2024 July 9, 2024 Tuesdays Day Trip to Pulaski and Lynnville, TN
Today, we rode to Pulaski to the Giles County Memorial Interpretive Center Trail of Tears Museum.
 |
| Ava and Trail of Tears Statue |
Many of the park marks and benches were in much need of repairs.
We saw a golden raintree, a Statue, and several Markers.
We were getting ready to leave when we saw pictures of the Trail of Tears in the tunnel under the highway.
Ava and I decided to walk through the tunnel.
Students created The Bench Project, Wilma Pearl Mankiller, The Children the Oxen, the Trail of Tears, and several paintings.
It was a treasure of local artists about the Trail of Tears.
 |
| Ava and the 1927 Baldwin Steam Locomotive |
We next rode to the Town of Lynnville, TN.
We visited the Train Depot Museum, where we saw a miniature train engine, signal lights, several signs about the train, a train conductor, and a ticket counter.
Outside, we walked inside the 1927 Baldwin Steam Locomotive, the 1920s Passenger Coach 2587. The red caboose was locked, so we did not go inside.
Along the hallway were signs about the Milky Way Farm and a picture of Frank C. Mars, the owner and maker of Mars candy.
We took several pictures outside, one alongside the LRR Lynnville Railroad Museum sign and the Giles County Turkey.
 |
| Ava at Soda Pop Junction |
We walked across the road to Soda Pop Junction.
Outside was an orange and white truck with a sign that read "Soda Pop Junction Good Ol' Soda Pop."
We were greeted when we walked inside.
I ordered a Chili's dog, and Ava ordered a hamburger and fries. She ate her fries but not her hamburger. Hubby ate her hamburger and most of my chili dog.
Ava ordered an orange crushed soda in a bottle.
I told our waitress that Ave loves to visit museums, and she said AVA, I have something to show you.
She took a quarter out of the register, and we walked to the back of the restaurant.
She placed a quarter in the slot, and a piano and a hand-held organ began to play.
We thanked her and began our journey to Lawrenceburg.
We had to return to Krogers to pick up the salmon and cantaloupe I had left at the store the day before.
It began to rain as we started our journey home.
July 22, 2024, Monday Microwave Dave
Today, we went to Florence Library to see Microwave Dave and to make musical instruments out of trash.
Ava made a guitar out of a shoe box.
And a water bottle with seeds.
The kids, as well as the adults, had a good time.
 |
| Ava put her finger in the alligator's mouth. |
Ava wanted ice cream, and we were going to Tuscumbia. I remembered that the Palace had good ice cream.
Ava ordered Smokey Mountain Fudge.
 |
| Ava enjoying her Smokey Mountain Fudge Ice cream in a cone. |
I ordered pecan praline.
Then we went to Helen Keller Library to listen to Book It with Jazz the Jazz Allstars.
Afterward, we went to Champy's for lunch.
Hubby ordered a salad, and we shared a catfish meal.
Ava ordered a chicken fingers meal.
We had leftovers.
Microwave Dave went through the cycle of Blues Music From the days of slavery.
People make music with a rhythm to help them pass the hard times.
Then, the clicking and clacking of the railroad era, the sounds of the wheels on the train as it went down the tracks.
The free slaves moved to the city with a different rhythm.
The time the people were paid to play music.
He asked if any of the kids knew about fractions.
Then, he began telling us how the beats were fractions.
The kids blew their paper horns, and they beat on their coffee cans for drums.
They picked the rubber band strings on their shoebox guitar.
And shook their water bottles filled with bird seeds
In rhythm with Microwave Dave's music.
On Tuesday, we rode to Rogersville Library to see Microwave Dave.
Ava made a drum from an oatmeal box, a paper horn, and a shaker from a Mt Dew bottle.
We did a sing-along and played our handmade instruments with Microwave Dave.
We learned about the history of jazz.
Everyone had a good time.
