Snowy Saturday

In the three winters that we’ve spent in Chattanooga, it has snowed enough to have accumulation only twice. Both of those times were on Saturdays. It snowed in February, 2020, and now in March 2022.

On Saturday morning we woke up to a blanket of white. We bundled up, because it was COLD, and we took some photos.

First we started at our apartment complex, and I took some close up shots.

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Then we headed to a tiny park near our apartment. There were a ton of birds there. I really like this picture I ended up taking, with all the robins both in the foreground and background.

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Our last stop was to check out the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge, and we lucked out. Not only was it covered in snow, but hardly anyone was out, so we had the bridge mostly to ourselves.

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Burgess Falls State Park, and An Afternoon in Sparta

On Saturday we drove northwest from Chattanooga to Burgess Falls State Park, for a morning of hiking.

Burgess Falls State Park features three sections of a waterfall. I recommend going in the winter, so that you can see more of the river through the bare trees along the path.

A sign at the trailhead says that the trail is strenuous. I believe this may be because of the number of steps along the path, but Derek and I are intermediate-level hikers, and we thought it was fairly easy.

When we went, we had just had a week of rain, so the river and the falls were powerful and fast flowing.

This hike is great if you like maximum views. There are overlooks at the upper, middle, and lower falls.

We also walked an optional, short trail that leads to the top of the lower falls.

The path to the end of the lower falls is three quarters of a mile. There is a different, gravel path to take back to the parking lot, for a round trip total of 1.5 miles.

A section of a farm met up with the edge of the gravel path. Of course, I had to take photos of the cows!

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We drove into the town of Sparta for lunch. We ate at The Coffee Collective, a nice café located on the historical square.

We walked around a bit, and saw a caboose on display, and a war memorial. We also walked on a pedestrian bridge across the Calfkiller River. Quite the name, huh? The river is named for a Cherokee chief.

We also shopped at the Fragrant Mushroom, a pottery store. The store had a calico cat named Josi. The prices were affordable, and the pieces were beautiful. We ended up buying a coaster and a mug.

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Winter Camping

This weekend Derek and I challenged ourselves to 24 hours of winter camping at Cloudland Canyon State Park.

We have camped in spring, summer, and fall, so winter was the last season left to try. We honestly did not know if we would like it or not. It could have very well been a disaster!

We did a lot of research, and we were mindful of the clothes that we packed, including thermals as a base layer and wool socks. We also packed our flannel lined sleeping bag, and two extra blankets.

We reserved Backcountry site #3, which you have to hike to from the trail head and parking lot. Last fall, we stayed at #5. Comparing the two sites, we like #3 better. It is a little closer of a walk from the trail head, and the site itself is prettier. The campsite has a stream running near it, and we had our own mini waterfall all to ourselves!

Convenience was a big factor at this site as well. The fire ring was right next to the picnic table. We had brought our camp chairs, but we never used them. We set our tent up right behind the picnic table. The outhouse was also just a few steps away. This outhouse was much cleaner than at site #5. Timing might have been a factor in this though, depending on how often they get serviced by volunteers.

Overall, we managed to stay warm. We had some frozen fingers and toes at time, but we brought hand warmers, which helped out. Getting into the sleeping bag at night was rough for the first five minutes, but our body heat quickly warmed us up. When we woke up in the morning, we realized that our breath had caused frost to form on the inside of the tent!

I am glad that Derek suggested last year that we start camping. We are still very much beginners, with not the greatest equipment. We have now camped twice at campgrounds, and have backpacked in twice. There are pros and cons for both types of camping. Campgrounds have more amenities, but there is nothing like being outside in the peace and quiet with no one else around.

We want to get hiking backpacks with frames, in order to carry everything on our backs. Things like that cost a lot of money though. In due time. We probably still bring way too much with us on each trip; it’s trial and error. We would like to camp at site #3 again in the spring, which would allow us shed some weight in the form of clothing layers and blankets.

