A Cross-Country Driving Trip in Our Morgan
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The Hendersons Franklin, TN and Athens, GA |
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A Cross-Country Driving Trip in Our Morgan |
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Wednesday, June 21 - Brentwood, TN to near Franklin, TN We needed a bit of a break, so we found accommodations which in England would be called farm accommodations. We wanted to explore the area in this part of Tennessee, which has so many Civil War battle sights, as well as several Antebellum homes. We dropped our luggage off at the farm (Namaste Farm B & B) and then headed to Franklin. Franklin is a pretty town, with many Victorian buildings We explored the town for a bit, then headed for the Antebellum Trail. We stopped at a beautiful plantation, Rippavilla, where we had lunch under the shade of a very large tree, then bought tickets for the tour. While we waited for the tour, we enjoyed the antics of Josiah, the Weimeranner. It being a very hot day, he would jump into the fountain, cool off, then leap out to shake himself off against the guests.
The tour was really interesting because our guide, Brent, was knowledgeable and very interested in history. The home was beautifully done, with many period furnishings.
We returned to the farm, enjoyed a brief dip in the pool, then drove to Franklin for a wonderful dinner at an Italian restaurant, Palazolo's. I had a sort of cannelloni, made with lasagna pasta, filled with chicken, and Tom had a nice penne with Italian sausage with lots of crushed red pepper, the way Grandpa Villani would have liked. Thursday, June 22 - Franklin, TN to Athens, GA We had a nice breakfast and got on the road again. We were already packed and loaded for the most part. Antonella guided us onto the highway to Athens on a very hot day. It was a grueling drive. Temps were in the high 90s to low 100s most of the way. We stopped for lunch and filled large cups of ice water to take with us. I don't usually drink as much water as I should, but this day I guzzled it. As fast as I could drink it in it seeped back out. We wound up going through the Atlanta area as rush hour was getting going and vowed to never do that again. We finally got to our digs in Athens and drank a lot more water and made ice packs for our foreheads and faces. We had dinner at an Indian restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. We were treated to rumbles on the way to dinner and spectacular lightning flashes on the way back. Friday, June 23 - Athens, GA This was a day for taking it easy. Moggie had developed a problem with her left brake light and an annoying vibration noise at around 2,500RPM. She was also due for an oil and filter change and a grease job. After breakfast we headed out and got her lubrication issues attended to. We took her to a do-it-yourself car wash and got her looking pretty decent. Then we stopped by the Athens YMCA to look at the facility. They do offer use to out of area visitors. We had lunch and went to a repair shop where they could deal with her other problems. That completed we returned to the hotel and went for a swim. We had dinner at Harry Bissett's, a New Orleans style restaurant, and it was excellent. We both had amberjack (fish) with a crawfish ettoufee, fresh asparagus and the most wonderful creamed spinach we've ever had. We were able to walk to the restaurant and back. Fortunately, between the swim and dinner the thunderstorm blew in, dropped tons of water, and blew out again. Saturday, June 24 - Athens, GA We are almost 5,000 miles out from home and in need of getting rid of some kinks. We each had a massage in the morning, then drove to Madison. It is a pretty little town and was worth the visit. We had lunch at an old fashioned soda fountain before heading back to Athens. A swim and a workout completed the afternoon. We had dinner at a very good Italian restaurant (Bischero's) within walking distance of the hotel. Tomorrow it is off to the Cherokee, NC at the bottom of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Sunday, June 25 - Athens, GA to Cherokee, NC We had decided to spend tonight in Cherokee, NC because of its proximity to both the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the route through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into! The drive was reasonably short and uneventful - we had to put up the hood about halfway to Cherokee because of rain. We got to the town and our first thought was: "Wow, this is really tacky!" It isn't that Cherokee is dirty or a slum, but that it is incredibly touristy, with Cherokee motifs everywhere and the aged warrior doing some sort of dance under a tent on the main street. We checked into our hotel early, unloaded our bags and headed to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is beautiful! Very lush and green. Naturally, these mountains are much older than our Cascades, so they are significantly lower (elevation about 6,000 ft at the highest point). Because they receive so much rain (85" a year on average), the growth is green and luxurious. Ah, but there is a downside: This is the most heavily visited park in the entire National Park system (I had thought that distinction belonged to Yellowstone, but the population centers are closer to Great Smoky Mountains and the traffic is witness to that fact.) We drove the length of the park - about 30 miles from Cherokee to Gatlinburg, TN through the light rain and clouds. Wild rhododendrons grew along the road - the blooms are much paler in color than those we have in Washington. The hills were hidden to some extent behind a veil of clouds. It was really very beautiful. Then we got to Gatlinburg. And we thought that Cherokee was tacky! This was about as unappealing to us as Las Vegas. The streets were crowded with pedestrians in various states of dress and undress. Moggie stopped traffic all along the mile route. "Wow, look at that car!" There is an edifice that is called the "Space Needle" but it is neither as tall nor as graceful as the one in Seattle. There is a Ripley's Believe It or Not" and a "World Record Museum" (doubt that it is sanctioned by Guinness). It is loud, brash, crowded, tacky and we never want to go back there.
We returned to our hotel (a Comfort Suites) to find that the Internet connection didn't connect. The support person said he'd call back in 15 minutes, but he must have gone home for the night. The guest laundry hasn't been operational in four years (why does the website say there is a guest laundry if it doesn't work?). Then came the quest for dinner. Ah! There aren't many places to eat in Cherokee - Wendy's, Burger King, McDonald's, Bob's Big Boy and a smattering of sit-down restaurants We picked one from the yellow pages, based on the menu, which looked pretty good. I called to find out if they served wine. "Honey, you are in a dry county, if you want wine, you need to drive to Bryson City." Oh. Well, the menu still looked pretty good, so we drove over there (it was within walking distance, but Cherokee doesn't have any sidewalks and the traffic is fairly heavy). Hmmmm. We thought we were going to have dinner at Myrtle's Table, but between the time the phone book was published and our arrival, management had changed and now it was just another barbeque. You can only do so much with barbeque and in the South about 70% of the restaurants are barbeque. In Cherokee, if it isn't fast food, it is barbeque, unless you go into the Casino (no appeal for us - we don't gamble and our experience has been that casinos are really smoky.) We ate our barbeque - or some of it - and returned to our hotel to ask each other :"why did we come here?" Hopefully, tomorrow will remind us - we are looking forward to a beautiful drive. |
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