Hey Guys!! Merry Christmas!!! We hope everyone has an amazing day filled with everything you love!
When we left Louisiana we took the long way around to get back to Tennessee.
We spent a couple of weeks back in Houston. I’d planned on getting the boys back to see their pediatrician for their yearly wellness checkups while we were there. The Dr.’s office even texted me a couple of weeks before we got there to remind me it was time…but when I called to make the appointments…the Doc wasn’t going to be in town while we were. Soooo….that didn’t happen. We did get to spend time with a few of our friends and hit a few of our favorite H-Town foodie spots, so definitely time well spent!
From Texas we headed back up to Missouri where we spent about a month visiting with family and friends. We were there over Thanksgiving and loved getting to spend it with my parents. We also got to help Grammy put up the Christmas tree and celebrate her December birthday!
Like every time we’re back in Missouri, we had projects we wanted to work on for our home-on-wheels. I dabbled in some craftiness and made a reusable advent calendar. Well, I bought the little cabinet built but unfinished and I stained it and decorated it…now I just have to find a spot for it in our tiny home. Ha!!
We replaced our states map because some mold or something had worked its way under the stickers and was damaging the paint on the RV. We got all the stick off, but there wasn’t anything we could do to fix the discoloration left by the mold. We got a new states map and instead of putting up a new Canada map, we decided to put up National Park stickers representing all of the National Parks we’ve been to…that would be forty-four…if you’re curious! I’m kind of loving have the NP stickers up. Everyone has a map, but I haven’t seen anyone else with these stickers up.
We also took the opportunity to hit some of our favorite foodie spots. If you have a Logan’s Roadhouse near you…go get their cookie dough cake. Make sure you eat that before you eat your meal…you’ll thank me. *wink* We had ours after lunch and struggled to get it all down, but we got it all down!! Ha!! It was too good to leave any behind!
Nicholas…our Littlest…graduated from High School while we were staying with my parents so they were able to help us celebrate his accomplishment! He worked hard to graduate a semester early. We’re so very proud of Nicholas and can’t wait to see where his journey takes him.
The route we took to get back to Tennessee from Missouri had us going right by Ozark National Scenic Riverways and well…if you know us…it shouldn’t come as any surprise that I planned an overnight stop right by the Visitor Center. We didn’t have time to do everything we would have liked to have done, but we did get to see Big Spring. This place was gorgeous! The water color was so brilliantly blue. Big Spring is one of the world’s largest springs with an average water flow of around 470 cubic feet of water per second. You can walk around it to see where the water comes out of the rock. It’s all of the minerals that the water picks up while going through that rock that gives it that turquoise color.
We found the best Mexican restaurant in Missouri. It’s called Las Margaritas and it’s in Van Buren and Guys…it’s a must stop. Everything we got was amazing. Ah-mazing!
We also spent a night in Nashville…just to eat at Hattie Bs Hot Chicken. Hattie Bs!! We stood outside in line on a cold drizzly December afternoon and didn’t mind at all because…Hattie Bs!!! If you know, you know.
We got to Knoxville December fifth and will be here at least through the winter…maybe longer…we’ll see.
Hey Guys! We spent two weeks in Pigeon Forge so we could explore Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It was a very busy two weeks…we did as much as we could…and we didn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what’s available to do in the area.
I’ve put off visiting this area of the country for awhile now…for various reasons. The main reason is how incredibly busy it is. Great Smoky Mountain NP is America’s most visited National Park. It’s crowded. The towns of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are the two main towns people stay in when visiting and Guys, it was insanely busy. Crowds aren’t our thing. And…if I’m being completely honest…I was comparing the Smoky Mountains to the Rocky Mountains…the Smokies didn’t seem that impressive to me.
The Appalachian mountains that you find within Great Smoky Mountain NP were formed 480 million years ago while the Rockies are much younger and were formed somewhere around 285 million years ago. When the Appalachians were younger and still growing, it’s thought that they were actually bigger than the Rockies are today. We’ve come to affectionately refer to the Smoky Mountains as old man mountains. Today, the highest peak in Smokies is close to 6,600 feet and while it’s not as high as what you can find in the Rockies…the views are still impressive. The park get’s it’s name from the constant presence of fog that seems to cling to the mountains. While the fog is thinker in the mornings, it’s pretty much there all day and can make for some very interesting views.
