The Carter House is one of the most interesting historic houses from the Civil War. The Battle of Franklin happened in the Carter's front yard with the family hiding in the basement and many items from the war are still there. The Franklin Trust offers an excellent tour of the house with an explanation of the battle. The house is an unusual design for the area and time period but the most interesting part is how much damage from the battle the house and grounds still show. There is a cannon ball hole on the porch and bullet holes everywhere. One of the most unique houses to make it through the war, the Carter House is worth visiting.
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Located 40 minutes west of Columbia, Hohenwald is a nice stop for a day trip. Have lunch at Hank's Family Diner and then explore the Elephant Discovery Center. Hohenwald might be most known for housing the 30,000 acre Elephant Sanctuary where former performing elephants are retired. The sanctuary is in an undisclosed location since the elephants are no longer on display, many of them in bad health or very old. The discovery center is very thorough in explaining the mission of the sanctuary and has "elecams" that are located at the sanctuary and let people see the elephants moving around their homes. Don't expect to see elephants in person, this is a place to explain how the elephants are being allowed to retire in peace. Another stop in Hohenwald is the Lewis County Museum. A small museum explaining the history of the area, particularly Meriwether Lewis, who died under mysterious circumstances near Hohenwald on the Natchez Trace. One of the strangest things in the museum is the Maddox collection, a massive amount of taxidermied animals from the many safaris and hunts of Dan Maddox and his wife. Created at a time when you were allowed to hunt just about anything, the sheer size of the collection is horrifically fascinating. Some of these animals I've never seen for scale and it's shocking to see how big some of the creatures actually are. Also, it's a lot of taxidermy. More taxidermy than I've seen in my life. Most of the animals were killed in the 60s so some of them are showing a little wear and tear, but this had to be one of the most bizarre collections I've ever seen in a small museum.
Visited the James K. Polk House in Columbia. Polk's more permanent residence in Nashville burned down, so the family house in Columbia (which he didn't live in that long) has always been used as his presidential home and museum. Polk was a strange presidential choice, not particularly popular for election until one of his party members got mad about losing the primaries and threw their support behind Polk rather than the front runner out of spite. Polk made four promises as president, all of which he fulfilled so he didn't run for office again. He was a workaholic who wasn't very personable and died three months after he left office. The Polk Home isn't as impressive as many presidential houses and seems to fit a president who has been only moderately remembered. It's a nice tour and there's a Mexican American War exhibit recently on loan there. It's worth a visit.
The Natchez Trace is a great place to enjoy a spring day. In a fairly short stretch of the Trace you can get to two notable waterfalls a short distance from the road, the Tobacco Barn, and the Gordon House. The Gordon House is the home of a ferry operator who lived on the Trace in the early 1800s and has picnic tables and a bathroom on site. A short way down the road is Jackson Falls, a short sharply downhill walk from the parking lot. It was very busy the day we went so caution is warranted. The Tobacco Barn is a short distance away that has some information about tobacco farming in the area. Finally we stopped at Fall Hollow Falls, which is a waterfall you can walk behind and has several waterfalls that feed into it. It was a pleasant way to spend a Sunday on the whole. Recently placed in the shopping mall across from Pigeon Forge Snow, the Tennessee Bible Museum is clearly the passion of one man who really loves the history of the Bible. In the back of his Christian book store, personal tours are offered four times a day and are well worth it. Filled with rare Bibles that the owner is willing to let people hold and get close to and knowledgable about tons of history about the printing and distribution of Bibles, the tour is one of the best I've been on. Strange Bibles, old Bibles, rare Bibles, Bibles from famous people, all types of Bibles are on display (I personally liked the one covered in silver).
At the very beginning of Roaring Fork Nature Trail, Twin Creek Trail is the easy to ignore trail that leads to the Ogle cabin. The trail is fairly easy but is a steady uphill on the way to the cabin. It goes by several research areas that had active research going on when we went by. The trail isn't heavily traveled and is a nice access for those wanting a hike to the cabin. We had lunch at the cabin and came back. The distance is about 4 miles total.
On the way back from Land Between the Lakes, we made a stop at Fort Donelson in Dover. Fort Donelson was one of the first major defeats of the Confederates in the Civil War. After having successfully defended the fort from Union attacks from the river, the Confederates ended up being surrounded from behind on land and eventually surrendering when they tried to make an escape through Union lines and failed. This led to the capture of about 10,000 Confederate soldiers in one of the stranger moments in the war since the surrender was controversial. The general in charge of getting conditions for the surrender expected them to be lenient, but "Unconditional Surrender" Grant made sure that the terms were strict, solidifying his nickname. The park is undergoing some renovation right now and is sort of in an odd shape since the fort is separate and part of the tour is through downtown Dover to the surrender house. Nice quick stop though if you're going through.
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AuthorA librarian doing the travel. Archives
May 2024
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