2024 Aug 6, Day trip to Shiloh, TN and Iuka, MS. Took our granddaughter AVA

Today, we rode up Savannah Highway 20 to Savannah. 

They were working on the road when we crossed into Tennessee. 

They were also spraying along the bridges and gated areas. 

We rode through Savannah and Crump, turning left towards Shiloh. 

We arrived At the Shiloh Visitor Center National Park. 

Took a few pictures outside.

Ava at the Shiloh Visitor Center

A park ranger greeted us. 

She told us about the museum and said there were some unfinished displays. 

Several were interactive displays. 

She also gave us directions to the Indian mounds. 

AVA Sitting in front of Hagy's Restaurant 

We stopped at Hagy's Restaurant for lunch. 

Hubby and I split a catfish fillet meal.

He ate the salad, baked potato, and a piece of catfish.

I ate a piece of catfish and several hush puppies. 

Ava ordered chicken fingers and fries. 

She ate all her fries and a couple of bites of her chicken. 

We got a Togo plate. 

We rode to Pickwick Dam.

Crossing the Tennessee River, we rode through the park at Pickwick. 

We took the highway going to Iuka, Mississippi. 

A road I had never been on before. 

Lots of marines and boats. 

We rode through the downtown area of Iuka. 

We stopped to see the retired red caboose and red fire truck. 

AVA on the back of old fire truck Iuka, MS

We stopped at Lowe's to get some lumber, but their cutting machine was broken. 

We rode to Home Depot, where Hubby bought lumber and pavers, and I purchased three succulent plants. 

Andy met us at Home Depot, and we dropped off Ava.

I came home, my Hubby painted the wood, and I watered my plants.

I loaded my pictures. 

2024 Saturday, July 27, Day trip to Granville, TN "Tennessee's Mayberry"

We began our journey in Pulaski, stopping at Walmart to pick up a few items and at Murphy to fill up with fuel. 

We continued on Hwy 64 to Fayetteville, then took 50 through Lynchburg and Tullahoma, and finally took 55 to Manchester and McMinnville. 

Hwy 56 to Smithville to I-40 to Hwy 70 is a very curved road to 53 

We drove from I-40 to 840, then to I-65, to Saturn Parkway, to 412, and finally to 31 South, before heading home on US-43 South.

Welcome to Granville, Tennessee 

My husband and I rode to Granville, TN, a historic town on the Cumberland River. 

Tennessee Mayberry Town. We bought tickets at $7 each to visit the Museum of Granville. 

We first stopped at the Farm to Your Table Agriculture Museum. We saw farm equipment, milk trucks, tractors, a mural, and signs throughout the building telling the history of farming and Funeral Services in Granville. 

T.B. Sutton Store 

Next, we stopped at the Sutton General Store, a two-story building with fixtures from the early 20th century. 

They had ordered grilled hamburgers left over from the day before.

Whistle Stop Saloon

Next, we stopped at the Whistle Stop Saloon, where we learned that this building and area were used as offices by Dr. Wm B. Holmes, John B. Ragland used it as a Saloon during the Steamboat days, and Davis Huff used it as a General Store. CW and Martha Ramsey arrived at their home, and SW and Dorothy Powell placed a trailer on the property. Randall and Peggy Clemons purchased the property and constructed a building that was similar to the original one. 

We visited a three-part museum highlighting the Andy Griffith Show, which featured characters such as Andy, Barney, Aunt Bee, Opie, Otis, Floyd, Gomer, Goober, and others. 

I love Lucy 

Andy is getting his hair cut by Floyd. 

A part of that museum was dedicated to The I Love Lucy Show, featuring Lucy, Desi Arnaz, Ethel, and Fred Mertz with Little Ricky. 

A third section was dedicated to Whiskey Decanter, a collection donated by several people. 

The Barretts of Watertown collection of over 2,000 Jim Beam decanters.

I Love Lucy, the Andy Griffith Show, and the Jim Beam Whiskey Museums

Gussie and Joe Miller of Cookville donated 3,000 decanters, including the Elvis Presley collection, which depicts the "King." 

We also visited the Sutton Homestead, Granville Museum, the Daniel Barber Shop and Post Office, Clemons Car Museum, and the Tennessee Quilt and Textile Museum. 

Lastly, we visited the Historic Granville Pioneer Village, which is full of museums and crafts. 

