2023 August 27-31, Trip to Hollister, Point Lookout, Ridgedale, Branson, MO., Searcy, Arkansas, Dyersburg, TN (5 Days)

Top of the Rock Lost Canyon Cave Ridgedale Mo

 Sunday, August 27, Day 1: 

Today, we left the house around 6:30, arrived at the Robertsons, loaded their luggage into our car, and began our journey to Branson.

Our first stop was for breakfast at Jack in Tuscumbia, Al.

I ordered gravy with sausage biscuits and a soda. 

After we finished breakfast, we began our journey west on Highway 72 toward Iuka, MS.

We traveled through several small towns, entering the interstate in Memphis. 

We crossed the Mississippi River into West Memphis, Arkansas, stopping at the Welcome Center.

Our next stop was to meet friends at Western Sizzlin Searcy, Arkansas.

There, we enjoyed a lovely lunch while enjoying the company of old friends and making new friends.

After lunch, we headed north toward Missouri, stopping at South Mountain Scenic Overlook, where you can see Bryan Mountain Elevation 1760, McCutcheon Gap Snowball, Bear Creek, Searcy County Airport, Point Peter Elevation 2040, Round Mts., Buffalo National River, Boat Mountain Elevation 2221 Marshall, St Joe and Harrison, Arkansas. 

It's a great place to stop and take pictures. 

We arrived at Paradise Point Resort in Hollister, MO, checked into room 9404, and took the elevator up to our room. We had three bedrooms, a kitchen, three bathrooms, a living room, and a pool room with a view of the White River. 

We unpacked and headed outside, where we walked alongside the swimming pool, hot tub, and floating pool. 

We were all too full to eat dinner, so we just snacked.

Arkansas Welcome Center 

Standing near the Swimming Pool 

Monday, August 28, Day 2: 

We ate breakfast at the Hungry Hunter Restaurant, where they serve you very large portions of food. 

The pancakes would cover a very large plate. The bread from which they made French toast was homemade and served with two very large slices of bread. 

Eggs, Ham, and hash rounds were also served. Great place for a hungry man. I could not eat all of my French toast. 

In Ridgeland, Missouri, we took a golf cart that holds four down into the canyon, which is a 2 1/2 miles-long tour of caves and waterfalls. There were several places where we would park the golf cart and look around. 

Inside the cave was a snack bar where you could get snacks and a drink. 

After we finished the tour, we took the shuttle to the Top of the Rock, where we toured the  Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum, which was filled with artifacts back to the Woolly Mammoth. 

After the museum tour, we were told to come back around 7:30-8PM for the sunset, playing of bagpipes and cannon firing. 

We rode to the historic part of Branson, stopping at B’s Ice Cream Parlor for a strawberry cheesecake waffle Cone. We rode to Bass Pro Shop and then took a short trolley ride around the historic part of Branson.  

We walked along the River Landing, where we saw several new restaurants, fountains, and pipes that shot out fire. 

We ate lunch at World Famous White River Fish House, where I ordered 3 shrimp tacos. I could not eat all of them, so I just ate the shrimp.
We shopped at Elks but didn’t buy anything. 

We rode back to Top of the Rock to see the sunset, tour the old church, and watch the canon being fired.

We came back to the condo, showered, and went to bed. 

Sunset at the top of the Rock Ridgedale, MO 

French Toast 

Tuesday, August 29, Day 3: 

We ate a cinnamon roll for breakfast. 

We rode to College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, MO.,  where we toured the War Memorial at the Keeter Center. 

We ate lunch at Dobyn’s Dining Room at the Keeter Center. I ordered steak soup with rolled and butter. 

We toured the East End Mill, where I bought a handcrafted basket. 

Next, we toured the Ralph Foster Museum, which housed three levels of artifacts. 

Which included musical talents from Missouri, musical instruments, Quilts, dishes, dolls, circus, cars, and animals (taxidermy) such as Polar bears, Grizzly Bears, Lions, tigers, buffalo, elk, deer, etc. 

It included butterflies and birds of every kind and just so much information in this one building. 

At 7:30, we boarded the Branson Belle for a dinner cruise and show.

The show was great it started a little slow but finished with a bang.

It was another long day, so off to bed we go.

Keefer Center at College of the Ozarks
Point Lookout, Mo  

This little fellow will greet you with a loud growl!

Wednesday, August 30, Day 4

I ate a bowl of instant oatmeal for breakfast, and off we went.

Today, we are going to Silver Dollar City Branson, MO., for a fun-filled day of shows.

We will also enjoy a train ride into the woods only to be stopped by train robbers.

Then we will enjoy a hamburger and onion rings at the Lumber Camp Restaurant.

Today was the hottest day yet, and after all that walking, we were ready to leave the park. 

Train Robbers 

On our way back to the condo, we stopped at Little Hacienda in Branson, MO, where I enjoyed a Margarita on the rocks. I also ordered Churro with Ice Cream. 

