2023 July 7, Day trip to Savannah and Shiloh, Tennessee

 We started our day at the Tennessee River Museum in Savannah. 

A true air-breathing MOSASAUR

The City of Florence, a St. Louis and Tennessee River Packet Company boat, was named to honor the fast-growing city at the foot of Muscle Shoals. Upbound near Coffee Landing on February 8, 1913, she got out of control and was lying cross-stream when the towboat Tomahawk, down-bound and loaded with crossties, rammed and sunk her. One member of the crew and a young passenger lost their lives in the accident.

The picture below is the ship of 2 girls.

12-year-old Ruth Tarbet (left) was one of two casualties of the sinking ship. The daughter of a prominent Saltillo merchant, Ruth, and her daughter had boarded the doomed steamer for the short trip to visit relatives in Savannah.

We saw this picture in the Tennessee River Museum in Savannah.

US GRANT HDGS

We stopped to get pictures of the cannons and cannon balls before crossing the Tennessee River and heading to Shiloh. 

HAGY'S CATFISH HOTEL 

We ate fried catfish, coleslaw, hush puppies, and grilled veggies. Ava ate fried chicken fingers and fries. She said that was the best chicken fingers she ever ate and she told our waitress she rated the food at 100. She ate every bite. We took several pictures at the restaurant and near the Tennessee River. 

Garfield's Cabin 

The History of Garfield 
Garfield's Cabin 
If the walls of the cabin could talk, they would reveal the intriguing story of an extraordinary yet wonderful resident for many years, Garfield Luster.
The story begins on a hot summer day around 1920 when Garfield is given a ride by Mr. Narvin Hagy, a local traveling salesman.
During this time, Garfield worked for a family that had mistreated him for many years. He decided to flee from this harsh environment, at which time he met Mr. Norvin Hagy on an old gravel road. 
Mr. Hagy lived on a large farm, bonding the Shiloh National Military. His parents were Frank and Mary Hagy. Frank, who had grown up on the farm, was a young boy of 13 when the "Battle of Shiloh" took place around their home in April 1862.
Garfield eventually planted his roots with the Hagy family and, over the years, developed a close bond with them.
During the many decades he lived with the Hagy family, he helped care for four generations.

He not only cooked but also laundered and did other basic chores around the house, but also helped raise the youngsters... a duty he enjoyed the most. He nurtured the young family of Norvin and Dorothy Hagy, showering upon them devotion and care as if they were his own children. 
But Garfield did more than comfort, console, and, when necessary, scold the children, he could also entertain them as well. 

Many years before the fables of Uncle Remas were popularized by Hollywood, Garfield charmed the young Hagys with his folktales of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox. Another of his talents was acting. He could dress up as a comical character called "Aunt Emiley" and play her so convincingly that the c children momentarily would forget that they were watching Garfield in disguise.


One of Garfield's favorite stories was his explanation of how he got his name. Garfield always chuckled when he told how Garfield was bestowed upon him following the assassination of President Garfield.

Like his namesake, Garfield had experienced hard times: he refused to dwell on the past, only occasionally recalling his unhappy childhood. Garfield was born and raised in the small rural community of Red Bay in North Alabama, probably the son of a former slave.
Garfield was deprived of a formal education, although he was highly intelligent and could have done well in school if he had been given the opportunity.

Even though he was not articulate, his speech was peppered with homespun, folksy southern colloquialism, slow as molasses, dead as a doornail, hot a blue blazes, sharp as a tack, strong as an ox, to quote a few.

King Kong 911 1h
Garfield lived a long and happy life in Shiloh with the Hagy family.
However, he suffered much bereavement at the death of Norvin Hagy in 1960, never fully recovering from the loss of a man who had provided a sanctuary for the greater part of his life. 