Pioneer Village

Sutton Service Station, Quilt benches at Pruett Stages, and Webster's barn that showcased farm equipment.

We learned how they grind corn into cornmeal at Ellen Grist Mill. 

We saw a chicken house, an outhouse, and a smokehouse. 

We saw the 1820-built Williamson Pioneer Cabin and walked through Pauline Carter Johnson Cottage Garden, where Tobacco, broom corn, and other vegetables were growing. 

It was beautiful, but it got increasingly hot by the afternoon. We ran into rain on the way home. 

2024 July 9, 22, 24 Day trips to Pulaski, Lynnville, TN., Corinth, MS., & Danville, Hartsell, AL., with Ava

2024 July 9, 2024 Tuesdays Day Trip to Pulaski and Lynnville, TN

 Today, we rode to Pulaski to visit the Giles County Memorial Interpretive Center and the Trail of Tears Museum.

Ava and the Trail of Tears Statue

Many of the park benches and markers were in much need of repairs. 

We saw a golden rain tree, a Statue, and several Markers. 

We were getting ready to leave when we saw pictures of the Trail of Tears in the tunnel under the highway.

Ava and I decided to walk through the tunnel. 

Students created The Bench Project, "Wilma Pearl Mankiller," "The Children the Oxen," and the Trail of Tears, as well as several paintings. 

It was a treasure trove of local artists' work about the Trail of Tears. 

Ava and the  1927 Baldwin Steam Locomotive

We next rode to the Town of Lynnville, TN. 

We visited the Train Depot Museum, where we saw a miniature train engine, signal lights, several signs about the train, a train conductor, and a ticket counter.  

Outside, we walked into the 1927 Baldwin Steam Locomotive and the 1920s Passenger Coach 2587. The red caboose was locked, so we did not go inside. 

Along the hallway were signs about the Milky Way Farm and a picture of Frank C. Mars, the owner and maker of Mars candy. 

We took several pictures outside, one alongside the LRR Lynnville Railroad Museum sign and the Giles County Turkey. 

Ava at Soda Pop Junction

We walked across the road to Soda Pop Junction.

Outside was an orange and white truck with a sign that read "Soda Pop Junction Good Ol' Soda Pop."

We were greeted upon entering. 

I ordered a Chili's dog, and Ava ordered a hamburger and fries. She ate her fries but not her hamburger. Hubby ate her hamburger and most of my chili dog.  

Ava ordered an orange crushed soda in a bottle. 

I told our waitress that Ava loves to visit museums, and she said, 'Ava, I have something to show you.' 

She took a quarter out of the register, and we walked to the back of the restaurant. 

She placed a quarter in the slot, and a piano and a hand-held organ began to play.  

We thanked her and began our journey to Lawrenceburg. 

We had to return to Kroger's to pick up the salmon and cantaloupe I had left at the store the day before. 

It began to rain as we started our journey home.

July 22, 2024, Monday, Microwave Dave 

Today, we visited the Florence Library to see Microwave Dave and create musical instruments out of trash.

Ava made a guitar out of a shoe box.

And a water bottle with seeds.

The kids, as well as the adults, had a good time.

Ava put her finger in the alligator's mouth. 

Ava wanted ice cream, and we were going to Tuscumbia. I remembered that the Palace had good ice cream. 

Ava ordered Smokey Mountain Fudge.

Ava is enjoying her Smoky Mountain Fudge Ice cream in a cone. 

I ordered pecan praline. 

Then we went to the Helen Keller Library to listen to "Book It with Jazz" by the Jazz Allstars.

Afterward, we went to Champy's for lunch. 

Hubby ordered a salad, and we shared a catfish meal.

Ava ordered a chicken fingers meal.

We had leftovers.

Microwave Dave went through the cycle of Blues Music from the days of slavery. 

People make music with a rhythm to help them pass the hard times. 

Then, the clicking and clacking of the railroad era, the sounds of the wheels on the train as it went down the tracks. 

The free slaves moved to the city with a different rhythm. 

The time the people were paid to play music. 

He asked if any of the kids knew about fractions. 

Then, he began telling us how the beats were fractions. 

The kids blew their paper horns, and they beat on their coffee cans for drums. 

They picked the rubber band strings on their shoebox guitar. 

And shook their water bottles filled with bird seeds

In rhythm with Microwave Dave's music.

