Sunday 17th September 2017
Last night we stayed in an airbnb accommodation in Eustice. This area had been affected by the hurricane and was still without electricity – we knew this before leaving Orlando. Our hosts had acquired a small generator which was running the fridge and two lights in the living room, but there was no aircon and no wifi. As we’d had a good brunch with Alan and Sally, we had no need for kitchen facilities, so after a good chat with our hosts, we donned our head torches and went to bed! No aircon meant a very hot night using a wet flannel to keep cool with some effect.
After a cold, refreshing shower we had breakfast with our hosts Cathy/and Dominic. Upon their recommendation we travelled to the lovely village of ‘Mount Dora’. We parked and took a walk down the quaint street which was home to some very unusual shops and cafes. At the bottom was a lake. BEWARE OF ALLIGATORS said the sign. As we scoured the waters edge, there was one sunning itself on a stone – what a find!
Chatting to one of the locals [Will] whose motor bike we were admiring, he told us of a nice walk along the side of the lake. Unfortunately, hurricane Irma had done her worst and flooded the boardwalk which meant the area was closed to visitors.
Will also suggested that we drive along ‘Lakeshore drive’ – a road which hugs the lake and contains some beautiful properties and wonderful scenery. We took this ride noticing that the houses were not only huge but also had a lot of land around them and spread out to the lakeside with decking and boats. There were also a lots of trees damaged too.
Stayed the night in airbnb accommodation in Tallahassee with KB.
Monday 18th September 2017
After a late breakfast we headed north out of Tallahassee and travelled through Georgia and into Alabama. We stopped at a couple of parks on the way for a break from driving and arrived at our final destination ‘Blue Springs State Park’ at around 4pm where we were to camp for the night. The whole camp site is deserted but for one other tent. We immediately noticed the biting ants and so donned shoes and insect repelent, which I have to say, didn’t help a jot. With the tent and bedding sorted and the fire lit to try and deter the insects we settled down for some R&R. It was so peaceful, some deer ventured into the campground, although they ran away as soon as we moved. It got dark at round 7pm and as we only have small head torches for light we sat and listened to the insects, watched the flames dancing in the fire and [as we only became aware of in the morning] got bitten to pieces all over our arms and legs! It was worth it – we had a lovely relaxing time.
Tuesday 19th September 2017
Julie managed to relight the fire the next morning by simply parting the warm embers and adding cardboard and kindling. We enjoyed a simple breakfast and a cup of pepermint tea around the camp fire before leaving for Montgomery. We had planned to visit the ‘Dexter Parsonage Museum’ which told the life and struggles of the young Martin Luther King Jr. Doctor Shirly Cherry was our guide around the museum which was the house where Martin Luther King Jr lived with his wife and family. She was so interesting to listen to and so pasionate about her subject that it was infectious. She told of her own struggles with white supremacy during her childhood too, which brought the experience to life for both of us.
Leaving Montgomery, we headed up the I – 65, through Birmingham and with a short stop to buy supplies, headed for our next airbnb accommodation at Decatur. Although it was still only around 8pm our host did not appear happy that we had turned up so late and immediately made her appologies and dissappeared to bed. This left us with a cat that would not stay off the kitchen units as we tried to cook tea [salmon and vegetables] – not a favourite of ours. We locked the front door and ate tea in our room to get away from the cat.
Wednesday 20th September 2017
We drove further up the I – 65 today. It’s a great road for getting from A to B but a little tedious and we were glad to see some different scenery as we got closer to the city of Nashville. We parked up behind the Brigstone Arena just off the main drag of ‘Broadway’ and visited the Visitors Centre.
We were amazed to be able to hear live music almost straight away – you can stand on the street or go into the bars and listen for the price of a beer. So this is what we did. We listened to a great country band whilst propping up the bar for a good hour over a bottle of Bud. What a fantastic experience and just what we had been looking forward to since planning this trip back in the UK.
Whilst listening to the band we also watched a couple dancing as well as keeping up with a game of ‘Baseball’. The New York Yankees were playing The Minnesota Twins. What a boring game that is to watch – nothing seems to happen and then there is great excitement for about one minute!
Having had our fix of live music we headed out just around the corner to the ‘Johnny Cash Museum’ on 3rd Avenue South. Johnny Cash was to be heard singing all through the museum and there were many opportunities to pick specific tracks to listen to personally.
In the early evening we headed West to find our accommodation in Pegram. This accommodation caught our attention because it came with access to a swimming pool! We let ourselves in by key code to be greeted by the most placid dog on the planet – he came to greet us and welcomed us into his home without a sound. Matt, one of our hosts is an artist and a big fan of Banksy, so he had a prints on the bedroom wall which made us feel at home.
We made ourselves at home on the decking with a drink and settled down to wait for our hosts to arrive home from work, which they did very soon afterwards. We spent much of the evening chatting with them and their other guests about our adventure at the back of the house overlooking the pool. What a great way to end a fantastic day.
Thursday 21st September 2017
Today began with a bracing swim in the pool before breakfast on the decking.
We drove the short distance to the Harpeth River State Park – a walk that had been recommended by Angie and Matt, our hosts. We scrambled up the short path to the viewing platform – an outlook which gave us stunning views over the parkland and river. At the top we found a group of young men who were taking eight months out of their life to develop their Christian Faith. They were as interested in finding out about our adventure as we were in finding out about their life journey.
We bumped into them again as we walked towards ‘Narrows of the Harpeth Tunnel’. They had all ventured into the river via a rope swing and were consequently covered in mud. This tunnel was excavated by Montgomery Bell [1818 – 1920] to harness the power of the Harpeth River in order to run his iron forge. In 1850 in London, England he won first prize for producing the best iron in the world.
We headed into Nashville once again for some more live music over a cold Bud and some sweet potato chips.
Our last port of call was ‘The Tennessee State Museum’ where we learnt more about the early life of the people of Tennessee. We marvelled at the dug-out canoe on display – around 10 metres in length – that was pulled from the Cumberland River in Jackson County in the late 1700. It is made from a single ‘yellow poplar tree’.
As we walked back to the car we admired the graffiti emblazoned on the wall of a car park. It reads:
“as long as the moon shall rise, as long as the rivers flow, as long as the sun will shine, as long as the grass shall grow”. These are lyrics from a Johnny Cash track on the album ‘Bitter Tears’.
Two Judo Girls One Adventure 
You must be logged in to post a comment.