I have been enjoying making YouTube videos. I videoed during our time camping, and I made a video from it. I think this is my favorite video yet!

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This past weekend, Derek and I did something that I never thought we would do. We camped at Cloudland Canyon State Park, but it wasn’t just typical camping in a campground.

We had a backcountry campsite, which is one of 10 campsites that are along the Backcountry Loop Trail. There is a parking lot at the trailhead, and everyone has to hike into their site. Some of the sites are closer, and some are further out than others. Our campsite was No. 5, which was not one of the closer ones, but not too far out either.

We do not have the big camping backpacks with the frames, we only have our regular school backpacks. In order to be able to haul everything we needed, we bought a little two-wheeled utility cart.

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Our campsite was totally secluded. No. 5 had a little off shoot trail from the main trail, which we liked. The backcountry trail loop is a two mile trail, and I assume regular hikers, who are not camping, frequent through there.

This overnight camping trip was not perfect by any means. In fact, it was a comedy of errors. We learned our lesson many times over. We are not too scathed from our experience, and we want to camp there again, maybe even in the winter. Now we know how to do things right.

Our first lesson is to bring a hatchet next time, and skip the bundles of firewood. Because of the wood, we had to make two trips back and forth from the car to the campsite. We learned that campers are allowed to use any wood at the site, within reason, for campfires.

Things went fairly smoothly in the evening. Rain was in the forecast, so we hung up a tarp over our tent, to keep us dry. We have a beginner’s pop up tent, that is not water proof, but it suits our needs fine. It drizzled on and off while we ate dinner, but never amounted to much. We enjoyed the evening by the fire.

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What we weren’t prepared for was how DARK it got at night. We’re used to camping near others, so you have everyone’s lantern light and campfires, and even the glow from buildings like the camp office or the bathhouse. It felt very weird, and somewhat scary, to be alone in the woods in the dark.

Before we went to bed, we opened up the top and side parts  of our tent to expose the screens underneath, to let in air flow. It was quite warm when we went to bed, at 70 degrees.

It poured on and off all night long. We stayed nice and dry until suddenly, we were quite wet. I guess the wind must have shifted, causing the rain to come right into our tent! In the dim lantern light, Derek struggled to get the tent closed up again. Another lesson learned. Leave the tent fully closed when rain is in the forecast!

Our tent is small, so we can’t put everything inside. Our shoes were outside, underneath the tarp. But when it’s raining sideways, this does not help! Our shoes got soaked. Derek’s socks and jeans also got soaked, because they were folded up in the front corner of our tent, which was a full puddle of water by the time we got everything zipped up. Another lesson we took away from this is to bring an extra change of socks, and bring plastic bags for anything we want to stay dry.

The rain finally moved out at about 6:45 a.m. We got up, and again, were shocked at how dark it was. The wood was a little damp, and so were the Duralogs. Lesson No. Four: Duralog packaging is not water proof! Keep the Duralogs dry so they light easier!

We were both worried for a minute that we would not be able to get a fire started, therefore no warmth, no hot tea, and no breakfast. Things were tense, but the fire eventually did get going. It should also be mentioned that a cold front came through after the rain, so it was quite chilly early in the morning.

Once the sun came up and we had food in our stomachs, we could laugh at our misfortunes.

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The Backcountry Loop Trail connects with the Bear Creek Trail. This is a trail that we had never been on, so we decided to check it out.

Unfortunately, we were steered wrong by the map that we had. The map listed that it was .5 miles to Bear Creek, before continuing on for another 7.1 miles. I thought to the creek and back would make a nice one mile hike. This was not so. Apparently the map was labeled incorrectly, or perhaps it was .5 miles from where it intersects with the Overlook Trail. Even the dotted line representing the direction of the trail was wrong, too.

The hike was easy at first, but then we went down a lot of switch backs to get down to the creek. We saw our first bright orange salamanders!

By the time we got back to the campsite, I think we had hiked nearly three miles total. It was a gorgeous hike, but we just were not prepared to go that far!

