US Hwy 70: West Tennessee

My drive across West Tennessee today was a few hours along a good but seemingly deserted two-lane. First through the remainder of the green woodlands, then across the beginning of farmland.




Every few miles I passed through small towns that are clearly struggling. I mean no disrespect to these towns, they're facing a tough cascade of issues: Young people are leaving small towns for better opportunities in the cities, the resulting loss of revenue and tax base adds up, and the dearth of new folks moving in ties long-time residents to their unsellable homesteads.



Every once in a while there's a bright spot, like this restaurant I happened past just in time for lunch. Seeing the police cars out front reassured me it would be good, despite being almost empty inside. It was indeed good, and I've added a new t-shirt to my ever-expanding collection of novelties.



I've stopped in the Memphis area, actually just across the river in Arkansas. I've got peeps in the area whom I'm looking forward to visiting, plus Happy has a gig just north of here on Monday. So, I'm going to stay here for a few days and see what's what... Stay tuned!

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US Hwy 70: Birdsong Pearl Farm

From my camper window, I saw these things in the water and wondered what they were. So, I asked!



It turns out I'm camping next to the only freshwater pearl-culturing farm in North America. There's a big room with videos and displays that's usually reserved for tours, but I was given a private viewing!



The things I saw in the water are what they hang the mollusk nets from for 3-5 years while the clever little things make pearls. Depending on the shape of the "seed" that's put into the shell, all different shape pearls are formed. Since the round pearl market is pretty well dominated by Asian farms, this operation specializes in other shapes. They are well known for their quality and variety.



By the time I'd looked at and read every display, I knew more than I ever imagined I would about pearls and how to farm them. Even though she was pretty sure I wasn't in the market for pearls, the nice lady gave me a full showing of finished jewelry. Some of it was very nice!



Camping next to a pearl farm... Who'd have thunk it?... Stay tuned!

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US Hwy 70: SYLO or ATYG?

I got a bit of a lethargic start out of Nashville this morning. No particular reason, just that kind of morning. The road west was nice, but nothing special. So I just rolled along US Hwy 70 West.



I stopped for lunch in a typical small town, after which I was even less energetic. I checked my book for a place in the area to stop at and saw a very small listing for a "marina and campground." For some reason it sounded good. A few minutes down a country road I pulled in, checked in, and found myself parked right next to a very peaceful little lake, with my own private gazebo.



So, is it SYLO (Sometimes You Luck Out) or ATYG (Always Trust Your Gut)? Dunno, but color me happy for the night... Stay tuned!

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US Hwy 70: Country Music, Catfish & Cooter's

As cities go, Nashville is a pretty good one. It's a mid-sized city with a modern, compact downtown core. There are some nice looking neighborhoods around it and the surrounding area is certainly green, lush and very pretty. Without doubt, Nashville is the capital of country music.



Between being a little run down from my big day yesterday, having been here before and learning that spring break is still underway, I didn't have much interest in urban exploration. I did take a drive through the downtown area and found Broadway to be as busy as ever. Music joints and eateries -- all vying for supremacy in the battle for best catfish -- are crammed together and do a good trade.



I'm staying a little way out of town, very near Opryland. Driving around the area, I found this gem and couldn't help but reminisce about the old days when Daisy Duke was the bomb!



I'm going to push west tomorrow, with no idea about what's there or where I'll end up... Stay tuned!

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US Hwy 70 — Detour: Natchez Trace Parkway

You may be wondering why a guy who doesn't like cities or country music is visiting Nashville, TN. Well, the main reason I am here is to scout out a road… And what a road it turned out to be!

The Natchez Trace Parkway runs 444 miles from the southern Appalachian foothills near Nashville to the bluffs of the lower Mississippi River, not far from the Gulf of Mexico. It is in a national park throughout its route, commemorating the most significant early highway of the Old Southwest.



To say it is an impossibly beautiful road does not do it justice. Uninterrupted by so much as a stop sign for its entire length, the smooth two lane roadway is a pleasure to drive. Commercial traffic is prohibited, there are few access point to other roads and the speed limit is 50mph. All of which combine to make it a peaceful, secluded, lightly traveled route. It is simply gorgeous!



The natural travel corridor that became the Natchez Trace dates back many centuries. It bisected the traditional homelands of the Natchez, Chickasaw and Choctaw nations. As the US expanded westward in the late 1700s and early 1800s, growing numbers of travelers tramped the rough trail into a clearly marked path. You can see it here, on the far side of the fence.



