By: MJ + PJ
We stopped almost as soon as we entered Kentucky. Not for any other reason than to visit a long time family friend who had moved there earlier in the year from Ohio. It had been a long time between visits, so it was nice to catch up again.
Mammoth Caves north of Nashville was the next stop, but we noticed on the tourist map that Abe Lincoln’s Birthplace was only a few miles off our route. We headed there as we had the benefit of a) being on time, and b) having our destination being in the western half of Kentucky which is a later time zone. Weird, but it worked for us! The birthplace is a national site of sorts, so we punched out what is probably the quickest Junior Ranger badge of the trip (we only had about 75 min to spare). It was worth it as this badge was not plastic, but metal. Special! We quickly explored the main memorial (after which the Washington D.C monument is based) which housed the log cabin (of questionable origin and not his actual cabin) and then hit the road.
The pertinence of getting to Mammoth Caves was that we had reserved a ticket for a cave tour because it was a busy weekend. Most of the tours were fully booked for the Sunday that we arrived. It is best to look at their website ahead of time to be sure you will see something in the summer months – it’s not a national park you can just show up to if you want to see the main attraction. We did our tour and got to see many cave things which AJ found fascinating. The cave network size and reach is mind blowing, as are the stories behind how they were formed, discovered and mapped. The following morning we hit the Mammoth Cave itself for a history tour. This cave has a special place in American History where the rules of society at the time did not apply, the contributions to events were significant, and the impact of the environment changed people’s perspectives. We will leave it at that, for it is a complex story.
After a somewhat hectic time trying to quickly secure a campsite near Nashville once we finally got phone network coverage leaving Mammoth Caves, we paused for a few hours to walk Broadway St in Nashville, TN. Boots. Hats. Leather. Music. Bars. Energy and life. If country music is not your thing, then do not be deterred. It is a home of music, music lovers, and music dreamers to a greater depth than you can imagine. Besides the music there is a lot of history that cannot be ignored.
On a less than thrilling aside: MJ realized that he had lost his credit card somewhere in Kentucky. 😳
If Nashville is not on your list of places to visit, you are cutting yourself short on a genuine and richly storied piece of America. (We type this as the guitarist in Niagara Brewing has serendipitously resumed a set with ‘Walk the Line’ by Johnny Cash.) There is a huge variety of things to experience, more than just to see or to hear. An Australian couple we met leaving the Grand Ole Opry tour summed it up this way “For a city this size, Nashville fights well above it’s weight” – a sentiment we fully agree with.
We stayed at our campground, (Seven Points – about 20 minutes east of Nashville) for two nights. We had two different campsites for this location because each of them were booked in a way that we couldn’t spend 2 nights at just one. We stayed at for one night each. We had not had to switch sites when camping since Banff NP in Canada, and luckily this time we just had to lift and carry our tent across the road. We achieved this by stealth and with luck. Of note, this campground and the sites were on par with what we experienced at the Indiana Lakeshore. The camping reviews are all quite glowing for this location, with good reason.
The Hermitage was our last tourist item in the Nashville area. Besides being on the $20 note, there is a lot to learn and appreciate about the 7th US president. It is a fascinating and real story that reflects, to a large extent, the makings of America. We had a wagon ride, toured the house and grounds, and read many interesting stories and anecdotes. It absolutely dumped down rain as we were about 5 min from leaving, cooling everything off nicely and rinsing our car for the long drive ahead.
We fumbled around with deciding where and when to stop and camp. The reason being that the region we were targeting was under a long bank of rain clouds. Stop too early and the drive the next day would be a burden. Stop in the rain drenched area and deal with a wet tent. We chose the latter.
So we headed to the winding roads near Fontana Lake to a highly rated campsite, and to which a recent reviewer had stated “The campsite owner is the nicest person I have dealt with all year.” That’s a pretty simple but impactful review. The drive time seemed disproportionate to the distance, which seemed odd. As we turned onto one of the last roads of the day, only about 30 miles form camp, we realized we had unwittingly stumbled upon an motoring icon: The Tail of the Dragon. This was the icing on the cake for Tennessee – here was yet another place that added richly to the character of the state.
