Nash Family Creamery, just opened in Unionville, has expanded its attractions from just food to fall entertainment. The venue has just added a pumpkin patch and corn maze to their features. The corn maze was a good one with tall corn and tricky (but not too tricky) layout. Be warned that the crowds are thick right now, particularly when coming for food. There is a lot of outdoor seating at the creamery so enjoy the nice weather and grab a picnic table.
0 Comments
Lynnville, TN is a small town a little south of Cornersville that has been around since the late 1800s. The town now caters to local tourism, with several wineries and a distillery in the area. The little town is known for Colonel Littleton's Leather Goods, a high end leather manufacturer and store. There is also the Soda Pop Junction to grab a meal at that used to be a drug store at the turn of the century that serves up some excellent burgers. Swing over to the Fried Pie Company, a bakery that cranks out an enormous amount of handmade fried pies (the girls who run the place said they make 700 every night and distribute them in the morning).
Across the road is the Lynnville Railroad Museum. Lynnville used to be a rail depot and the area around it was largely owned by the Mars family of Mars Candy fame. They had a huge farm and raised prize Hereford cows and pacing horses. The railroad museum has a small exhibit room of items from the town's history, but its biggest attractions are the engine, passenger car, and caboose they have for walk through out back. This is the first historical railroad car I've ever been able to walk through and though it's in a semi-decayed state, you still get a picture of how travel was back in the 30s. One of the rooms in the car offers an exhibit on the Mars family farm. Watch for wasps as they love building in the nooks and crannies of trains.
Back at Cheekwood again is the artwork of Dale Chihuly. The exhibit is a big deal around here mainly because Cheekwood opens up at night and lights the glass sculptures up. Everyone comes for dinner on the lawn (bring some takeout) and enjoys the night weather while surrounded by some massive, glowing pieces of glass.
Chihuly Nights will be going on until January, so there's lots of time to check it out and Cheekwood itself. There's a sculpture trail there (paved) and huge amounts of Instagram worthy photo places. There's also the electric train exhibit on the storybook trail and plenty of places for kids to run on the greenspaces. Cheekwood is a place that's not just high brow, but also good to bring the kids.
Tennessee holds a unique place in the passing of the 19th Amendment, being that the state was the 36th to ratify the amendment, making it official. This is the 100th anniversary of the passing of the amendment and the Tennessee State Museum has introduced a large temporary exhibit on the event. Tennessee was also home to several major suffragists such as Carrie Chapman Catt (who is also buried in Nashville), so the museum was obviously going to make as fancy of an exhibit as they could. There are lots of videos streaming and the history of the fight for women's right to vote is laid out in the exhibit. The only slightly disappointing thing is that many of the items on display are facsimile rather than the real document or object (apparently there was only so much the museum could get their hands on to be displayed safely). They're obviously very proud of their exhibit though, as evidenced by the huge portion of the gift shop given over to things to do with the ratification.
There is a lovely little handout that I think most people were missing in the exhibit judging from how many were still there. The museum has provided (for free) a facsimile newspaper that has a snippet of what every county in Tennessee was doing to promote the 19th Amendment and primary source pictures. These were available for the taking, but not many seemed missing. I thought it was a fascinating little free souvenir.
Back to free family places in Murfreesboro, Oakland Park is next to Oakland Mansion a little off Main Street. The park consists of a large field area with a walking track and some shaded short paved trails through a tree walk and a short litle nature trail (that doesn't seem to be used or maintained much since I could barely shove my way through it). Some of the paved trails wind around the mansion grounds and there is a picnic pavilion and playground. While admission to the mansion isn't free, anything outside is, so this is a nice area for kids that doesn't get used as hard as some of the other parks in town.
If you have some free time in the Smokies another hidden gem is Rich Mountain Road, a little used one way gravel road that heads out of Cades Cove about a third of the way around the Cades Cove Loop and goes over Rich Mountain into Townsend. If you're looking for some unspoiled, back in the woods driving, Rich Mountain Road offers a seven mile drive through a remote area. There is one good overlook back into Cades Cove where you can see one of the churches and the whole cove. The rest of the drive is straight through the woods. If you're more into wanting your nature from a car rather than hiking, this is a good drive to experience the backwoods without leaving your car. Most people want to do the whole Cades Cove Loop which is picturesque but often very conjested. This road doesn't compare to the historic stops or photo opportunities of the cove loop, but is worth taking a side trip down if you have some free time.
In the competitive world of mountain coasters in the Smokies, Rocky Top is probably the best bang for your buck. With four hills included in your ride, a 9 minute ride, and a cheaper price (18 dollars with the next ride being half price) I would only assume it's the out of the way location that keeps more people from attending this coaster as opposed to ones like Goats on a Roof. It's located across from Dollywood and is by far the best mountain coaster I've ever ridden. If you're in the Smokies, mountain coasters are something you have to try. You can control the speed of your ride (in my case it means getting up to 30 mph) and smaller kids can ride with their parents.
Another hidden gem in the Smokies is the troll bridge at Elkmont. About 100 feet up Little River Trail to the right there is a small gravel path that leads off the trail. Continue down it a little ways and you will see the troll bridge, part of the Elkmont resort community that used to be in the area in the 20s. The houses in this area have been torn down (further down the road one of the cabin areas remains as a semi-ruin for exploring), but some of the chimneys and the troll bridge remain.
Covered in moss, this is one of the most quaintly picturesque places in the park and well worth some poking around to find it.
We interrupt our tour of free places in Murfreesboro to tour some of the hidden gems in the Smoky Mountains. The first one is probably the most known. Cataract Falls is a 30 foot waterfall within a tenth of a mile behind the park headquarters at Sugarlands. The falls is being more accessed now that the trail from the park gift shop is paved and goes over there, but it's still not one of the more mentioned falls, which is odd considering how easy it is to get to.
|
AuthorA librarian who likes to travel and experience life. CategoriesArchives
June 2022
|