2016 March 4, Friday, Touring the Rippavilla Plantation

I had wanted to visit the Rippavilla Plantation for some time and I had tried to get hubby to stop as we were always traveling somewhere else at the time.
He said someday we will stop.
I had ask my granddaughter to go but she was always too busy.
It was a beautiful day, a bit chilly, but a nice day for an hour and half drive.
I took my time not rushing, just enjoying the blooming daffodils, and tulip trees.
I parked in the parking lot at Rippavilla and I was approached by one of the curators. He said can I help you? I replied yes, I would like to tour the home.
He said you might want to use the restroom, which was located outside the home.
I took my camera in hand and I went into the museum.
The old carriage house now housed the museum and it has many books about the Civil War.
I was told I could take all the pictures that I wanted on the outside of the plantation.
The curator said the tour would not start for another thirty minutes.
I walked outside and all around the home, taking pictures.
There were several trees on the grounds that were way over one hundred years old.

Trees and fountain

Rippavilla Plantation front view

Side view the sunroom was added on my new owner many years later

Back view of Rippavilla 

The Greek Revival Rippavilla was built for Nathaniel and Susan Cheairs' and finished in 1855.
I was taken on a guided tour of the inside of the home.
The minute we walked through the front doors the smell of cinnamon rolls baking in the oven filled the air.
The curator said that the kitchen was used for baking and many weddings where held at the plantation.
The aroma filled every room making me hungry,
Two of the cooks were eating their lunch in the sunroom, that was added by the previous owner.
The doorways widened and the spiral stair case changed to an open stairwell, were some of the changes to the historic home.
Many of the rooms were filled with period furniture and some furniture was from he original Cheairs family.
Upstairs in one of the former bedrooms was memorabilia of the Civil War and information on how the home when the Cheairs family lived in it.
It these walls could talk, what stories could they tell, both union and confederates soldiers walked through the doors of this home.
Susan and Nathaniel's wooden four poster canopy bed, the mattress was covered with a white lace spread, stood as if it was waiting their arrival.

I walked into the room where General Hood ate his breakfast the morning before the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864.
I thanked the curator and we walked back to the museum where I purchased three post cards.
Before I left the plantation I walked back behind the home to the log cabin.
Freedman's Bureau School built 1870 which served as a school for the freed slaves.

Freedman's Bureau School

On my way home I rode through the town of Mount Pleasant.
I drove home stopping at Long John's Silvers for two pieces of fried cod fish in Lawrenceburg.
I did not eat my lunch/dinner until I arrive at home.
I had learned over the years I can go it alone.
Time goes on, time doesn't wait, so make the best of what time you have today!