Shortly after Mr. Hagy died in 1961, Garfield was diagnosed with prostate cancer. During the last weeks of his life, Norvin Hagy Jr and his wife Teke took Garfield home for a final visit with his relatives, who, at the time, were living in Mississippi.
After his funeral at his church, Saint Rest in Guys, Tennessee, attended by the Hagy Family, Garfield was laid to rest nearby in a small grove of trees. 
The Hagys will always remember Garfield with much love and gratitude as a person who embraced and enriched their lives.

By: the Hagy Family
Dr Don Hagy/Dean Hagy

Next, we stopped at Shiloh Battle Field. The Museum was closed for repairs, but you could watch a film. We did not stay to watch the movie. We heard gunfire and went to check it out.  

Young Park Ranger giving a demonstration. 

There was a young man (Park Ranger)doing a reenactment and was finishing up when we arrived. But he did show Ave the bullet and let her feel the weight of the gun ( I think he said it weighed 10 lbs.) When we stopped at the Tennessee River Museum, there was a gun ball behind glass that you could put your hand through to see if you could pick it up with one hand that weighed 7 lbs. So, she compared the two. 

Park Ranger talking to Ava about being a nurse in the Civil War

We stopped at the Book Museum, where we bought her a book about not being a Nurse in the Civil War. We walked to the National Cemetery, where a young woman was giving a talk about the battles between the North and South at Pittsburg Landing.

Ava had read several pages about the Civil War in her book and was asking several questions about the War.

The Park Ranger finished her talk, but Ava kept asking her questions. It began to sprinkle, so we hurried back to the car. We rode around the park, stopping for a few pictures. 

Shiloh Log Church 

We stopped at the old log cabin church to take a few pictures.

We started for home, and the sky got darker and darker, and it began to rain. The closer we got to Alabama, the harder it rained.

Our last stop was at Wendy's for a Strawberry Frosty. That's what Ava wanted, and I had never tried one. We all ordered a Strawberry Frosty, and it was good. Ava and I played a game all the way home in our Imaginary worlds.

2021 Oct 21-26, Trip to Mooresville, North Carolina with sisters (6 days)

 Day 1: Oct 21, 

Traveled from hwy 43 to hwy 64, taking 207Al, turning into 11TN through Minor Hill to 31A through Pulaski to I-65 from I-65, we took I840 to I-40, stopping in Crossville to eat lunch. We stopped at Cracker Barrel, but they were closed until 10:30 that morning. We stopped at I-Hop but they were short-handed and had a long wait. 

So we walked next door to Stake and Shake they did not have a waiter or waitress. We had to order and pay for our food at a kiosk and then pick up our food at the counter. 

It's not much fun traveling when you cannot find a place to stop and eat. 

I ordered chicken fingers, fries, and a Diet Coke. Bought gas at the Shell Station and put $45.16 on my credit card. 

Once everyone finished eating, we got back on I-40 and headed east into Knoxville. We took the I-40 through Smokey Mountain into North Carolina. We arrived at our destination around supper Paula had baked a shepherd's pie, and we enjoyed a couple of mixed margaritas.

After supper, we sat around and talked, then decided who was going to sleep where. Becky and I slept on the sofa. Teresa slept on the mattress on the floor, and Emmalee slept in the bed. 

Childers Vineyard 

Day 2:Oct 22, 

Everyone got ready and walked upstairs for the
breakfast that Paula and Tonya had prepared. 

Today, we are taking a tour of Childers Vineyard at 12 p.m. We arrived a little early (11:30 a.m.), so we walked around in the gift shop until it was time to take the tour. It was a very large group. When the tour ended, everyone was given a sample of wine. We each decided to buy a bottle of wine instead of paying $20 to sample five different flavors. 

So, we ended up with four bottles of wine, which was cheaper than doing the sampling. I bought a bottle of Muscadine Sweet wine for $11.99 and two chocolates at seventy-nine cents. 

At 5:30 p.m., we rode to Lake Norman to take a dinner cruise from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the Queens Landing Catawba Queen. 

