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April 3, 2006. At 2:00PM today we crossed
the Mississippi into Memphis, Tennessee. We're officially in
the eastern US!
On previous visits to Tennessee we spent our
time in the eastern and central parts of the state visiting Nashville
and Knoxville. This time we decided to spend more time exploring
Memphis. |
One of our first trips was to rendezvous for
Ribs. The restaurant doesn't "officially" open until
4:30PM, but they do allow people in at lunchtime for a limited
menu - ribs only. We really enjoyed the ribs, and found several
recipes online to imitate them. We combined 2 of the recipes
we found to make our own version in the motorhome. |
The weather turned pretty nasty with rain
and thunderstorms, so we didn't get to see everything that we
would have liked to see in Memphis, we did see the zoo, the Museum
of Rock & Soul and Sun Studios. We opted to skip Graceland!
A tour of the Gibson factory, exploring the
"Riverwalk" and more exploration of the downtown and
Beale St. area will have to be done on some future trip. |
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On April 8th we crossed the state to our Coast
to Coast "home" park in Crossville, (Golf Capital of
Tennessee) to rest up for a week and see some of the local sights.
The weather is noticeably cooler here today,
less than 50F outside at 5:00PM. We've traveled north east and
are also at an altitude of about 1900 feet.
When we woke up on Sunday it was to a crisp
sunny Tennessee day, an invitation to explore the countryside!
First, a drive over the hills and through
the woods to Cumberland Mountain State Park for brunch. Then,
after brunch, a walk by the lake and some exploration of the
park. |
The weather continues to warm up here, most
days in the 70s and 80s and lots of sun. We can see spring advancing
everyday as new trees come into bud and the flowering trees increase
in color.
On April 12 we took a long and winding road
through the hills to Fall Creek Falls State Park. This state
park, like Cumberland Mountain, is also a resort with lodges,
inns and cabins as well as campsites. |
Of course the main attraction is the water!
Swiftly running creeks turn into high cascading waterfalls which
drop in to deep basins carved out of the surrounding rock.
One, Fall Creek Falls, is the highest waterfall
east of the Rockies. While is doesn't have the water volume of
Niagara, it makes up for it in height and in its beautiful setting. |
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Crossville is located on the Cumberland Plateau,
a forested plateau. During the 30's this area was homesteaded
under FDR's "New Deal." The pioneers who settled here
had to battle bureaucracy and red tape instead of Indians and
bad weather, as earlier pioneers had.
One other important aspect of the "New
Deal" is social security, another great success story!. |
It was from the Crossville Train Depot that
(Sgt) Alvin York left to fight in WWI, and became, possibly,
the most famous American soldier in that war.
As we travel through the southern "bible
belt" we are becoming re-acquainted with a phenomonom known
as the "dry county," of which Cumberland (where Crossville
is located) is one.
Liquor is not outlawed in these counties,
only the sale of liquor! Buying wine entails a trip to the next
county over.
If we want wine with dinner, I suspect that
the plan is that we would get water then find someone to turn
it into wine for us! |
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