One of the most visited places in Great Smoky Mountain NP is Clingmans Dome. I always thought Clingmans Dome was the name of the tower you can hike up for a view, but actually, a dome is what they call a rounded mountain or ridge top. Clingmans Dome stands at 6,643 feet and is the highest point in the park. The trial to get to the observation tower is only half a mile long, but it feels like you’re hiking straight up. It’s a steep trail and has zero shade so if you ever go, be prepared for that. Once you reach the top of the observation tower, you’re rewarded with a 360* view of the Smoky Mountains and if you’re there on a clear day, you can see five different states. We went on a clear day and once I caught my breath from all of the up…the view was fantastic! In the 1800s people called the peak of Clingmans Dome, Smoky Dome due to the seemingly ever present smoky effect of the fog and clouds.
You never know what you’re going to find when you head out on a trail in Great Smoky Mountain NP. We found an old CCC camp one day This particular camp was also used to house and continue some of the CCC projects by Conscientious Objectors of WWII in 1942. Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1933 to combat two problems in the United States… reforestation of our Nation’s timber resources due to the commercial logging and the unemployment problem during the Great Depression. The average CCC employee was unemployed and unmarried men between 18 and 22 years old. All over the Country, CCC camps were established to house, educate and feed the volunteers (where were paid $30 a month) while they built roads, trails, and buildings that we still use to this day. The National Park System benefited greatly from the CCC and the Great Smoky Mountain NP benefited more than any other park. There were 22 CCC camps that housed up to 3,000 men. The camps were abandoned a long time ago, but you can still find traces of some of them. We’re big fans of the CCC program and what it offered our people in their time of need and all of the amazing things they did for our Nation.
Mingus Mill was built in 1886 and was used to grind corn and wheat for some of the nearby communities. It was in pretty bad disrepair and restored by the CCC in 1937. Today, you can go and see how corn and wheat used to be milled. You can even buy some fresh corn meal or wheat flour from the miller that’s posted there. We enjoyed walking around the mill and chatting with the miller there. We’ve been to other mills before, but it’s always interesting to see the differences in each mill.
Before it was a National Park, it was home to thousands of people. You can see the homes and livelihoods that were left behind when the area was made into a National Park. Land was purchased as it became available and the few that didn’t want to sell their homes or leave their businesses and move were incorporated into the park but with the right to remain on their land until they died. There are cabins all throughout the park that are left over from another life. All of the ones we found were open to exploration.
Alfred Reagan was a farmer of cattle, crops, fruit and even timber. He and his wife made their life and raised their family in one of the small communities on the rocky mountainside of the Appalachian mountains. Life was hard but good. They used all three colors available from Sears Roebuck offered to paint their home. We found that it was interesting that this was the only cabin we found that was painted.
Back in the 1930s and 1940s, Swain County gave up pretty much all of it’s privately owned land to make a portion of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and to create Fontana Lake. The lake was used to create the electricity to run the aluminum plants for the Oak Ridge Tennessee’s National Laboratory during WWII during the Manhattan Project. Hundreds of families were forced to leave the small mountain communities that had been their home for generations. With the creation of Fontana Lake homes and the old highway 288 that lead to them were all under the waters of the lake. The citizens of these small communities were all promised by the government that a new road would be made so they would continue to have access to the small cemeteries where generations of their family members were buried. For environmental and construction issues that came up during the construction…the new road was put to a stop and never finished. The “Road To Nowhere” was born. Today it’s a neat place to go for a walk. You can walk all the way through the tunnel and take one of the trails at the end. The day we went, it was raining so we didn’t do any hiking, but I’ve read that you can hike by some of the abandoned homesteads.
Water is a constant presence at Great Smoky Mountain National Park. If it’s not the rain (an average of 55 to 85 inches per year depending on where you are in the park) it’s the rivers/creeks/streams or waterfalls. It makes for a very interesting and diverse park. We had the best time chasing waterfalls of all sizes during our time exploring this NP unit! What we didn’t love…all of the up that most of those waterfalls took to see. Whoo!! So. Many. Stairs!! If waterfalls are your jam…Great Smoky Mountain NP has over 2.000 miles of waterways and over 100 waterfalls for you to explore to your heart’s content.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park was park unit 186 for us. The boys got their Junior Ranger badge and chatted with a Ranger about his time at the park. If you ever want to know an insider’s tips to a park…talk to a Ranger. In a park that is as busy as GSNP…tips about the not so popular, but just as good places can be invaluable.