It was a three-course meal beginning with a salad, Chicken Marsala (a lightly coated chicken breast based with marsala) with mushrooms, green beans, roll, & creamed potatoes.

Our dessert was cheesecake. We also ordered a bottle of wine.

Our boat had an upper and lower level and was full. When we finished eating, we walked outside and watched the darkness fall onto the lake. 

We began the cruise as the sun was setting. 

Another eventful day

Emmalee, Barney, and Me

Day 3: Oct. 23, 

Today, we are going to Mount Airy, the birth home of Andy Griffin. 

By the time we arrived, everyone was hungry, so we walked to Barney’s Cafe. But before we went to eat, we stopped at the public restrooms. It was a good hour's ride to Mount Airy. 

It was lunchtime, so we had to wait in line for several minutes. 

Mount Airy History Museum

Finally, seated in the back of the restaurant. I ordered a BLT with onion rings and Diet Coke. I paid for everyone's lunch. 

When we finished eating, we walked to the History Museum. We spent the remainder of the time shopping in the gift shops. We looked for the jail but kept going in circles. We were worn out from all the walking, so we headed back home. 

Later that night, Tonya lit the fire pit, and we had a Weiner and marshmallow roasts. We also made smores. 

Another eventful day

Open-pit Weiner and Smores night 

Day 4:Oct 24, 

Today, we had planned to go to the Renaissance Fair but decided it was going to be too crowded, so we decided to go to Goodwill. 

I think everyone bought something. 

Paula, Amber, and I got lunch at McAlister's and took it to Lake Norman to eat. I ordered a half Reuben and Southwest salad. 

Reuben corn beef, sauerkraut Swiss cheese, Thousand Island dressing, and marble rye bread. 

Southwest salad with chicken, avocado, roasted corn, black beans, mixed greens, tomatoes, cheddar, jack, blue, and corn tortilla strips with chili.

Teresa, Becky, and Emmalee went somewhere else, but they ate there. 

We meet them at the park later. The kids enjoyed wading in Lake Norman. 

We came back home, and Teresa spent the rest of the evening washing clothes, and we helped Paula clean. 

Day 5:Oct 25, 

Today, we went to Publix Grocery, where I bought some banana bread and a drink. We each had an appointment to get a massage at Hand & Stone Massage for one hour. When we finished, we rode to Cracker Barrel for lunch. I ordered grilled chicken and pinto beans with cornbread and Diet Coke. Becky paid for everyone's meal. 

Kendall and I watched movies while everyone else was upstairs talking. We watched Hocus Pocus and Nightmare Before Christmas. They all ate leftovers, but I ate nothing because I was too full from lunch. 

Packed for the trip home tomorrow. 

Lake Norman

Day 6: Oct 26, 

Travel home.  

For Breakfast, I ate sausage and biscuits from McDonald's in Lenior City, TN. We were home before dark. Becky and Emmalee slept most of the way home. Teresa and I talked as she drove.  

Traveling I-40 through the Smoky Mountains 

🏛2016 Wednesday, Oct 5 & Thursday Oct 6, Ark Encounter and Creation Museum

Laura picked me up around 5AM along with Becky, Stella, and Diana.

Laura drove her car to Janet's house in Athens.

We loaded into Janet's van and started our journey to Kentucky.

We traveled north on I-65 stopping at 7:12am in Columbia, TN for gas and breakfast. 

At Burger King, several people ordered a croissant with egg and sausage.  

I don't want the bread so I just got a piece of sausage and a large cup of iced water to drink. 

We loaded back into the van and began our journey to Kentucky. We hit the early morning traffic of Nashville and rode in the HOV "High Occupancy Vehicle" lane so we moved along pretty fast. 
We traveled through Bowling Green, & Lexington Ky  

We gained an hour when we crossed into Eastern Daylight Savings Time. 

We arrived at the creation museum around 1:22PM Eastern Time (we lost an hour).