On Tuesday, we rode to Rogersville Library to see Microwave Dave.

Ava made a drum from an oatmeal box, a paper horn, and a shaker from a Mt Dew bottle. 

We sang along and played our handmade instruments with Microwave Dave.

We learned about the history of jazz. 

Everyone had a good time. 

July 24, Wednesday, Day Trip to Corinth, MS

Today, we rode to Corinth, MS.

We stopped at the Visitor Center and were given information about sites in Corinth, MS.

We walked to the Corinth Train Depot and Crossroads Museum, which was closed. 

I, too, have pictures of the 1924 American LaFrance Fire Truck and a sign of Caboose #2994, a Civil War-era Corinth, big guns, and the Miniature Hurlbut Amusement Equipment Co. locomotive No. 1009. 

We stopped at the New Coca-Cola Museum. Outside was a carved giant wooden Coca-Cola bottle.

There was a buzzer on the door, which, when pressed, released a locked door that allowed entry to a one-room museum. 

The museum featured over 1,000 Coca-Cola artifacts, including a truck, soda fountain, Coca-Cola boxes, bottles, signs, and toys.

Ava at the Coca-Cola Museum 

In front of the museum sat a Coca-Cola drink machine with small glass bottles filled with Coke products you could purchase. 

That took me back to when a Coke cost 6 to 10 cents, not a dollar or more.  

We stopped at the 15,000-square-foot Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center Museum, which features interactive exhibits and a memorial Garden for the 1862 battles of Shiloh and Corinth.

Ava at the Interpretive Center 

We stopped at the Corinth's Highway Hospitality Building, and I said the Crossroads Museum was closed. 

The curator tried to call the museum, but no answer. She said it should be open, so we returned to the museum.

It was open, and the curator said her dog was sick, and she had taken it to the vet. 

We paid the admission fee and walked through the museum.

We enjoyed the miniature running train display. 

It was now lunchtime, and everyone was ready for lunch. Borroum's Drugs Store Diner was just a few blocks from the Crossroads Museum.

The dinner was hectic. We finally found a table where people had just finished eating lunch, with their dishes still on the table. 

Our waitress finally cleaned the table and took our order. 

 I ordered a hamburger with chips, Ava ordered chicken nuggets and fries, and Hubby ordered a double cheeseburger with onion rings. 

This was our last stop before starting for home. 

It rained a little on us, but not much, and it was evident by the time we left. It was still pretty wet when we got home, but it soon cleared off.

We had a great time, and the area wasn't overcrowded with people, which is a vast improvement over fighting a crowd.

Ava had to get her picture taken with a slug at the park near the Visitor Center. 

Ava and the Slugg

Last week was their slug Festival, with slugs all around town.

Monday, July 29, Day trip to Danville and Hartselle, AL

Today, we went to town to pay our utility bills and get our B12 shots.

Ava and the Jesse Owens statue

Ava and Jesse Owens 26 26-foot Long Jump 

Then we rode to Danville by way of US 72 East towards Cullman.

We stopped at the Jesse Owens Museum. 

We watched the 1936 Olympics there and saw how Jesse Owens won the gold medal before World War II. 

Before Hitler killed all the Jewish people. 

It was a very moving story, and it helped me understand more about the Olympics at that time. 

We walked outside, where we saw a statue of Jesse Owens, a replica of his birth home, and a replica of the long jump from which Jesse set a world record at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. 

Ava and Sequoya statue 

We stopped at the Oakville Indian Museum.

We saw arrowheads and other artifacts from the Mississippian, Archaic, Paleo, and Woodland Periods of American Indians. 

We saw a wooden carving of Sequoyah, a mixed-blood Cherokee who developed an alphabet known as a syllabary. 

Ava was not impressed, for she rushed through it.

We bought her a bag of colorful rocks and a mood ring in the gift shop. 

Ava and the Blues Brothers

We stopped for lunch at Oh'Bryan's in Hartselle. 

Ava and I ordered the special for eight dollars, and everything was included. 

Ava ordered fried chicken fingers with fries and a doctor's pepper.

I ordered grilled chicken fingers and a sweet potato with iced tea 

My husband ordered a salad, steak, and potato toast, and iced tea. 

We filled up with gas at Murphy.

And we stopped at Kroger's for sodas.

We were home by 3:30.