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Once we got back, we started to pack up our campsite. We had to be out by 1 p.m. Imagine our surprise when a bunch of Boy Scouts, Boy Scout leaders, and some parents came into our campsite. They were very nice to us, but I was unhappy that they showed up too early. We had to rush through our packing up. We left at about 12:30, a full 30 minutes before they should have even been there.

All in all, we had a great time, and it was an adventure, to say the least.

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Rock Garden

If you’re traveling through northern Georgia, and are looking for a quick and interesting pit stop, I suggest checking out the Rock Garden in Calhoun.

Located behind the Seventh Day Adventist Church, this is a free, little attraction. (There is a donation box at the entrance.)

All built by volunteers, the rock garden features both miniature and large scale sculptures of castles, villages, and real locations, such as the Colosseum in Rome and Notre Dame in Paris.

All of these are located on a nice, meandering garden path.

The details on some of the sculptures are stunning. There are clay windows, stained glass windows, and little figurines like dogs, knights, and villagers. The sculptures are made with glass beads, stones and shells, with a concrete base.

It only took us about 15 minutes to see everything, but it was worth the stop to stretch our legs and see something different and beautifully made.

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Buc-ee’s

If you don’t live in the south, there’s a good chance you probably haven’t heard of Buc-ee’s. What is that, you ask? Buc-ee’s is hard to describe. At its most basic description, Buc-ee’s is a gas station and convenience store. A better description would be to call it a magical place full of food, household items, clothing, and beavers. Lots of beavers. Some of the bigger stores have over 100 gas pumps. Plus, it’s clean inside. Buc-ee’s was voted as the cleanest restrooms in America! Yes, that’s right.

Buc-ee’s is a Texas based company, that has recently expanded to other southern states like Alabama, Florida and Georgia. We visited a Buc-ee’s in Alabama while we were on vacation in July, and it felt so good to be back after two years. We had missed it!

A new Buc-ee’s opened in Calhoun, Ga., a few weeks ago, and it is only an hour long drive! There were other things we wanted to do in the area, so this was the perfect time to stop at Buc-ee’s.

I DON’T recommend going to a Buc-ees that has just opened. For those who live in Chattanooga or northern Georgia, wait a little bit longer to check out the one in Calhoun. It was madness! There were people taking selfies out front, and people were taking videos on their phones inside. Derek and I had to hold hands the entire time so we wouldn’t get separated.

Here are some of the things I personally enjoy and recommend buying at Buc-ees:

My favorite sweet tea is Texas Tea, found in the cooler section. There are many different flavors, but my favorite is strawberry.

I also enjoy their snickerdoodles. They are soft and chewy. There are so many different baked goods to choose from!

Kolaches are also a Texas specialty. Kolaches were brought over from the Czech Republic immigrants who settled in Texas. A kolache is a bun filled with either a savory or sweet filling. My favorite is sausage and cheese.

If you research Buc-ee’s online, most people will say to get the Beaver Nuggets, which is a sweet caramel flavored corn puff snack. I have had these before, and honestly, they’re not my favorite.

Of course, you have to get something with Buc-ee Beaver on it. Over the years I’ve grown a collection of keychains, stuffed animals, pajama pants, shirts, a sweatshirt and a mug!

Overall, Buc-ee’s is a great pit stop on a road trip. Gas prices are usually on the cheaper side. The bathrooms are humongous so there won’t be a line. There is so much food to choose from, too.

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Great Locomotive Chase trip

This Labor Day weekend, in honor of it being a long weekend, and it being my birthday weekend, we wanted to do something special. We decided to take a day trip into Georgia, and visit some Civil War sites and museums.

I love Civil War history, and there is no shortage of it in Tennessee and Georgia. When we first moved to Chattanooga, my dad told me about the Great Locomotive Chase. He let me borrow a book about it, “Stealing the General.”