Janet parked the van near the entrance, and we walked inside(we did not have to stand in line) to purchase our tickets. 

Entrance to the Creation Museum 
2800 Bullittsburg, Chruch Rd Petersburg, Ky 41080

Everyone bought the combo tickets, with the combo tickets we could visit the Creation Museum for 2 days and The Ark Creation for 1 day.  

We did not watch any of the movies so one day was more than enough to view the Creation Museum. 

Everyone split up and walked at their own pace at the museum. 

We saw a glimpse of what it was like for Adam and Eve to live in the Garden of Eden.

We saw the beginning of Noah building the Ark before the flood. 
We saw sculpted dinosaurs and a full-size skeleton of an Allosaurus named Ebenezer. We saw the legends of dragons. 
We walked through the history of the Bible, a natural selection, a museum of the Bible, and the flood. 

When I finished viewing the museum, I walked to Noah's Cafe where I bought a salad and three chicken fingers for $7.50 plus a diet soda for $2.49.

While I was eating Becky and Stella appeared, they were both ready for lunch.

They brought chicken fingers and a salad and joined me. 

In Noah's Cafe, I found a plug to charge my cell phone, for it was getting low after taking several pictures. 

When Becky & Stella finished they went back inside the museum, they wanted to get a piece of the fudge that they had smelled downstairs.

I walked across the floating bridge to the Botanical Gardens

Most of the flowers had quit blooming, and most of the path throughout the garden was shaded from the hot sun. 

The Zoo 

I walked across a Suspension Bridge

💐 🌷One of the Bridges in the Botanical Gardens 

Walking across the Bridge 

There were at least five bridges, & several paths leading to little nooks full of displays. 

I walked across a suspension bridge, passed the mining sluice, and to the petting zoo, where I saw a camel, alpacas, zorse, zonkey, donkeys, wallabies & goats.

I saw Laura and Janet on a lower path, they had already been to the zoo and were walking back to the museum. 

I met Diana as I was leaving the zoo, so she and I walked back to the museum, stopping to take pictures of the waterfalls, the pond full of Lillie pads, and the shadow of clouds and trees that fell into the pond. 

Diana was getting hungry, so we went to Noah's Cafe, where she bought a pizza and salad. 
While Diana was ordering her food, I looked for a table that had a wall plug, for my cell phone. 
So while Diana ate, I charged my cell phone and uploaded pictures. 

Diane met an old friend from Vermont, her friend, and her friend's husband came over to talk to us while Diana finished eating. 
By the time Diane finished eating, everyone was ready to leave and they were waiting in the van for us. 

Welcome to Chili's Florence Yall 

Me and Laura at Chili's 
Chili's 500 Houston Road Florence KY

We stopped at Chili's at 500 Houston Road Florence KY for dinner. Everyone had eaten lunch at Noah's Cafe except Laura and Janet

Stella, Becky, and I ordered water and we split an appetizer of White Spinach Queso, topped with shredded Monterey Jack cheese, house-made pico de gallo, fresh guacamole, queso fresco & chopped cilantro. 
Served with warm tostada chips & fresh salsa.

Janet ordered a bowl of loaded baked potato soup topped with applewood smoked bacon, fresh chopped green onions & 3 cheese blends and she also ordered a Triple Berry Crumble Cake.

The cake had warm blackberries & blueberries baked with rich butter cake topped with streusel and finished with vanilla ice cream, strawberry sauce & cinnamon sugar.
I ate several bites. YUM !!!

Diane ordered a Molten Chocolate Cake.
It was a moist chocolate cake with a melted chocolate center topped with vanilla ice cream & a thin chocolate shell, topped with whipped cream.

Laura ordered a salad.

Our next stop was the Comfort Inn. 

Janet parked the van just outside the front door of Comfort Inn in Dry Ridge KY, where, Stella had booked three rooms.
Three people paid for the rooms and each was reimbursed by the one sharing the room.
We paid for the rooms at 6:36 p.m. 
We unloaded the van and Janet parked the van in the designed parking area.  

