Nashville Trip: Thursday

On Thursday, we continued our vacation with a driving trip to Lynchburg, TN and took a tour of a distillery. Here is my brother with a particular Mr. Daniel. Our family has taken several food and beverage manufacturing tours in the past, and it was especially interesting how this company took care of the smallest details. Here are a few photos from the grounds, the very hot stills building, the corn mash, and the drip-by-drip charcoal filtering process. We were even able to see the bottling, labeling and packaging lines.




Lynchburg was a beautiful little town. We parked in the small downtown area and visited some of the shops around the square. We also visited the Tennessee Walking Horse Museum (Ketra's favorite! OK, that was a joke.) And, we had a great lunch at the BBQ Caboose Cafe. The "Old Time Country Radio Show" is broadcast from the restaurant every Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. central time on 1580 AM, and the dining room is filled with pictures from various country stars who have visited. We enjoyed some DELICIOUS food... jumbalaya, chicken salad, sweet tea.... even some hot-out-of-the-oven pecan pie. MMMMMmmmmmmMMMM! We received a warm welcome and some genuine southern hospitality from the nice ladies there, and if I ever return, I'll be sure to include a visit to the BBQ Caboose in my trip.

Next, we drove through some beautiful countryside on the way to Columbia, TN to see President James Polk's home. I learned that the country accomplished quite a lot during his presidency: the U.S. acquired over 800,000 square miles of land and extended to the Pacific Ocean; the Naval Academy, the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian Institute were established; and the first postal stamp was issued... among many other events. I was reminded that President Polk died three months after leaving office, and I learned that he was baptized in that time. Very interesting!

We then continued back north on route 31 and saw several antebellum homes along the way to Franklin, TN. We arrived after most of the shops and businesses were closed, but I would like to return someday to visit the nearby plantations and farms.

That evening, we set out to hear some music, and we landed at the famed Station Inn. After our eyes got adjusted to the dark setting, we enjoyed looking around the place and seeing the performance posters. Here's one for the Darlings from the Andy Griffith Show (otherwise and originally known as the Dillards) which we appreciated very much.

We were there on a special night when the participants of a local bluegrass music camp were featured. So, after the instructors played and sang, it was time for the Nashcamp students to strut their stuff. Our family had a great time listening to the beginners (many of whom played their very first solos that week and whom were playing in front of an audience for their very first time) and the extremely accomplished musicians. While this isn't the best picture of the event, I think it captured the spirit of the night. Right away, I thought of some friends who would have tons of fun at Nashcamp, and I walked away with an extra bounce in my step. It had been a wonderful week of hearing live music, and it would be capped off the next evening with a visit to the Grand Ole Opry.