Here is a short history lesson: The Great Locomotive Chase (also known as Andrews’ Raid) happened on April 12, 1862. James Andrews, a civilian and scout for the Union Army, and volunteers from the Union Army stole a train, the General, in Kennesaw, Georgia, (back then known as Big Shanty). The train at the time was stopped to allow passengers to have breakfast at the Lacy Hotel.

The goal was to drive the train to Chattanooga, destroying the Western and Atlantic Railroad track as they went. Railroads were vital in the south and the Civil War. Gaining access to the railroads would cut off supplies to and from southern cities, and badly damage the south’s chances in winning the war.

Confederates gained access to different trains, including the Yonah, and the Texas, and pursued the General. Andrews and the Union soldiers made it as far as Ringgold, Ga., before the locomotive ran out of fuel, and they were captured. Some of the men were able to flee, but eight were hanged.

Our first stop of the day was Kennesaw Georgia, about an hour and a half drive away. We visited the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, which houses the original engine, the General.

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The General was the main draw of the museum, but we also learned a lot about the railroads and how they were used and impacted by the Civil War.

There was a neat section in the museum where you learned about the work in foundries, and what it takes to make a locomotive.

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The second Great Locomotive Chase and Civil War related stop of the day was in Tunnel Hill, Ga., where we visited the Tunnel Hill Heritage Center and Museum.

A major part of the Great Locomotive Chase was the chase through the Western and Atlantic Railroad tunnel. The Texas was actually chasing the General backwards!

As part of this tour, we rode on a golf cart the whole length of the tunnel, back and forth. This was really cool. The tunnel is no longer used, but the newer tunnel, built in 1928, is right along side of it. We were lucky enough to see a train come through while we were here.

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This is one of my favorite pictures I took on the trip. It’s the modern and the historical together. In the background, you have the modern train, and in the foreground is an original ruined railroad line. The union soldiers destroyed as much track as they could while on campaigns. They would bend them so they would be unusable.

We also got to see the Clisby Austin house, built in 1848. Austin was the post master in Tunnel Hill, and he also owned general stores. He was married twice — his first wife died — and he had 19 children! Austin was a Union sympathizer, so when the war broke out, he sold the home and left.

General Sherman stayed in the home for a week during the start of the Atlanta Campaign. Later on, after the Battle of Tunnel Hill, the home was turned into a hospital.

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One thing that I found interesting in this home was that the stairs were original. You could see the dips in the wood, from all of the people who have walked on it over time. I took the same steps as General Sherman!

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I enjoyed the Tunnel Hill Heritage Center and Museum, because it was a bonus to learn about Clisby Austin, and the home.

There were other stops on this day trip, so stay tuned!

Gulf Coast vacation

Last week Derek and I took a week-long road trip vacation to several destinations at the Gulf Coast.

We visited Gulf Shores, Mobile and Dauphin Island in Alabama, and Biloxi in Mississippi. These locations are about a six and a half hour drive.

Neither of us have visited any of these places, and after this trip, now I can add Mississippi to the list of states I have visited.

A bonus to this road trip was that it took us right past the Buc-ee’s in Robertsdale, Ala. If you don’t know what a Buc-ee’s is, it is an amazing gas station and convenience store. That’s a horrible description for it though; it’s so much more than a convenience store. The company originated in Texas (where we lived for three years) and now it’s starting to branch out around the south.

Our first two days were in Gulf Shores. However, all of the hotels closer to the beach were above my budget, so we stayed a few miles inland in Foley. I think we lucked out though, because we stayed at a beautiful bed and breakfast called Hotel Magnolia.

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Also a coincidence was being across the street from a railroad depot museum and model train display in Foley. My dad loves trains and he passed that on to me. My dad has always had some type of model train layout. That was a neat first thing to see to ease into our week of fun.

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Also on our itinerary was Alligator Alley, which is a natural habitat setting for alligators that have been rescued from dangerous situations. Visitors to Alligator Alley start out by seeing hatchlings, and the alligators in different young age groups. The last part is the best part, seeing the (very, very large) adult alligators in a swamp. There is a boardwalk that goes over the swamp, and it is honestly beautiful scenery.