Seven years ago…when we were just starting to plan out this crazy nomad life of ours…I sent off for information about attractions from several states. Tennessee sent me a ton of park brochures from Great Smoky Mountains NP. I filed them away and kept them safe until we were able to finally use them this year! We used them all in our planning and explorations. You can buy them in the park and I would highly recommend it. The little tidbits they offer about the park are great.
Apparently, there’s an event almost every weekend in Pigeon Forge. While we were there, the event was a car show and it was a full week thing. It was basically like a huge tailgating party that stretched over several blocks. Cars were out, people were out, there was food and fun and…scooters. Guys, the scooters were a spectacle all on their own. We saw so many scooters being ridden around by people. It was funny to watch the scooter trains as they wound their way through the cars and streets.
There’s a road called The Tail of the Dragon that is a huge draw for motorcycles and sports cars. It has 318 curves in 11 miles. I expected more views from this stretch of road…It was mainly just views of the road in front of us. We did see tons of motorcycles and expensive sportscars zooming around. There’s one pull off and the view wasn’t that great. I did some research and found that there are close to 100 crashes a year on this 11 mile stretch of twisty road.
Did you know there’s a Tennessee Whiskey Trail? We did the Kentucky Bourbon Trail…if you missed that post, check it out here…So, we thought we should do the TN Whiskey Trail too! In KY you got a t-shirt when you finished the trail. In TN you get a poker chip at each Distillery you visit and then when you’re done, you send off your passport and get the rest of the poker set! We did a few distilleries in the two weeks we were in Pigeon Forge. Ole Smoky was fun and we got a special t-shirt (that is super soft) for doing a tour. It’s still weird to have a kid who’s old enough to do the tastings with us now…
If you’re a foodie, you’ll have plenty to choose from between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. There are tons of options. We enjoyed everything we got. It was super crowded so we didn’t go to too many places, but the spots we hit were all good. Corky’s BBQ and JT Hannah’s were our favorites.
We were in Pigeon Forge the last couple of weeks of summer so the flowers were kind of slim pickings. I did find plenty of mushrooms/fungi though! So many different shapes and colors!
There are something like 1500 bears in the Smoky Mountains. We heard from so many people that they always see bears when they go. We saw signs about bear activity but didn’t see a single bear. Not even a foot print. Due to road work, we didn’t get to go to Cades Cove, which is supposedly where a ton of bears like to stay…maybe we’ll see some next time.
That’s it Guys! We liked Great Smoky Mountains National Park a lot more than we thought we would and we will definitely go back and do some more exploring…soon! When we left the leaves were just starting to hint at changing colors. I’d love to go back during prime fall colors!
We didn’t get much done in our two weeks in the Knoxville area. Our first week in the area was spent in the rain as Hurricane Ida went over us on her way north. We didn’t get any bad storms or flooding like so many other places did with this storm…just lots of rain. Days of it. We hung out in our home-on-wheels…played games and watched movies as we tried to stay dry.
Did you know…there are some National Park Units that are split up into different locations? The Manhattan Project National Historic Park is broken up into three places…that happen to be in three different states. Oak Ridge, Tennessee is one of the three “secret cities” that was formed and used to build the United States atomic bomb. It was so secret that most of the scientists there didn’t know what the other scientists there were actually working on.
Starting in 1942, Oak Ridge was the home to several huge facilities that employed thousands of people both during and after World War II. Oak Ridge was the part of the Manhattan Project tasked with enriching uranium to use in the world’s first atomic bomb. There’s still some exciting stuff happening in Oak Ridge…I get the feeling some of it might still be secret.
The Manhattan Project National Historical Park is different in another way too…not only is it split up between three states… each park within the state isn’t found in one building. The two units we’ve been to are more of a walking history tour of the city with a few drives to get to a building or an old guard gate thrown in. We, of course, went to the Science Museum…we’re nerds at heart…we can’t resist a good science museum. We were glad to see that the interactive exhibits were still interactive even with the whole Rona thing going on. Each NPS unit has what’s called a cancellation stamp that people collect. The Manhattan Project NHP has a unique set of stamps that when you stamp them beside each other they make one big stamp. We’ve collected two of them from New Mexico and Tennessee…we just need the one from Washington. Unfortunately, the Washington unit has been closed since last year (2020) and there isn’t any information on when they’ll open back up. We’ll get there eventually.
We found the Museum of Appalachia by accident. We were out driving around the last time we were in the area and stumbled across a sign for the museum. We went late in the afternoon not really expecting there to be too much…Guys, we were so wrong. There are two big indoor museums and an entire village to explore. Several of the cabins are open to explore and have information about who lived there or what kind of business was conducted there.
