made yesterday's propane run imperative in case that kept up.  Last night it only got down to freezing which is much easier to take.  But it's making me think I should get out more of my winter clothes than I did.  And then I heard that on Tuesday it's supposed to get down into the teens overnight, so it may be that fall's over already.  Too bad.  Fall's my favorite season.

I think fall is Gracie's favorite season, too.  One of her favorite things in life is rolling around in dead leaves.  She'll stop and roll every few feet sometimes.  And we're lucky in this campground that's filled with deciduous trees and a ground that's got piles of leaves.  Some tree here produces leaves twice the size of my hand - they're huge!  They've got lobes like an oak, but I don't know what they are, except really big.

And where there aren't piles of leaves, there're mounds of pine needles.  Both dogs like rolling in those, and I like them to do it - it's like a deodorizer for their coats (which haven't been washed in a few months).  We've been having some nice walks here, up and down the leafy hills.

I spent most of the morning figuring out where we're going to go from here.  I finally decided to spend the money I saved in this campground ($20/night) to stay at a KOA in Clinton ($43/night), north of Knoxville, until at least Wednesday and maybe an extra night after that.  Tuesday's weather isn't just forecast to be cold - it's also supposed to snow.  And Wednesday's temp isn't forecast to get much above 40° in the daytime, which makes me nervous about driving.  But I made a reservation until Wed. morning with a hold on the spot for another night just in case.

I think I'll stop on the way there and get the makings for some Brunswick Stew and just hunker down for a couple of days until I'm sure the roads are safe.  There's still so much of Tennessee I want to see and I'm already a third of the way through the month, but I'm not fighting snow and ice.

I'm going to Clinton because it's an important stop on the National Civil Rights Trail.  I hope to be able to give a full report coming up.

Tennessee - Day 9 - Bristol

Warriors Path State Park
Saturday, 9 November 2019

today's route

It took a while for me to get driving directions from Google that went where I wanted to go.  Their algorithms are getting more hysterical (as in freaked out, not as in ha-ha) as time goes on.  When I try to make them go a different route, they throw in all kinds of truly bizarre extra turns and side roads before finally giving up and saying, oh, okay, you can go straight down that street without making a whole bunch of turns off it and back on.  I'm beginning to think that before my 4+ year trip is up, Google isn't going to let me access their driving program at all.

On the road
Actually, we weren't on the road very long because I stopped at the first light to go to a grocery store.  Then I stopped a few blocks farther down the street to get some propane.  It was really chilly all day long yesterday and I used up most of the propane I had just keeping the cabin up to about 60° or so - it's not like I was trying for a sauna or something.  But it was really chilly around the floor (where the dogs and my feet live) because of the cold wind being able to blow underneath the RV.

I took a US highway (Google didn't want to acknowledge it existed), not the interstate, and it turned out to be a great road - divided highway with 2 lanes each side much of the way.

I've been noticing especially since I got to Tennessee that the folks here seem to use the word "hillbilly" almost as a badge of honor, not as a slur.  Of course they use the word in tourist stuff, but I've been seeing that they also use it for their own local names.  Today, for instance, I passed a sign for Hillbilly Auto Repair, and I'm pretty sure they weren't expecting to get many tourists - not along that road anyway.

The closer I got to Bristol the more Virginia license plates I was seeing.  It took me quite a while to realize that I was heading directly for the Virginia state border.  And that Bristol is one of the few towns in the US that straddles state lines.

Bristol, TN
I drove down State Street in Bristol, which runs directly along the border: one side of the street is VA and the other is TN.  As far as I could tell, most people regard the 2 towns as being one - at least as far as they can: Bristol TN and Bristol VA apparently have to have their own separate local government entities.  They call themselves twin cities.  But it sure seems like a waste of resources to have 2 city governments and 2 police forces and so forth.

This sign straddles State Street.  I took my own photo (crossing into VA to find a place to stop to take it), but it's not as good as this one off the internet.