I asked a worker a few questions, and he said that he estimates they have around 700 alligators! He even said that some wild alligators have gate crashed, and now live among the rescued alligators.

I also got the chance to hold a three year old alligator named Gatorade.

In addition to admission, you can also buy alligator chow. It looks like large brown pellets, similar to what you would feed goats at a petting zoo.

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We also went to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. It is a small zoo, about the same size as our local Chattanooga Zoo.

What I enjoyed about this zoo is its layout. It is a large circle, so you can only go backward or forward, and not have to worry about missing any animals.

Another big draw, at least for me, is the different kinds of cats. My favorite animals are all the cats, so I was happy to see lions, tigers, black panthers, lynx and cloud leopards.

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We also explored Gulf Shores and spent some time at the beach. I find it interesting that Gulf Shores was more crowded than Biloxi, and they were both similar tourist beach towns. I am not sure why that is.

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We also drove all the way to the end of the island and visited Fort Morgan, the site of a Naval Civil War battle. It’s just not a complete trip for me without visiting some type of historical site!

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Something extra we did was stumble across Gulf Shores State Park. There, we found a nice pedestrian boardwalk that went over the marsh.

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Our next stop was Mobile. I did not have high expectations of Mobile. It was just meant to be a stop over to get us to other destinations that I was more so looking forward to. Mobile pleasantly surprised us. Our hotel, Malaga Inn, was in a great location, walking distance to the historic district. The streets and architecture of the buildings were beautiful.

Our hotel had a lovely courtyard, and I am glad we took advantage of it on our first evening, because on the second day we had quite the downpour!

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In Mobile, we took a tour of the Oakleigh House, built in 1833. There wasn’t much original to the house itself, but the people who are in charge of the home, took great care to make sure that they filled the home with both Mobile and period era items. The tour guide did a great job of telling stories of multiple Mobile people and families.

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A highlight of the day in Mobile was visiting the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. There, we got to see the USS Alabama, submarine USS Drum, and countless military historical aircraft on display.

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After a full day in Mobile, we left early the next morning for a full day at Dauphin Island. This is interesting: I expected to like Mobile the least and I liked it the best, and I expected to like Dauphin Island the most and I liked it the least.

This is not to say that we did not enjoy our day on Dauphin Island; we did. However, I was surprised with how little there was to do. This is definitely not a tourist-crazy area like Gulf Shores. Dauphin Island seems to be a place to “get away from it all.” Families could rent a house here for a week and just spend all of their days at the beach. That would be perfect for some people, but it’s not my idea of a vacation, personally.

At Dauphin Island, we first headed to Fort Gaines. This fort, and Fort Morgan, can almost be sister forts in a sense, if you are looking for Civil War history about the Battle of Mobile Bay. Both forts, just across from each other on different islands, were witness and played a part in this battle. I enjoyed Fort Gaines much better than Fort Morgan. Fort Gaines is much smaller, and the self guided tour was more organized with more information.

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The second thing we did on Dauphin Island was to walk the lake loop trail, part of the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. This is a nice wooded, marshy area filled with trails.

At this point, it would be remiss if I didn’t mention the weather. The weather on the first half of our trip left something to be desired, but up until this point we had gotten lucky. It rained and thunderstormed every day, but it was always during mealtimes, when we were in the car, or back at the hotel for a mid-afternoon break.

It had drizzled on and off during our time that morning at Fort Gaines, but by the time we parked at Audubon Bird Sanctuary, the sun was starting to shine. We left the umbrellas in the car. Big mistake.

The skies opened up on us and it DOWNPOURED. We were instantly soaked. At that point, it wouldn’t have made a difference if we turned back to the car or kept walking on.

We knew we had dry clothes waiting for us in our suitcase in the truck, so we just laughed it off and made the best of it.

