We’ve been having a serious conversation with the alien organisms inhabiting our bodies. Now that the government has acknowledged the possibility of unidentified celestial visitors, we’re considering submitting the communication skills we’ve learned to help with the investigation effort. A carefully constructed series of grunts, coughs, snorts and snuffles has been shown to be…..utterly meaningless. We’re on the road to recovery, so we believe we’re onto some something, but it needs a little more work. We’re open to suggestions…..
Bon Aqua is a small town 40 miles southwest of Nashville. Named, obviously, for the good water in a spring near here. Phillip Van Horn Weems owned the land around the spring before the Civil War. Killed in the battle for Atlanta, Mr Weems was returned home in a pickle barrel and buried in the family cemetery. As it turns out, Johnny Cash owned the Weems farm and spring for 30 years and supported the Storytellers Museum there, and that has become a landmark in Bon Aqua.
Our destination was Piney River RV Resort. Let me refresh your memory of the last “resort” you stayed at. It was not in Bon Aqua, I can assure you. The park texted directions that went something like this:
West on TN 100 for six miles, turn right, then left on Church St.
1 mile straight after the railroad tracks, then 8 miles on Missionary Ridge Rd until it changes to Piney River Rd. Don’t be concerned when it changes to a dirt road.
This was the road the last five miles.
I should say that the landscape in Tennessee is different from Alabama, even though they share a border. It seemed to us that Tennessee was more attractive.
We’re in site 60 at Piney River RV Resort, and it has turned out to be one of the better sites available.
It’s on a hill overlooking the rest of the campground and has a nice concrete patio with a string of lights. Not sure if it’s worth the price, considering that new owners are in the process of renovating and a lot of rough edges remain. While the site and view are very nice, we’re going to need to do some serious backing and filling to make a sharp 180 out of the site.
Our objective here is to complete as much of the northern part of the Natchez Trace drive as possible. From the park it was only 120-something miles south to the Tennessee River, near where we ended our last segment just north of Tupelo, MS, so off we go!
Along the way, we, and Sasha, saw remnants of the old Trace.
On October 10, 1809, Meriwether Lewis, co-captain of the 1803-6 Lewis and Clark expedition, stayed the night at Grinders Stand by Mrs. Grinder, who offered him the homes only bedroom, while she and her children slept in the kitchen. We’ll never know what happened, only that Meriwether Lewis died shortly after dawn from two gunshot wounds. The stand is long gone, but was just a couple of hundred yards off the Trace. Lewis is buried under a monument with a missing top portion, symbolizing a life ended too quickly.
We had a picnic lunch along the bank of the Tennessee River, and contemplated the Trail of Tears, where Native Americans living in the southeast were forcibly removed from their ancestral home and moved to Oklahoma Territory. Many thousands floated down this stretch of the Tennessee River.
We chose to take a road less traveled on the way back to the trailer, heading to Savanna, TN, then Clifton and Centerville, the birthplace of Minny Pearl. We “enjoyed” miles of two lane, 35 mph country roads, four distinct thunderstorms, and a dead end road, but we made it home in time to see the clouds disappear!
All in all, it was a pleasant, 246 mile daytrip. We have only one short section left.
We continue negotiations with our alien visitors. The talks have slowed to a standstill, but we have gently begun using our array of heavy armament and have seen some movement back to the table. We’re hoping that a show of strength will result in a positive result. While we wait, we will continue our exploration of the greater Nashville area.
The northern 40 or so miles of the Natchez Trace ends in Pasquo, TN, just southwest of Nashville, so after a light lunch of chicken wings at Ruby’s, we set off, in gathering storm clouds.
We had to drive about 30 miles to access the Nashville Trace and turn north. On the way we spied this pioneer cabin, slowly going back to the mud.
A bit of nostalgia as we entered the Trace for the last time.
The hundreds of bridges along the Trace are graceful works of engineering. Twin Arch bridge had to be recently renovated, adding a tall chain link fence to prevent jumpers.
The view from the top is spectacular.
This section of the Natchez Trace is more mountainous than the rest, but interesting nonetheless. During the years 1812-1814, the Natchez Trace was heavily used to transport troops and equipment to New Orleans. A monument respects that effort.
The northern end of the Natchez Trace! We’ve seen all but about the 30 miles of it that are under repair.
We ended our trek a few miles from downtown Nashville, so we decided to go to Hattie B’s Hot Chicken for lunch. This southern chain of chicken restaurants was founded by Nick and Nick Bishop (father and son) and named for three members of the Bishop family. Begun in Nashville in 2012, six locations, including one in The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, serve chicken at various “heat” levels along with side dishes. The restaurants are extremely popular, but we decided to visit the closest one to the Trace, only 9 miles away. The line was impossibly long and parking was nonexistent, so we went to the downtown Nashville location.
Did the plan work? No way! I wanted to get a pic of the people waiting for entry, but was unable to even slow down enough to snap a photo! Oh well…next time.
We’re enjoying this park in the countryside, but don’t relish the bumpy ride out of here! Its been almost constant rain, and things are a bit soggy, but getting cooler, and that’s a good thing!
In spite of the weather issues, and in spite of the road, and the distance from town, we’re going to note this park as one to return to….”if ever…”
As a side note…the still unknown aliens have seriously returned to the bargaining table. We’re confident that we can save humanity from this very uncomfortable scourge, and hope to resolve the issues soon without headlines, so as not to alarm the masses.
You can thank us later.
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