We were stopped at a light on State St. and on the sidewalk next to us was one of those Statue of Liberty lookalikes waving a sign around for a tax service.  Like this photo from the internet.  Except the guy I saw looked a lot more like he needed the money (and some dental work) than this guy.  He was waving a sign and singing and apparently having a good time.

Dext saw him and started barking at him.  I have no idea why, but he wouldn't stop.  Fortunately the guy was really nice about it and started laughing.  And several people walking down the sidewalk started laughing too.  I couldn't get Dext to stop until the light changed and we could drive on.  I don't know what it was that set him off, but he clearly thought we were at risk of something.

Bristol TN was the birthplace of Tennessee Ernie Ford.  He always seemed like a good guy to me, so I drove by the house.

a working class
neighborhood, you see

in case you don't remember him

I can still hear him singing Sixteen Tons.  What a wonderful voice.  And in case you don't remember that either, you can hear him (and Dinah Shore) at this link.  www.bing.com/videos/ernie+ford+16+tons

Bristol has a series of one-way streets, I think because many of them are narrow.  To get to the Ford house I turned down Broad Street, which was so narrow I had trouble squeezing down it.  That seemed funny to me.

Back on the road
Coming back from Bristol I found the First State Road again, that I'd seen in Knoxville.  If I remember right, it runs all the way to Asheville, NC, and we're a lot closer to it here in Bristol than we are to Memphis, the other end of it.

Also on the way back, the local NPR station gave me an hour of music from the Tri-Cities Jazz Orchestra and it was great.  They're a 17-person orchestra doing Big Band style music and they're really good at it.  Much of what I heard was in the Tommy Dorsey/Glenn Miller range, but they also do pieces that are more contemporary.  I heard a nice little version of If I Only Had A Brain from the Wizard of Oz.  I was sorry they weren't going to be on longer because I still had more driving to do.  I'd put a link here, but their homepage is on Facebook, which I can't access.  If you're curious, you can find it easily.

I was so busy listening to the radio that I missed my turn off the interstate and ended up going 10 extra miles before I got turned around and back to where I should have been.  Interstates aren't as convenient for me as for more normal drivers.

Tennessee - Day 8

Warriors Path State Park
Friday, 8 November 2019

For some reason I kept thinking today was a Saturday, which made making plans more difficult.

I also woke up to a temp of 38° minus whatever the wind brought it down to.  I'd been expecting low 40s and there's a difference.

When I took the dogs out on their first walk, I saw a man getting his trailer ready to leave and said, "A little chilly this morning, huh?"  And he said he'd left Maine a few days ago to get ahead of the cold weather but obviously hadn't left soon enough.  He was off to Florida, I think.

Today I spent an hour or so packing up my tank tops and shorts and getting out a few of my winter clothes.  I decided to leave most of them packed for now, thinking this cold snap would give way to something closer to fall temperatures in a few days.  It never got above the mid-40s today but is expected to get near 60° tomorrow.

I spent most of the day trying to sort out my impressions of Pres. Andrew Johnson and write them down.  What I'd thought was a fairly straightforward situation turned out to have far more nuances than I'd ever expected.  But I guess wars and their aftermaths are always like that.  I've just never given it much detailed thought.

I also decided to stay here an extra night.  I'd planned to leave tomorrow but decided instead to go to Bristol, down the road a piece, and come back here another night.

This campground has closed off the majority of their campsite locations and we're left with a fairly small area.  This being a weekend, many of the spaces were taken but I saw lots of people packing up before their time was up - not prepared to be out in weather this cold maybe.

The campground is built on several steep hills, so the dogs and I are getting a lot more exercise than we usually do when we walk around campgrounds.  It's certainly good for us.

The RV was crawling with ladybugs on the outside, trying to find a way in.  Somehow they can squeeze between the window and the screen at one end, but fortunately they haven't figured out how to squeeze through the other end into the cabin.  I'm seriously beginning to see them as pests, which I'd never thought could happen.  Ladybugs are one of Tennessee's two official state insects, the firefly (aka lightning bug) being the other.  Not counting the honeybee (official state agricultural insect) and the Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly (official state butterfly, also an insect).