We spent so much time exploring The Museum of Appalachia that they were closing up when we finally left. This pioneer mountain farming village is definitely an all day thing. There’s a restaurant where you can order southern comfort food if you get hungry. We didn’t eat there…we didn’t know it was there before we went or we would have…but it smelled heavenly.
We loved seeing all of the cabins and the farm animals, but my favorite part of this museum was learning about the actual people who lived in the area. There are so many mementos and pictures and stories of the people and families that you’ll feel like you know them after you’ve gone through the museum. The life they led was hard and they didn’t have much, but they had what mattered most…
If you’re ever near Norris, Tennessee you definitely need to spend a day at The Museum of Appalachia.
The food in Tennessee never disappoints. We found a couple of new favorites and visited a few old favorites. We were thrilled to find a Duck Donuts. Guys…Duck Donuts has the best donuts you’ll ever have. They make them after you order them so when you get them they’re still warm and fresh and sooo good! We also found a place called Archers BBQ where you’ll get spot on smoked meat and you’ll have the option of all the sauces! So. Many. Sauces! And all of them were good.
Well, I think that’s pretty much it for this stop! We’re heading to Pigeon Forge next to explore the Great Smoky Mountains before heading south to Florida… stay tuned for more adventures!
I’m going to smash the rest of our time in Tennessee into one post. We were able to visit two more battlefields and a cave…and while they’re all really interesting and important places in our history…none of them are really big enough for their own post. I mean, I could go into detail about each battle, but Guys…I’m not here to give y’all an in-depth history lesson. I’m hear to entice you to go visit these places for yourself!
Lets get started!
In September of 1889, close to ten-thousand Union and Confederate Veterans went back to the Chickamauga Battlefield…this time as united countrymen under one flag. This meeting (the Blue & Grey BBQ) led to the creation of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in 1890…the nation’s very first official Military Park. Originally, the park was managed by the War Department but was turned over to the National Park Service in 1933.
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park is the oldest and largest National Military Park. We spent hours going through the various museums that can be found on park property.
Chattanooga, the gateway to the Deep South, was considered vital to both the Union and Confederate armies. Very little went as planned for either side and thousands of soldiers lost their lives. In the end, the battle at Chickamauga was the last major Confederate victory of the Civil War.
The park service was tasked with preserving the history and telling the stories of the battles that took place during the Chickamauga/Chattanooga battles by giving equal attention to both the Confederate and Union. We’ve always felt like the NPS has done an extraordinary job of staying neutral. They give you the facts that they know from every angle and let you make up your own mind.
While we drove the tour route through the park, we kept seeing acorns on many of the monuments. Being the curious nerds that we are…we learned that the acorn represents General George Henry Thomas’s 14th Army Corps because they stood “like an oak tree” on Snodgrass Hill during the conclusion of the battle. Most corps at this time didn’t have an individual identifying symbol but some did. Later, when Thomas was traveling with General Daniel Butterfield, Thomas asked Butterfield if he would suggest an emblem to represent the 14th Army Corps. Butterfield said, “If I had command of the Fourteenth Corps, which stood firm as an oak at Chickamauga, I would give it the acorn for a badge in honor of its bravery.” As the Union and Confederate Veterans started placing monument within the park, the acorn started to appear.
Russell Cave National Monument preserves an archeological site that represents over 10,000 years of use starting with prehistoric cultures around 6500 BCE and running through 1650 CE. There’s a small museum that has artifacts and reproductions of things found within the cave that show the life and tools used by the people who’ve called the cave home over the years. We really enjoyed the short walk to the mouth of the cave. There are some signs that talk about the different layers of time the archeologist have uncovered. The cave has 7.1 miles of mapped cave system and is considered the 3rd longest mapped cave in Alabama. And…if you go…watch for danger noodles. There were signs everywhere warning about venomous snakes.
The last National Park Unit we explored while we were in Tennessee was the Stones River National Battlefield. Stones River is the site of one of the most bloodiest battles of the Civil War with nearly 24,000 casualties. The battle lasted from December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863 and is considered a strategic Union victory that bolstered support for the Emancipation Proclamation.
The park preserves only a fifth of the nearly 3,000 acres of the original battlefield and includes a National Cemetery. You’ll also find the Hazen Brigade Monument (1863), the oldest surviving American Civil War monument still standing in its original location. The monument was built by surviving members of William Babcock Hazen’s Brigade to commemorate the battle.
