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 sank her. One member of the crew and a young passenger lost their lives in the accident.

The picture below shows a ship with two 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 take pictures of the cannons and cannonballs 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 those were the best chicken fingers she had ever eaten, andld our waitress she rate d the food 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 cabin walls could talk, they would reveal the intriguing story of Garfield Luster, an extraordinary yet excellent resident for many years.
The story begins on a hot summer day around 1920 when Mr. Narvin Hagy, a local traveling salesman, gives Garfield a ride.
During this time, Garfield worked for a family that had mistreated him for many years. He fled this harsh environment and met Mr. Norvin Hagy on an old gravel road. 
Mr. Hagy lived on a large farm, bonding with the Shiloh National Military. His parents were Frank and Mary Hagy. Frank, who had grown up on the farm, was 13 when the "Battle of Shiloh" took place around their home in April 1862.
Garfield eventually established a close bond with the Hagy family and settled in with them.
During the many decades he lived with the Hagy family, he helped care for four generations.

He not only cooked but also did laundry and performed other basic household chores, and he helped raise the youngsters—a duty he enjoyed the most. He nurtured the young family of Norvin and Dorothy Hagy, showering them with 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. 

Many years before the fables of Uncle Remus 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 children would momentarily forget they were watching Garfield in disguise.


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

Like his namesake, Garfield experienced hard times. He refused to dwthought thehad enough occasion to recall his unhappy childhood. Garfield was born and raised in the small rural community of Red Bay, North Alabama, likely the son of a former slave.
Garfield was deprived of a formal education, although he was brilliant and could have excelled in school if given the opportunity.

Even though he was not articulate, his speech was folksy Southern colloquialismsuthern colmolasses,oor naillue 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 more significant 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 in a small grove of trees. 
The Hagys will always remember Garfield with great love and gratitude as a person who enriched their lives.

By: the Hagy Family
Dr Don Hagy/Dean Hagy

Next, we stopped at Shiloh Battlefield. The museum was closed for repairs, but you could watch a film there. We did not stay to watch the movie. We heard gunfire and went to investigate.  

Young Park Ranger giving a demonstration. 

A young man (Park Ranger) was 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, weighing 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.

🎢1972-1997 Opryland Theme Park

Opryland Theme Park opened June 30,1972, and the park closed December 31,1997 

Our family would visit Opryland Theme Park at least once, and sometimes twice, each year, until the park closed in 1997.

When we first started going to Opryland, the boys were too small to ride the big roller coasters.

We would ride the Flume Zoom, a log ride that seats up to six people, in Hill Country. No one wanted to sit up front because they would get wet.

In Big Hill Country, we would hop aboard the Thunder Switch train and ride to El Paso Station in the American West. 

Sometimes we would take the New Orleans Sky ride, which travels from one side of the park to the other.

We spent most of our time at Opryland Theme Park watching Country Music Shows.

As the kids got older, they would ride the timber topper coaster. In 1979, the coaster was renamed the Rock' n' Roller Coaster. This coaster shot out of the station into a single loop, climbing into a double loop and back to the station with a quick stop. There were always long lines for this ride.

The boys always enjoyed driving the antique cars called the tin Lizzies. The vehicle would hold up to four people, and the boys always wanted to be the driver, so sometimes we would ride in separate cars or ride over and over so each could get a chance to be the driver. The tin Lizzie was on a track, so no matter what kind of driver you were, you were always coming back to the station safely. 

The kids also enjoyed the little deuce, a closed float ride. The lakeside area was home to the kiddy rides and the old millstream, where we would get into a boat that took us around the lake on a track. 

The barnstormer was a biplane sky ride, and it was next to the old millstream. 

At the state fair was the petting zoo, where the kids could pet and feed the animals. 

We also enjoyed the Tennessee Waltz swing, which was my favorite. 

The kids love the bumper cars, where they can run into each other. 

There were endless carnival games for the kids to play, and I always tried to steer them away from this area because it cost more money. 

The Wall-Bash cannonball was one of the kids' favorite coasters. 

It flipped over twice. 

We would always get soaking wet on the Grizzly River Country.

This ride was a large raft that could seat up to 20 people. It went down the raging river, passing several waterfalls, twisting and turning.

Water was coming at you from all sides as you were carried down the raging river. 

In 1984, the Scream'n'Delta' Delta Demon Coaster was added in the New Orleans area. It was an intamin wheeled bobsled coaster. 

In 1989, the Chaos was added in the Grizzly River area, and it was a Vekoma Steel coaster. 

In 1995, the hangman was added in the American West. 

We rode every roller coaster repeatedly, screaming, holding up our hands, in delight with every ride.

There was a building called the Angle Inn that was built on a slant, and as we walked through it, we felt like we were going to tip over.

Throughout the park, people were performing country music.

Along the lake, we would visit Country Music USA, where various country singers would perform for 1 hour. 

Rocking around the clock was the 50's era where songs were performed from the 50's.  

We would visit Roy Acuff's museum, which housed many of his musical instruments. There was a museum for Minnie Pearl, Roy Acuff's theater, the Nashville Network Studio, the WSM Radio Broadcasting booth, and the Grand Ole Opry house.

There was a large boat ride called the General Jackson. There were kennels for your pets, restrooms, and telephones throughout the park.

There were gift shops: Jewels and Gems, The Music Box, Ragin' Cajun Shirt Shop. 

There was Professor Bloodgood's photography, Emporiums, and Hill Country Arts and Crafts Shop. 

There were many food places throughout the park: Chubby's drive-in, Julio Pizza, Zack's frozen yogurt, Mrs. Winery Chicken and biscuits, Grizzly kitchen, Chos Concessions, Seafood Wharf, Café Mardi Gras, La Fudgeries, Country Kettles, Ruby's Country Kitchen, Funnel Cakes, and old-fashioned ice cream. 

Opryland USA 

2802 Opryland Drive

Nashville, Tennessee 37214

615-889-6611

In 1989, the cost to enter Opryland theme park was $18.95; children under 3 were admitted free.

One trip to Opryland was with two of my sisters and my sister's friend, in my sister's Mustang.

It was a wild and crazy ride; I was slung from one side of the car to the other side.

It felt like we were in a racecar or riding a roller coaster. 

We went to Opryland Theme Park with our church group many times.

We took my dad's blue van several times because it could hold several people. 

One year, we went with Nina, Billy, Michelle, Shana, OL, Ann, Chris, and Craig Wallace.

We were all going to Opryland Theme Park and the Nashville Speedway. 

We all stayed at a Nashville motel with an outdoor swimming pool.

Before the Nashville Speedway race, we all enjoyed riding the large roller coaster that was in the park near the speedway.

Before Opryland closed, it had a Christmas theme with ice skating, and it was beautifully decorated for the Holidays.