We left home at 7:30 A.M. and traveled for about 4 hours, stopping for lunch at Logan's Steakhouse.
We arrived at Fort Lauden, Tennessee, where Hubby has an interview with TVA, which should take about an hour.
We left Fort Lauden and rode to Sweetwater & Athens, Tennessee, where we toured the Lost Sea Cave and the Mayfield Ice Cream Plant.
Going into the Lost Sea Cave, we were a group of six led by a highly knowledgeable guide down a corridor that took about an hour.
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| The long corridor |
The cave was gorgeous, and at a constant 58 degrees.
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| Inside Lost Sea Cave |
When we arrived at the bottom of the cave, we all loaded into a glass-bottom boat that took us onto the lake, where blind trout fish were jumping out of the water.
They were blind because they lived in total darkness.
The boat returned to the dock, where everyone disembarked from the ship, and we all started the long journey back up the steep hill to the top of the cave.
Our last stop of the day was a 30-minute tour of Mayfield Dairy Farms to see how milk is processed into Mayfield Ice Cream. We were just in time for the last tour of the day.
The plant is located at 4 Mayfield Lane, Athens, TN 37303 1-800-MAYFIELD
Hubby parked the car at the Mayfield Dairy Plant. We got out of the car and started walking toward the plant, and were greeted by a sign that read:
Welcome to Mayfield Home of the "World's Best Ice Cream", since 1923.
Then we began following a yellow walkway covered with Jersey cow hoofprints.
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| Welcome to Mayfield |
As we approached the building, we saw a mural painted on the wall. In the mural, we saw a huge red roof barn that houses the Jersey cows, a beautiful, lush green pasture, an old farmhouse, and, sitting next to the farmhouse, was an old Model T milk truck.
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| Red Roof Barn for Jersey Cows |
On the side of the yellow milk truck were words painted in jersey brown: Mayfield's Creamery, Pasteurized, Grade A Milk. Below was written Athens, Tenn., Phone 386, and in white were the words: Dept. of Public Welfare, Bureau of Health, City of Athens Milk, Permit 20/202.
Painted behind the yellow milk truck were beautiful Jersey cows grazing in the lush green pasture.
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| Mayfield Creamery Truck |
Once inside the building, we were given tickets to tour the plant, but had to wait for a guide.
Our guide greeted us and then led us through the plant, where we watched the employees process and package Mayfield ice cream.
We saw many flavors of ice cream novelties, many flavors of Sherbets, & light frozen yogurt being processed and packaged.
The packages were beautifully displayed in 5-quart and pint sizes, in many shapes and forms.
We thanked the guide and exited the gift shop, where we could purchase the freshly made ice cream.
On our way out, we stopped to say goodbye to Little Lady, Mayfield's Jersey Cow, who lies in front of the plant.
We had a great trip. Hubby had an interview with TVA, we ate lunch at Logan's Steakhouse, visited The Lost Sea and Mayfield's Dairy Processing plant, and were home about 11:00 P.M.