There are numerous opportunities to pause along the road, ranging from simple pull-outs to more substantial picnic/camping areas with comfort facilities. Natural and historical points of interest are well designed and maintained, illustrating in some detail the historical significance of the route.

Happy and I stopped at one to take a lovely 2-mile loop walk through the woods, and at another to see a monument commemorating the route's significance in moving troops during the War of 1812.



Not surprisingly, the road is very popular with cyclists, and I strongly encourage any of you two-wheelers to make it a priority ride. Limited access to supplies, facilities and accommodations would require some detailed planning, but I guarantee it would be the ride of your life.



It didn't hurt to drive the route on a beautiful day! While the portion of the road that I drove was set mostly amongst lush green forests, there were numerous places to stop and enjoy sweeping views of the countryside. The entire route crosses four distinct ecosystems, all sure to be stunning.



Since my mission for the day was only to scout the road as a possible future expedition — which it clearly warrants and is now on my list! — I stopped after driving only 60 of the 444 miles. That coincided with the location of one of the larger park facilities on the route, where Ranger Carol provided me with some excellent intel on planning my future exploration and gave Happy some much appreciated pats. It's also where Meriwhether Lewis "died of gunshot wounds" so Happy and I posed by the monument in honor of our fellow explorer.



After a long, overwhelmingly rewarding day scouting this astonishing road, Happy and I high-tailed it on the nearest interstate back to Nashville for the night. Considering the semi-leisurely pace we set for the day, I'm now planning on 10 days to do our future expedition right… Stay tuned!



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US Hwy 70: Into Opryland

The weather has cleared up and I had a nice, easy, pretty drive to the Nashville area and Opryland.





I plan to be in the area for a couple of days. I don't think I'll do much Opryland stuff, but there are a few things more to my liking nearby... Stay tuned!

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US Hwy 70: Cumberland Homesteads

During the Great Depression, part of FDR's "New Deal for America" was the Subsistence Homesteads program, intended to give safe residences to urban poor in small plots of land that would allow them to sustain themselves.

Director, Milburn L. Wilson, defined a "subsistence homestead" as follows:

"A subsistence homestead denotes a house and out buildings located upon a plot of land on which can be grown a large portion of foodstuffs required by the homestead family. It signifies production for home consumption and not for commercial sale. In that it provides for subsistence alone, it carries with it the corollary that cash income must be drawn from some outside source. The central motive of the subsistence homestead program, therefore, is to demonstrate the economic value of a livelihood which combines part-time wage work and part-time gardening or farming."

Several dozen Homesteads communities were established around the country, one of them on the Cumberland Plateau near Crossville, TN. A total of 250 homesteads were built in this area and almost 200 of them still stand today.

A local historical association has fully restored one of the homesteads, made by the homesteaders themselves using local stone and lumber. It is one of twelve basic designs that were built according to the needs of the homesteading families.



The interior is very comfortable and surprisingly spacious. This floor plan includes a living room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom and bedroom on the main floor, with two more bedrooms upstairs. The homes were pre-wired for electricity even though it wasn't locally available at the time, in anticipation of the rural electrification that the TVA would eventually provide.



Many of the homes still belong to the original families, while others have changed hands repeatedly. Driving around the area, it appeared that most of the homes have undergone renovation and/or expansion. In some cases, the updating is minimal and tasteful:



To others the expansion has been significant, but done with an eye for authenticity and aesthetics:



Some poor houses have suffered from pretty rough treatment in their overhaul:

If you're ever in the area, I recommend a few hours for exploration of this very interesting part of American history.

It's best to start at the Homesteads Tower Museum -- originally built to house administrative offices and a 50,000 gallon water tank -- where you can view a very informative video and various displays.

From there it is a short drive to the fully restored home, then you can wander at will in the area to see other homesteads.

The nearby state park was built as part of the original community and is a lovely place to stop for lunch or walk your dog!

There has been great debate about whether the Homesteads program was a successful part of the New Deal, but there can be no doubt that it is a treat to explore!

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US Hwy 70: Crossville, TN

Crossville is one of the larger towns on the Cumberland Plateau. Like many of the towns I travel through, it has two distinctly different aspects: A small, somewhat rundown "historic" district at the crossroads of the "old" US Highway, and a sprawling, somewhat manic "modern" area around the nearby crossroads with the interstate.

The latter has no interest to me at all, consisting of every kind of fast-food joint, strip mall and tacky commercial enterprise. The former doesn't have much to offer, with the exception of the a very tasty little military memorial museum.