One of the coolest things we found while we were park hopping in Tennessee is the Junior Civil War Historian patch. We’d never heard of it before, but one of the Ranger’s in the visitor center told us about it after he saw Alex in his vest with all of his badges. Usually, you have to ask about any special patches or badges…so it was really nice that this Ranger told us about this hard to get/not made anymore patch. The boys were super excited to add this special patch to their collection.
We didn’t just visit NPS units…we had a lovely Easter and played some new games as well as…
eat ourselves silly. I admit it…we stayed in a couple places purely to eat. What can I say? Foodies are a huge part of our travels. #willtravelforfood
Well, I think that’s it for our tour of Tennessee. We’ll actually be back in Tennessee for a month later this year and we’re excited to get back! We really enjoy the area.
Hey Guys! When we first started this whole quest to see America, we knew we wanted to visit a few National Parks…but National Battlefields/National Military Parks weren’t even on our radar. Back in 2015, as we were passing through Montana, some people at the RV park we were staying at talked us into going to visit Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. We went, but didn’t think we’d enjoy it. Well, long story short…we loved it. We all learned so much that we now seek out the historical/battlefields/military park/fort National Park Units.
We enjoy touring and learning about our Country’s history so much that we spent a month earlier this year touring some of Tennessee’s battlefields. We started our Tennessee battlefield tour on March 20 (2021) with Shiloh NMP. Our tour was fast and furious as we jumped to a new location every Saturday. Our weeks were a combination of work/school and trying to squeeze every minute we could out of the nearby National Park Units.
Shiloh National Military Park preserves the history of one of the first major battles in the western theater of the Civil War. Two days…nearly 110,000 American soldiers…23,746 casualties. The two day battle didn’t end in a decisive winner for either side, but was just the beginning of a six month struggle to control this vital area.
Shiloh NMP is considered to be one of the best preserved battlefields in our Country with 156 monuments and 650 interpretive markers. The interpretive markers are especially interesting here since many of the surviving soldiers were still alive when this particular National Military Park was being built. There are many first-hand accounts you can read. It makes the battle feel more personal…more real…not just words on a page.
At the end of the first two days, nearly 8,000 wounded and dying Confederate soldiers made their way to the nearby town of Corinth, MS. Corinth was a small town of around 1,500 people that sat on the crossroads of the Memphis & Charleston and the Mobile & Ohio Railroads. The black and white pictures are all pictures I took of pictures we found in the various Shiloh NMP visitor centers.
You can imagine what 8,000 wounded soldiers would do to a town the size of Corinth. The town’s people tried their best to help the soldiers, but in the end…the town suffered greatly. Eventually, the water supply ran out, food ran out and people left as the battle for the area took over the little town. By the end of the Battle of Shiloh, the Union captured Corinth and controlled the vital railroad junction.
During the Civil War a Contraband Camp was a place that freed men, women, and children would gather together to make a life for themselves. Some of the residents freed themselves by escaping the plantations they were being kept on. The Corinth Contraband Camp had over 110 buildings that included homes, a school, a church, a commissary, a hospital, blacksmith, seamstress, shoemaker and offices. It became the model town for other townsites. By May of 1863, the residents had 300 acres that they were cultivating and making a profit of $4,000 to $5,000 a month. The population varied greatly and tended to fluctuate between 1,500 to 6,000. You can go walk a small portion of the land that the Corinth Contraband Camp sat on. There are some statues that show what parts of their daily lives might have been like. The Contraband Camps were a part of our Country’s history I didn’t know about. It was eye-opening and we learned a lot.
Meet “Billy Yank” and “Johnny Reb”. They were bitter enemies during the battles, but would often times help one another by the end of the war. They would swap stories of home, trade supplies, and offer what little help they could.
While you’re at Shiloh NMP you should make sure to visit the Shiloh Indian Mounds National Historic Landmark to learn about the first people who called this area of our Country home.
The sheer number of casualties of the Shiloh/Corinth battles shocked the Country and had both economic and psychologic impacts on civilians for both sides of the war. The lessons learned during these battles resulted in better standards and procedures of care implemented by both sides.
During our time in this area, the redbud trees came to life! They were everywhere!
We were only in this area for one week but we, of course, found a few foodies. It was a smaller town so we were pleasantly surprised by the foodies we found.
We also celebrated Alex’s birthday…I can’t believe he’s 18! He asked me to make a Pecan Cobbler for his bday this year. He graduates this year and he’s ready to get his life started!