July 24, Wednesday Day Trip to Corinth, MS
Today, we rode to Corinth, MS.
We stopped at the Visitor Center and were given information about sites in Corinth, MS.
We walked to the Corinth Train Depot and Crossroads Museum, which was closed.
I, too, have pictures of the 1924 American LaFrance Fire Truck and a sign of Caboose # 2994, a Civil War Corinth, big guns, and the Miniature Hurlbut Amusement Equipment Co. locomotive No 1009.
We stopped at the New Coca-Cola Museum. Outside was a carved giant wooden Coca-Cola bottle.
There was a buzzer on the door which, when pressed, released a locked door that let you inside a one-room museum.
The museum featured over 1,000 Coca-Cola artifacts, including a truck, soda fountain, Coca-Cola boxes, bottles, signs, and toys.
 |
| Ava at the Coca-Cola Museum |
In the front of the museum sat a Coca-Cola drink machine with small glass bottles filled with Coke products you could purchase.
That took me back to when a Coke cost 6 to 10 cents, not a dollar or more.
We stopped at the 15,000-square-foot Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center Museum, which features interactive exhibits and a memorial Garden for the 1862 battles of Shiloh and Corinth.
 |
| Ava at the Interpretive Center |
We stopped at the Corinth's Highway Hospitality Building, and I said the Crossroads Museum was closed.
The curator tried to call the museum, but no answer. She said it should be open, so we returned to the museum.
It was open, and the curator said her dog was sick and that she had taken him to the vet.
We paid the admission fee and walked through the museum.
We enjoyed the miniature running train display.
It was now lunchtime, and everyone was ready for lunch. Borroum's Drugs Store Diner was just a few blocks from the Crossroads Museum.
The dinner was hectic. We finally found a table where people had just finished eating lunch, with their dishes still on the table.
Our waitress finally cleaned the table and took our order.
I ordered a hamburger with chips, Ava ordered chicken nuggets and fries, and Hubby ordered a double cheeseburger with onion rings.
This was our last stop before starting for home.
It rained a little on us but not much, and it was evident by the time we left. It was still pretty wet when we got home but soon cleared off.
We had a great time, and the area was not overcrowded with people, which is so much better than fighting a crowd.
Ava had to get her picture taken with a slug at the park near the Visitor Center.
 |
| Ava and the Slugg |
Last week was their slug Festival, with slugs all around town.
Monday, July 29, Day trip to Danville and Hartselle, Al
Today, we went to town to pay for our utilities and get our B-12 shots.
 |
| Ava and the Jesse Owens statue |
 |
| Ava and Jesse Owens 26 feet Long Jump |
Then we rode to Danville by way of US 72 East towards Cullman.
We stopped at the Jesse Owen's Museum.
We watched the 1936 Olympics there and saw how Jesse Owen won the gold medal before World War II.
Before Hitler killed all the Jewish people.
It was a very moving story, and it helped me understand more about the Olympics then.
We walked outside, where we saw Jesse Owens's Statue, a replica of his birth home, and a replica of the long jump Jesse set a world record at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany.
 |
| Ava and Sequoya statue |
We stopped at the Oakville Indian Museum.
We saw arrowheads and other artifacts from the Mississippian, Archaic, Paleo, and Woodland Periods American Indians.
We saw a wooden carving of Sequoyah, a mixed-blood Cherokee who developed an alphabet or syllabary.
Ava was not impressed, for she rushed through it.
We bought her a bag of colorful rocks and a mood ring in the gift shop.
 |
| Ava and the Blues Brothers |
We stopped for lunch at Oh'Bryan's in Hartselle.
Ava and I ordered the special for eight dollars, and everything was included.
Ava ordered fried chicken fingers with fries and a doctor's pepper.
I ordered grilled chicken fingers and a sweet potato with iced tea
Hubby ordered a salad, steak potato toast, and iced tea.
We filled up with gas at Murphy.
And we stopped at Krogers for sodas.
We were home by 3:30.