I spent a delightful couple of hours with the gentleman pictured here, standing beneath an original "first Confederate flag" that is said to have belonged to Civil War notable Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Throughout our tour of the museum — a rich collection of memorabilia dating from the Civil War through "current conflicts" — we had a lively conversation about all manner of military history.

Though we differed at times about various facts and figures, our views on the causes and effects of "politics by other means" were remarkably well aligned.

Because of Tennessee's especially rich and interesting Civil War history, we spent much of our time delving into.

Here are a few facts of note:

A deeply divided state, Tennessee was the last to leave the Union and the first to return. As many as a fourth of its combatants actually joined the Union forces to fight, and vigilantism between "sides" at home was rampant and violent. It has the second highest number of battlefield sites (behind Virginia) due mainly to its importance as a transportation center and its location on the frontier.

More recently, I was intrigued to learn that Crossville was home to a WWII prisoner of war camp. The museum's excellent collection of the period includes a very nice scale model.

Opened in November 1942, it was one of the first POW camps in the US and eventually held over 1500 German and Italian prisoners, mostly from Rommel's North Africa Corps.

There are many artifacts from camp life and anecdotes about everything from attempted escapes to social interaction with the locals.

When the war was over, a number of the prisoners stayed in the area or returned to it.

I was disappointed to learn that nothing remains of the camp except one chimney, else you can be sure that I would have been all over it!

I'm not exactly sure why, but my favorite artifact is a collection of scrip from the camp.

In particular, you can see some scrip bearing the designation of "internment camp" which reflects the original intention for the facility to house Japanese-American civilians, a role which it never fulfilled.



I found another interesting thing in the area and will post about it soon... Stay tuned!

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US Hwy 70: Cumberland Plateau

It turns out that the Cumberland Plateau which I am on is actually rather noteworthy and interesting!

The Cumberland Plateau lies west and south of the Cumberland Mountains. It combines with the Allegheny Plateau to the northeast (which lies west of the Allegheny Mountains) to form the Appalachian Plateau (which, you guessed it, lies west of the Appalachian Mountains).



What's noteworthy and interesting is that unlike a flat plateau that one might normally think of, the Cumberland Plateau is quite bumpy, hilly, even mountainous. It differs from truly mountainous areas, however, because all of the "peaks" are at basically the same height.

Standing on the hill where my campground is located, I can see numerous other hilltops at more or less eye level. This is because it was once a flat area that has been severely eroded by water runoff, probably from the last ice age. Technically speaking, it is called a dissected plateau.

This is one of those times when I wish I knew a lot more about geology, but here's my layman's summary: Instead of being mountains that have been "pushed up" by tectonic forces (like the Appalachian Mountains to the east), the "mountains" of the Cumberland Plateau have been created by erosion taking away earth around them.

So, what's interesting about that? Well, when is a mountain not a mountain? When is a plateau not a plateau? Like most things, it depends on where you are and how you look at it... Stay tuned!

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US Hwy 70: Tennessee Tornado Threat Transit

Over coffee this morning, I reviewed my route maps and the weather forecasts. This is the first image I saw and my first thought was, "Well, of course!" You know my road trip weather history!



Pulling a trailer, I take weather warning seriously and am mindful about weather risks. That said, I also know that you can't cancel every expedition plan just because someone predicts the chance of bad weather. I had already planned on making a short hop today, and further research showed I was likely to miss the worst of whatever was out there. I decided to go ahead and I'm glad I did.

Among the many advantages (in my opinion) of driving the old US Highways versus the Interstates is that you drive slower, in less traffic, and you're rarely far from a place you can pull off if you need to. That was certainly true today. Although the sky was overcast and occasionally dark to the north, the road was clear, dry and practically empty the entire route west through the Knoxville area.



West of Knoxville, an enjoyably rolling, curving, climbing stint took me up onto what is called the Cumberland Plateau. (I'll try to find out more about the Plateau and report anything interesting.)



Shortly after noon — 1pm now that I'm on CDT — I arrived at a lovely campground under cloudy skies. Setting up my rig is pretty easy — and I'm well rehearsed! — so it was only a few minutes before I was very comfortably settled in.



We had a brief rain which cleared quickly, then Happy and I went for a nice long walk. As I write this, Happy has settled in under the picnic table — she is always under something! — and opens her eyes only when she senses I'm moving around.



The chance of storms is predicted to continue through tomorrow so I'm not making big plans, but the weather is supposed to be beautiful by Wednesday. There are a few things in the area that I want to explore, so… Stay tuned!

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