My husband followed me to Champion Chrysler in Athens, where we left the van to get the oil changes and to have them check why the back seat would not return to the sitting position.
We ate breakfast at IHOP in Athens. I ordered a banana, pecan waffle with whipped cream, and diet Pepsi, and my husband ordered hotcakes, two eggs over easy, and bacon with diet Pepsi.
Great breakfast, which costs us $20.56 plus tip.
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| banana, pecan waffle with whipped cream |
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| hotcakes, two eggs over easy, and bacon |
We left Athens, traveling up I-65 north, exiting onto hwy 64 at Frankewing, then hwy 64 to Fayetteville, taking hwy 50 through Mulberry, just past Lynchburg, 50 turns into 55 all the way to Tullahoma.
Our first stop was the Beechcraft Staggering Museum, 570 Old Shelbyville hwy. Hours are from 8:30 A.M. until 4:30 P.M., and the cost per person is $10.00.
We entered the lobby, paid, and visited the museums. There were three rooms of Beechcraft airplanes, a cabin, several miniature planes, and lots of memorabilia.
We saw a bright yellow Beechcraft NC-230 in the lobby.
Inside the museums were many different styles, colors, and sizes of Beechcraft-built airplanes, some with markers providing more information and many with names and aircraft numbers.
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| Yellow Gilmore NC230 |
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| Beechcraft Museum |
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| Beechcraft Museum |
On the cabin was a marker that read: The Louise M. Thaden Office and Library Building, dedicated to Louise M. Thaden, pioneer aviatrix, who held altitude, solo endurance, and speed records in 1929. The first woman to enter and the only woman ever to win the Bendix Race in Staggerwing C17R in 1936; Harmon Trophy recipient in 1936; and inspired the creation of the Staggerwing Museum Foundation Inc., June 14, 1974.
Inside the museum, in the hallway, is a photo of Mrs. Thaden and the 15835 airplane.
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| Mrs. Thaden and the 15835 airplanes. |
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| The Louise M. Thaden Office and Library Building |
We traveled to 401 S. Jackson Street to the Fine Arts Museum, but it was closed in July.
I took pictures outside, a historic marker, statues, and flowers.
Jane, Emma, and AFFA Aillet, the three sisters, businesswomen, and artists, owned and operated J & EA Baillet Millinery Shop, where they created original, fashionable ladies' wear and hats.
Ballet Home is now the city's regional Fine Arts Center. Sisters Jennie and Affa Baillet, and their parents, lived and worked here beginning in the 1870s. Jennie was an artist, and the family operated a millinery store downtown. They watched much of what happened in Tullahoma during its prosperous years between 1875 and 1925.
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| Fine Arts Center |
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| Fine Arts Center |
We travel to 101 Mitchell Blvd to the Science Museum, which costs $5.00.
Outside, we first saw the Goethert Observatory, on the door is a marker that reads:
Goethert Observatory
October 20, 1907 - March 29, 1988
Dedicated January 17, 2002
Dr. Goethert was a distinguished scientist, engineer, and educator, and was instrumental in the creation of The University of Tennessee Space Institute and the UTSI Observatory.
UTSI donated this observatory to the Hands-on-Science Center
For the scientists and engineers of the future.
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| Goethert Observatory |
In May 2008, the Landing Gear division of Goodrich completely refurbished the Goethert Observatory. This work included major structural repairs and the restoration of a ten- and twelve-inch telescope.
The Landing Gear Division of Goodrich is next door to the Hands-on-Science Center. Past donations include a complete landing gear display and the property that is now home to HOSE.
Along the path in front of the observatory were the planets Mars, Earth, Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Neptune, etc
Inside, we saw the planets floating above us, NASA's Space Station, & N201C Marion Cole airplane. We saw a turkey, a bobcat, a coyote, a fox, a beaver, and a bear.
On the ceiling were kids' handprints in red, orange, blue, yellow, and purple, some from the fifth-grade children of Robert E. Lee School in 2007.
We saw fossil coral found in Wagner Creek, Dioptase silicates, and many different sizes, shapes, and colors of quartz geodes.
We saw the Elements Table, the periodic table of elements.
We saw the world's heaviest & longest species of pine cones.
We saw many hands-on activities, including pipes of the pan, the shadow room, how clear can you see this, putting on a pair of glasses, and tossing a ball toward a target.
We saw the intestines of the human body and the brain tissue.
We saw many different colors and shapes of linking toys.
We saw a staircase that went to a mural door.
We filled a paper balloon with hot air.
I stood behind a Bug Eye bug statue to get my picture made.
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| Science Museum |
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| Science Museum |
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| Science Museum |
We saw three shelves of miniature airplanes that were tested/developed 10 miles away at the USAF Arnold Engineering Development Center AEDC.
We saw the US 1903 Wright Flyer, US 127 Ryan Spirit of St. Louis, US 1932 Gee Bee, US Goodyear Blimp, US P-51 Mustang, US Doc3 Douglas, Navy Hellcat, Army AC P-51 Mustang, Army AC B-25 Mitchell, and many more.
Live animals: a snake, a spider, and a lizard.
We talked to a couple of the curators; one was from Indiana, and the other was local.
I asked if they had ever visited the George Dickels Distillery. The woman said she had a friend who worked there. The curator said the tour is excellent and that you will have to hurry because the last tour ends at 3:30 P.M.
We got lost trying to find George Dickels Distillery. We arrived at 3:00 P.M. and walked inside.
The tour will not start until 3:30 P.M., which is the last tour of the day. We bought a 7UP and a piece of chocolate candy, and we sat down at a table to eat the candy and drink the 7UP.
I went outside and took pictures of the building, which had a sign reading: Provision, General Merchandise, George A.A. Dickels & Co., Cascade General Store, US Post Office.
I took a picture of the statue of George Dickels, the distillery, the Charcoal Ricks plaque, & the cabin. Inside, I took photos of our waiting room, the US Post Office in Dickels, Tennessee, the Souurmsh car, with writing on the side that read: Established 1870, Cascade Distillery, George A Dickels & Co-Founder, proprietors Geo & Augusta Dickels, and I took a picture of a couple of quilts.
The group of six was all taken on a forty-five-minute tour of the distillery. Our guide brought an umbrella, as there was a good chance of rain. Our guide said that if it starts raining, the tour will end, but it did not rain.
On the tour, we were shown the whiskey-making process and the barrel house.
At the end of the tour, we were offered the option to taste several different whiskeys for $10.00.
Hubby had to drive home, so we did not taste any whiskey.
They spell Whisky without the e.
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| George Dickels Distillery |
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| The cabin |
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| Taking the tour |
We were in Lynchburg when it started raining, and it poured buckets for several miles.
We stopped in Frankewing to eat dinner at Sarge's Shack, where I ordered a sirloin steak, sauteed mushrooms, and a salad with house dressing. Hubby ordered Rib Steak, a baked potato, salad, and Texas toast. It was perfect, and we both ordered a Diet Pepsi to go.
We got onto I-65 to Athens, where we picked up our Chrysler Van. No7 P.M., the salesmen were closing up shop.
We traveled home and were home within the hour.
Had a great time in Tullahoma. The day started out very hot and humid, over 90 degrees. After the storm, the temperature dropped to 73?