It was a beautiful trail, and at some point it did finally stop raining. We were taking pictures of the lake on a little pier, when a group of people walked up behind us. They said, “You do know there is an alligator underneath you, right?” That made the walk more special, and made it even more interesting after the downpour.

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After changing (underneath towels while parked on a dead end road where there were hopefully no people watching) we found a place to eat lunch. We spent the second half of the day driving around, taking pictures, browsing in stores, and ended the day with time on the beach.

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After that, it was time to head to Biloxi, our last stop of the trip. I enjoyed Biloxi the most, because there was so much to do, and, as I mentioned earlier, it was less crowded than Gulf Shores.

Our hotel was right across from the beach, which we took advantage of multiple times a day.

My favorite part of each day was going to the beach in the evenings. Low tide was at that time, and the water was gentle. You could walk out very far, over multiple sand bars, and still only be in water up to your ankles.

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The highlight for me in Biloxi was visiting Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis’ last home. Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederacy. By now, you probably all know that I love Civil War history. Behind Beauvoir is the Presidential Library and Museum, where we learned a lot about the man.

The home was filled with all original artifacts belonging to the family. In addition, there were many interesting Civil War related items in the museum. The coolest item, I thought, was the coat that Davis was wearing when he was captured at the end of the war in May, 1865.

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Plans had to change unexpectedly on the second day, but I think things turned out for the better. We had tickets for the Betsy Ann Riverboat, but the ride was cancelled due to a mechanical issue.

Instead, we visited the Big Play Entertainment Center, where we raced in a go-kart, and then we played a game of mini-golf. After that, we headed to the Ohr-O’Keefe Art Museum. Ironically enough, these three things were all together cheaper than the river boat tickets.

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Other, small things that we did included visiting the Biloxi Lighthouse, seeing tree sculptures, (made from trees destroyed in Hurricane Katrina), the Hurricane Katrina Memorial, and of course, more beach time.

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After two and a half days in Biloxi, it was time to head home. To break up the drive, we decided to make a pit stop at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. This was a great decision. We had lunch in their cafe, and spent over an hour exploring all of the different gardens and flowers.

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We had a great time. We did everything that we had set out to do (except the Riverboat) and then some. When we got home, I made a YouTube video with footage from the trip.

We can’t wait until the next vacation!

Nashville daytrip

We went to Nashville for the day on Saturday, July 3. It was a long day, about 21 hours, in fact.

We left at 5:35 a.m. and did not get home until about 2:20 a.m.

The reason why we went to Nashville in the first place was an Alabama concert, which was originally scheduled for last July, pushed back a year because of the pandemic.

Since we had never been to Nashville before, we made a full day out of it.

Our first stop was breakfast at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. We went here because it’s next door to the Grand Ole Opry. This is a large hotel, with a beautifully designed interior. There are water features inside, including more than one waterfall. There are different sections of the hotel. My favorite was the Delta section, which looked like New Orleans. We got breakfast at a grab and go marketplace, and walked around the hotel.

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After time at the hotel, we went to the Grand Ole Opry for a 9 a.m. backstage tour. This tour was about an hour. It included an introduction show at the beginning. We saw all of the artist rooms, the wall of plaques listing Opry members, and got to walk out on stage.

I was disappointed with how the tour handled the stage part. Everyone got to walk out on to the famed circle (a circle of wood taken from the Ryman Auditorium) and a photographer took a picture. You had to pay for the picture. It cost $25 dollars to get three copies, one large and two small, of the photo, which was poorly printed. I understand that there had to be a way to control the group across the stage, otherwise everyone would have huddled around it waiting to get their own picture, but the photographer should have offered to take photos with people’s own phones and cameras. We ended up sneaking a photo of the photo with our phone, so at least we have proof that we stood in the circle.

However, it was a thrill to stand in these places on the stage where so many famed artists have stood before.

Overall, we enjoyed the tour, and we would like to come back to see a show.