Hubby ordered a burrito supreme. 

We were all very full when we left the restaurant.

I took a shower and went straight to bed, and did not wake up until 2AM. Everyone was asleep, so I took out my journal and wrote for about an hour and a half, then went back to bed.

Thursday, August 31, Day 5

The last day of the month and our last day in Branson, MO.

Packed our bags, loaded the car, and were on our way around 6:30-7AM.

We stopped to fill up with gas in Black Rock, Arkansas. 

We didn’t stop for lunch until we reached Dyersburg, Tennessee

We stopped at The Bus Stop Restaurant, where I enjoyed a half turkey sandwich with pasta, which was very good. We sat outside, for it was a very nice, excellent day.

We dropped our friends off and stopped at the car wash to wash off all the bugs that we had accumulated on the highway.

We were home by 5PM.

We had a great trip, but glad to be home in my own bed.

Our next trip is a cruise unless we decide to take a day trip or maybe an overnight trip to the beach. 

2017 Aug 22, Day Trip to Davey Crockett Park Lawrenceburg, Tennessee

Started the morning with a free Cheese, Egg, and Chicken Bagel (breakfast) from Chick-fil-A.
We stopped at Lowes, where we checked out their Halloween displays and bought some bird feed.

We stopped to get our pool water checked at CE Pools and to pick up some more chemicals.
We stopped at Helping Hands for our weekly B-12 shots.
We ate lunch at Long John Silver's in Lawrenceburg, and then we rode to Davey Crocket Park.

We rode through the campgrounds, across the covered bridge, along with the river banks, and checked out the cabins.

Covered Bridge

Creek and Swimming Hole

We stopped to take pictures of the markers along the way.

They Passed This Way

Long time we travel on the way to new land… Women's cry…Children Cry, and men cry…but they say nothing and just put their heads down and keep on going toward the west. Many days passed, and people died very.

Recollection of a survivor of the Trail of Tears

Federal Indian Removal Policy

After the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the United States government forced thousands of American Indians to leave their ancestral lands in the Southeast for new homes in the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). 

They traveled by existing roads and by river. Many groups left in the fall, hoping to avoid the disease and heat of summer travel, and instead faced treacherous winter weather. Thousands died during the ordeal — remembered today as the Trail of Tears.

Despite the hardships of the journey, the people of the five tribes of the Southeast established new lives in the West. They stand now as successful sovereign nations, proudly preserving cultural traditions while adapting to the changes of the 21st century.

In the 1830s, the federal government forcibly removed approximately 15,000 Cherokee, 21,000 Muskogee (Creek), 9,000 Choctaw, 6,000 Chickasaw, and 4,000 Seminole from their ancestral homes in the southeastern United States.

Federal Indian removal policy aroused fierce and bitter debate. Supporters of the policy claimed it was a benevolent action to save the tribes east of the Mississippi River from being overwhelmed and lost in the onslaught of an expanding American population. 

Opponents described its inhumanity and the tragic consequences it would have for American Indians. One thing was certain: removal freed millions of acres of desired Indian lands for use by white settlers. 

Nearly 1,000 Cherokee died during the journey westward, and up to 4,000 died as a result of the forced removal process. Remember those who traveled the Trail of Tears by walking in their footsteps.

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail 

The National Park Service works with partners to administer the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. By helping to preserve historic sites and trail segments and developing areas for public use, the story of the forced removal of the Cherokee people and the American Indian tribes is remembered and told. 

You can visit sites along the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. 

Learn more at www.nps.gov/trte

David Crockett State Park 

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail National Park Service

National Park Foundation MTSU Center for Historic Preservation

Retracing the Trail of Tears 

Thank you for visiting David Crockett State Park and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. We hope you enjoy your outdoor experience. Please be respectful of other park visitors as well as the wildlife that you might encounter along the trail. 

The Bell Route

On October 11, 1838, 660 Cherokee led by John Adair Bell left Fort Cass (present-day Charleston, Tennessee) to begin an arduous 700-mile journey. Weak and miserable from being in removal camps, the people in the Bell detachment that passed through here banded together, staying close to a family member for the long trek.

Walk-in Their Footsteps

You are invited to walk along the same path the Cherokee traveled on the Trail of Tears in 1838. It was a cold and wet November as they trudged by, not even halfway to their destination in Indian Territory.

The Cherokee that passed through here left their home in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee with 56 wagons and 318 horses. 

The journey had already been a trying one, as they were faced with terrible road conditions that slowed their progress. Imagine how the numbers of people and wagons would have mired an already muddy road.

The Bell detachment that traveled through here lost 23 of its members along the route due to exhaustion and illness before the group of weary travelers arrived in Evansville, Arkansas, on January 7, 1839.

A Safe Visit 

The Trail of Tears interpretive retracement trail is just over 2,5 miles long one way. As you hike the trail, you will see signs indicating when you are on the original historic route.