Becky and I had room 319 with Laura and Janet adjoining room 317. Stella and Diana's room was just down the hall. 

I met two couples outside the hotel sitting on a bench in front of the Inn when we were getting our luggage out of the van 

They were resting from their day's adventure at the Ark Encounter.

One man said we had fun at the Ark and we did a lot of walking. 

Everyone went to their rooms, took a shower, and dressed for bed. 

When I looked out the window of our room I saw this beautiful sunset. 

Sunset 
Comfort Inn in Dry Ridge KY

Trees were blocking my view so I grabbed my camera, took the elevator downstairs, and walked outside. 

I walked passed a restaurant, a bank, and the Hampton Inn to the highway nearby. 

It was an orange-red sunset just going down.   

I walked back to Comfort Inn, and there was a sign hanging on the door that said, "No Vacancy " I took the elevator to the third level back to my room, where I took a shower and climbed into bed. 

Becky was already in bed, she had not slept much the night before. 

I woke up in the middle of the night thirsty and took the elevator to the first floor to purchase a bottle of water. 
Crawled back into bed and slept until 7:30AM the next morning. 
Becky and I took the elevator downstairs for breakfast. 

We meet Stella, Janet, Diane & Laura on the way back to their rooms, they had already eaten breakfast. 

I ate a banana, strawberry-banana yogurt, two pieces of sausage, and a glass of orange juice for breakfast.

Becky got an apple and some water. 

At 8:30AM everyone was ready to go to the Ark, we were about six miles from the Ark Encounter. 

The Ark is located on 800 acres of land right off I-75 at exit 154 the second busiest north/south interstate in the US. 

Janet parked the van near the ticket counter. Everyone got out of the van and got in line at the ticket counter.  

Our tickets were live tickets and had to be verified.
We were given our tickets back along with a green armband. 

Diane had misplaced her ticket and had to go back to the van to find it. 

We had to wait at the counter until she returned. 

Her ticket was in her wallet all the time. 

We walked to the bus and the bus took us to the Ark Encounter.

We could see the Ark from the 4,000-acre parking lot.  The closer we got to the Ark, the bigger it got, It was ENORMOUS!  

View of the ark from the Parking Lot 
1 Ark Encounter Drive Williamstown, Ky 41097

The ark was 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high. The Ark Encounter was the brainchild of a group called Answers in Genesis with President Ken Ham. The park will bring much-needed revenue to the area. 

Everyone got off the bus and started taking pictures. It was still quite a walk up to the ark.

Janet and I both stopped at the restroom, which was located near the bus stop.  

The rest of our group walked to the ark, which had to be entered from the backside and it was a long walk. 
It was like a theme park with bars, roped off for lines of people. Everyone was already walking up the wooden ramp, we did not have to go through the long roped-off lines. 
We walked up a wooden incline ramp to get to each level, with a guide at each entrance to guide us in the right direction. 
A fourth level is due to be completed before Christmas of this year. 
As we entered the first level we could hear the sounds of many different animals.
We saw cage after cage, where the animals would have lived during the flood. 

We saw stacks and stacks of feed for the animals, rows, and rows of jugs for water. 
We saw several animals different species of animals inside cages, including dinosaurs. 
The second level was signs and posters.
Seven posters, The beginning God created and it were very good. God created a perfect world, perfect marriage, perfect authority, and perfect humanity. 
The fall and man's rebellion corrupt creation and God revives man's hope, First murder, Cain murders Abel.

We saw Noah and his family, we saw how they lived on the ark, how they performed their daily chores, they had no time for folly.
Just walking the length of the ark would be a daily chore for Noah and his family.