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After our tour, we headed into downtown Nashville. The Opry and Gaylord Opryland are a few miles away from downtown, in a section called Music Valley.

We walked the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge over the Cumberland River. The bridge is short, compared to the Walnut Street Pedestrian Bridge in Chattanooga.

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After that, it was time to check out Lower Broadway, the main tourist area filled with honky honk type bars, shops and restaurants.

I am sure that things were busier than usual due to it being the 4th of July holiday weekend, but we were both quite overwhelmed by the amount of crowds and noise. A lot of the bars had open windows and doors, and there would be a band inside playing ear splitting music. It seemed like the bars all had a contest with each other to see who could play the loudest.

I think I would enjoy Broadway much more during an off-season visit, and earlier in the morning.

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Some other things that we saw included the Music City Walk of Fame, which is similar to the stars on Hollywood Boulevard, the Tennessee State Capitol, and the Instagram famous What Lifts You wings mural by Kelsey Montague.

We were having a lot of difficulty finding parking, exacerbated by getting stuck in traffic all over the city, so Derek dropped me off at the Union Station Hotel, a historic train station, so I could take a few pictures, while he drove around the block.

In the afternoon we headed to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The highlight for me was seeing Kacey Musgrave’s exhibit, All the Colors. It was a treat to see the white lace jumpsuit that she wore to the Houston Rodeo performance, a show I saw in March 2019.

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Other neat things were the hall of gold records, Willie Nelson’s shoes and bandana, a dress of Dolly Parton’s and hand written song lyrics from Brooks and Dunn.

The last thing we did during the day was the whole reason why we came to Nashville, the Alabama concert. It was a great show. Martina McBride was the opening act, and it was awesome to hear her sing “Independence Day.”

There were two surprises during the show. First, Gov. Bill Lee came on stage and made a proclamation designating July 3 as “Alabama in Tennessee Day.” Second, Tim McGraw came on stage and sang a song with Randy and Teddy.

I got to hear a bunch of their songs that I had not heard during the first concert in Houston. I was excited to hear “Roll On,” which is one of my favorites.

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After the concert, it was time for the two hour drive back home. At the end of the day, my phone had recorded 22,000 steps! Also, I learned a lesson; do not wear pointed toe cowboy boots! My toes were squished all day and hurting, but at least I had no blisters.

Overall we had a good day, and we learned a lot so we can make the next trip a better one.

Kayaking in the Tennessee River

We rented a tandem kayak last weekend and kayaked in the Tennessee River.

We rented from River Drifters, a combination restaurant and rental place, located on Suck Creek Road. The restaurant is just across the street from the river.

We rented for a half a day, or four hours. The person in charge of the rentals told us that we would have enough time to paddle around Williams Island.

We have kayaked before, but never in a river. We soon realized that the Tennessee River flows northward, and we were fighting the current, going south.

We tired easily from paddling, and we took short breaks often. It was also a good excuse to check out the many different small sandy beach areas. I was surprised with how many shells there were on the shore. We also found raccoon prints.

We tried to come ashore on Williams Island, but the land wasn’t sandy. Instead, it was dirt and clay, which was slippery, as I soon found out! I slipped and fell right into the river. I had to spend the rest of the morning with a wet butt. Oh well. I have learned my lesson, and that is to wear a bathing suit even if you don’t expect to go swimming.

The day started out sunny enough, but it soon grew cloudy (which is okay because Derek burns so easily.) However, at one point it started raining. We came ashore and took shelter under the tree cover. We were directly across from the River Drifters dock at that point.

The rain let up, so we set off across the river to go back. We got only maybe a few feet out, and it started raining again! We paddled quite fast after that!

After dropping off our paddles and life vests, we had lunch at the restaurant.

I recommend River Drifters, both for the rentals and the food. I had searched different rental companies, and River Drifters was the best price, with the most time options available.

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River Drifters, the restaurant and rental place that we rented from.
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I made a YouTube video with the video footage we took while kayaking. Check the video out, complete with me falling on my butt in the river!