For a safe and enjoyable visit, please:

.Pay attention to trail signs

.Stay on the trail

.Share you're hiking plans with friends or family

.Wear appropriate shoes and clothes for hiking

.Be aware of ticks, poison ivy, and snakes

.Carry a bottle of water and snacks

.Help keep the trail litter-free and leave no trace

Please help preserve the traces of the past for future generations.

Legend

Main Road through Park

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail - Retracement Trail

Shoals Creek Trail/Waterfall Trail

Connector Trails

Bike Trail

Fitness Trail 

Cabin Trail

Wayside Exhibit 

We stopped at the wild-bird sanctuary where we saw the Red-tail hawk, Red-shoulder Hawk, Two barn Owls, The Great Horned Owl, and the Barred Owl.

The museum was closed it is only open on weekends.

Red-Tailed Hawk

Red-tailed hawks are probably the most common hawk in North America. If you’ve got sharp eyes, you’ll see several individuals on almost any long car ride, anywhere. Red-tailed Hawks are often seen soaring above open fields, gracefully turning circles on their broad, rounded wings.

Other times, you’ll see them atop telephone poles, eyes fixed on the ground to catch the movements of a vole or rabbit, or simply waiting out the cold weather before climbing a thermal updraft into the sky.

The Red-tailed Hawk has a thrilling, raspy scream that sounds exactly like a raptor should sound. At least, that’s what Hollywood directors seem to think.

Whenever a hawk or eagle appears onscreen, no matter what species, the shrill cry in movies is almost always a Red-tailed Hawk. 

Male 

Length 18-22 in

Wingspan 45-52 in

Weight 1 lb. 9oz-2 lb. 14 oz

Female 

Length 20-26 in

Wingspan 45-52 in

Weight 1 lb. 14 oz - 3 lb. 4 oz

David Crocket State Park, Tennessee 

Red Shoulder Hawk

Barn Owls

Great Horned Owl

Crockett Museum & Bird Aviaries 

Red Tail Hawk

Welcome to David Crocket State Park 

Lawrenceburg, Tennessee

In the summer of 1817, just before his 31st birthday, David Crockett entered Lawrence County with his second wife Elizabeth (his first wife, Polly, died in 1815), her two children from her first husband (James Patton, who died in the Creek Indian War in late 1813), David’s three young children from his first marriage, plus an infant boy he and Elizabeth had together. Before David and his family would leave Lawrence County five years later, two more Crockett girls would enter the backcountry world of Tennessee. Although it was a time of great danger and uncertainty, this growing frontier clan quickly and decisively made an immediate impact on Lawrence County. Just the same, the events taking place in Lawrence Count would change David Crockett and his family forever.

The man whose personality and unique humor would capture the imagination of an entire nation conditioned his winning ways not by hunting wild game or fighting Indians but through his tenure of public service, and that started here in Lawrenceburg. When David Crockett first arrived in this area, he could barely read or write with any consistency, and he was not a successful farmer. He was also fortunate just to be alive. Although he had survived the brutal Indian Wars and the loss of his wife, he had also recently suffered two severe bouts of malaria. One was so severe that his own friends reported him dead for nearly two weeks.

But despite his setbacks, what made David Crockett entirely different from most men of his time was a fierce determination that matched his impressive physical stature along with a sense of humor that worked in tandem with a real desire to help those less fortunate.

Politics finds Crockett

When the Crockett family traveled the eighty miles from Bean Creek to “The head of Shoals Creek” near Lawrenceburg in 1817, a winning environment awaited them. 

“We remained here…without any law at all, and so many bad characters began to flock in upon us that we found it necessary to set up a sort of temporary government of our own.”

In four and a half short years, Crockett became a renaissance man of sorts for Lawrence County. Not only did he provide for his growing family, but he was also appointed or elected to a series of political positions, including Justice of the Peace, town commissioner, colonel/commandant of the 57th Regiment of Militia, and member of the Tennessee state legislature. While constantly engaged with local and state politics, he and his wife also created, built, and operated a small industrial complex consisting of a gristmill, gunpowder, factory, and a distillery until a flash flood destroyed it. Unable to financially recover from this natural disaster, David and his family reluctantly moved to Gibson County (near Rutherford) in 1822 to start their news anew.

“I became so well pleased with the country about there that I resolved to settle in it. And so moved and settled me down at the head of Shoals Creek.”

We left Davey Crockett Park and rode down the Natchez Trace to the Welcome Center in Collinwood.

We were kindly greeted by the hostess, ate two sugar cookies, and drank some fresh water. I took several pictures inside and picked up several brochures.

Welcome Center Collinwood

Welcome Center Collinwood

The quilt hanging at the Welcome Center Collinwood

The quilt hanging at the Welcome Center Collinwood

We returned to  Natchez Trace and followed it down to Chislom Highway.