There was a section with bible scrolls, and pictures depicting how life might have been during Bible times, Decent into darkness, senseless slaughter abuse of creation, Excessive hedonism, living for pleasure, Boundless brutality, the devastation of war, and the flood. 
The third level showed how Noah and his family lived, their food, their living quarters, their cooking area, and Noah sending out a dove.
We saw the Giants of the Ice Age, The origin of Languages, God's command to be fruitful and multiply, the table of nations, and the line of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. God's judgment so the Lord scattered the people. We saw the superficial biological differences between people in groups. Towers from around the world, Aliens and the pyramids, an Ancient man brilliant or a brute? Developing technology, Technology Intelligence, and Technological explosion, from horse & buggy to a man on the moon in only 70 years. The Great Pyramids, the Enigmatic Stonehenge, Time and Navigation, Noah and his family along with all the animals went into the ark. 
Noahic Covenant 
and Noah built an altar to the Lord, and he took from all the clean animals and clean birds and sacrificed them as a burnt offering on the altar. God smelled the pleasing aroma and said, "I will never again...destroy all of the life which I have made. As long as the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease." Genesis 8:20-22.

Permission to eat meat, Dietary changes, Capital punishment. The last display was about the different types of Bibles, the Tora Scroll, and books written by John Eliot.

After viewing the last display, we descended down the long wooden ramp, which took us down into a gift shop. 
We could have taken an elevator to the bottom. 

Becky, Stella, Laura, & Diane went to Estrelas Restaurant for lunch. 
Estrela will hold about 500 people and is a building near the ark. 
I was not hungry so I walked to the zoo.

By the time I arrived at the Ararat Ridge petting zoo, it had gotten hot. 

I saw a worker sitting down in a chair holding a baby goat, she was petting the goat and he was enjoying it.

I saw Kangaroos, Emus, 3 female ostriches, several donkeys, a Tibetan yak bull, and a camel. 
Near the Ostrich cages, I met an older man who worked with the animals. 

He said, I love working with the Emu, they are fun and they are mild-mannered, but the ostriches are a lot pickier, especially the male ostriches. 
He was telling me about how the Ark Encounter was just the beginning, that there were several phases yet to go. 
Additional future phases at Ark Encounter include a pre-flood walled city, the Tower of Babel, a first-century village, a journey into history from Abraham to the parting of the Red Sea,  a walk-through aviary, an expanded petting zoo, and other attractions that uphold the truth of God's Word. 

Side view of the Ark 

Diane,, Janet, Laura, Stella, and Rebecca in front of the Ark 

We left the park around 11:30AM, loaded onto the bus, and were taken back to the parking area. We loaded into the van and stopped at a gas station just before getting onto I-75. 
We stopped somewhere along I-75 to use the restrooms. 
We rode past the Castle Winery in Versailles, Ky at 12:47PM. We stopped at a service station in Munfordville, KY at 2:41PM to use the restrooms and to buy some snacks.
We were traveling through Nashville at 4:02PM somewhere in Kentucky we changed back to Central Standard Time. 
We stopped at Janet's in Athens where everyone got out of the van and everyone loaded into Laura's car.
We stopped at Arby's in Athens where I bought one beef cheddar,  one large Roast Beef, and two Apple crisps to take home for dinner. 
I was home around 6:30 p.m.

Let us not forget!

Let us not forget!

Thousand fill the asphalt

Their roar shakes the earth

A police car leads the pack

Crowds line the streets

Trail of Tears Ride 
Waving their

Flags

in Remembrance 

Thousand walks the path

Many die! 

Their cries are not heard.

In Waterloo 

Loaded onto boats 

Taken to 

Oklahoma

Where the Indians were loaded onto boats in Waterloo

The Singing River 

Calls!

There is no place 

like

Home! 

Once again tears fall!

Thousand fill the asphalt

Their roar shakes the earth

A police car leads the pack

Crowds line the streets

Waving their

Flags

in Remembrance 

Let us not forget!

The Trail of Tears!

Wooden Indian at Spring Park 

Tears 

Indian Family 

Trail of Tears Memorial