The Adventures of Platy and the Gang
Volume 4
Nashville, Tennessee
May 25, 2003

Well, the rain has gone away, sort of. At least it isn't a downpour. We stop and explore the points of interest along the Trace that are every couple of miles. This picture is of the graves of 13 unknown Civil War soldiers. No-one knows who they are or why there were buried next to the Trace. They used to have marble tombstones, but someone stole them. They were replaced by the current ones. Who would steal tombstones???
This picture was taken out of the motorhome as I was crossing the Tombigbee Waterway. We passed under this bridge on our trip from Cincinnati to Daytona on the boat in 1988. Thats the Baysprings Lock and Dam in the distance. We were locked down 90 ft here.
We stayed a few days at the Tishmingo State Park in Mississippi. It was named after the last chief of the Chickasaw Indians when they lived in this area. He signed the treaty that caused them to move to Oklahoma over the "Trail of Tears". The park is located in the foothills section of the Trace. We are out of the swamp area to the south. Less snakes too!!
Judy did have a close encounter with a vicious bear.
There is a pioneer cabin near a lake built by the CCC's in 1939. Judy says the cabin would only need a little work to be able to move-in.


Alabama


One dreary day a truck stopped and the driver said that Judy needed to be more visible to make sure that she didn't get run over. He gave her this vest. I didn't recognize her when I passed her on the road.
This is the bridge over the Tennessee River above Pickwick Dam.

Tennessee

We crossed into Tennessee and moved to the "David Crockett State Park" in Lawrenceburg, Tenn. He lived here for a few years. He was a justice of the peace and owned a few businesses along the river, a powder mill, a grist mill and a distillery. I guess that's why they call him David instead of Davey. A flood in 1821 wiped him out and he moved to western Tennessee where he was elected to Congress.
It's also unique to see horse and buggys parked at Walmart. There is a large population of Amish in the area and they shop there.
We stayed one night at the Meriwether Lewis Memorial on the Trace. You know..like in Lewis and Clark. He was headed to Washington to deliver his journals from the expedition and stayed at an inn on the Trace on Oct 9, 1809. Under mysterious circumstances he is said to have shot himself and was buried here. In 1848 the state of Tennessee erected this monument over his grave.
This is Judy crossing the Double Arch Bridge. She's the white dot to the right of the tree.
It was completed in 1994 and was the first segmentally precast concrete arch bridge in the US. It's 155 feet high.
Judy finished the Natchez Trace on 5/23 at Nashville. A total of 444 miles.
We had to get the RV repaired (bad airbag) in Nashville and will be staying in Lebanon, Tenn. for the weekend before starting for South Dakota.


 
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