Saturday, May 31

Nashville, Tn.

Today we drove down to Franklin, Tennessee and visited the Carnton Plantation. Anyone that may have read "The Widow of the South" will know all about the plantation. We also toured the battle sites of the Battle of Franklin, known as the bloodiest 5 hours of the Civil War. Also the Carter house, unfortunately for the Carter family was practically the center of the battle. Also at the confederate cemetery on the McGavock property I found E.N. McGuire from Mississippi.

After leaving Franklin we drove to Murfreesboro for lunch and then back to the Arrington Vineyards. Back to Nashville and the RV park to check on Mitzee and take her for a walk and then we spent the evening downtown at the country honky tonks in Nashville. Had a great time, wonderful music. Wait until you see the hats Bill and I purchased. I can't pass for Brad Paisely......but close. Carol and I in front of the MaGavock home on the Carnton plantation.
The confederate cemetery
E. N. McGuire from Mississippi
At the Franklin battle site at the Carter home
The Carter home, 23 members of the family hid in the basement through the battle. One son, Tod was killed during the vicious fighting, he was a confederate soldier. A magnolia blossom on a tree at the Carnton plantationThe legends at the Stage on Broadway honky tonk. Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Lorretta Lynn.

A group playing at the "Stage". All members were great.... the fiddle player, singer and steel guitar were excellent. People kept coming in thinking that Brad Paisely and Alan Jackson were playing, these guys sounded that good.

Friday, May 30

Nashville, Tn.

After breakfast we took off for Steve & Norma place south of Nashville. Kind of foggy this morning, warm and humid. After visiting and playing with "Maxi" their new puppy we drove to the Arrington Vineyards. Arrington Vineyards are owned by Kix Brooks, of Brooks & Dunn. Very nice facility with a beautiful view of Tennessee hills. We sampled several fine wines and purchased a few bottles. After the vineyard we drove to Murfeesboro for a fine lunch at Demos. Very good food, the chicken and rice soup is excellent, one of those "secret" recipes. After lunch we went back to their home shared our farewells and headed back to Nashville. It was nice to see Steve & Norma again and visit their home.
Bill & Metha had arrived at the RV park by the time we returned. We spent the evening visiting and enjoying a couple bottles of wine.
Tomorrow we plan on going back to the Vineyard, the Carnton plantation and Franklin,Tennessee. Then maybe back downtown tomorrow night.

Carol at Steve & Norma's with their ferocious watch dogs

The entry to the Arrington Vineyards
Beautiful view from decks at Arrington
Fountain and courtyard area at Arrington
Sampling some fine wines
Thursday night at "Tootsies", Porter Wagoner Jr.

A Nashville historic landmark, Ernest Tubbs Record Shop
Another country group at a Honky Tonk bar in Nashville

Thursday, May 29

Nashville, Tn.

What a beautiful day.
We had breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, then went to the local Kmart, payed my Sears bill and picked up several items. After making a quick trip back to the RV park we took off for downtown.
We spent most of the day in downtown Nashville on Broadway. A fun bar with great live music "Tootsie's". Wonderful music and a great time.It was hard to leave but I'm sure we'll be back tomorrow or Saturday.
Arrived back at the the RV park after stopping at Camping World to exchange a product. The Rv park was having a barbecue with live country music. We ate dinner and sat and listened to more music for an hour. Music was good but nothing like downtown Nashville.
Today we're going to visit with our friends that live south of Nashville and then Bill & Metha (friends from Kalispell)should be here when we get back.

A small part of Broadway. "Tootsie's" is the building with the red car in front of it. Had a great time here and we plan on going back.

The band at "Tootsie's", drummer back in on the left. These boys can pick and sing.

Nikki Gardner, bar tender, singing a couple of songs with the band.....what a voice.

Nikki wanted a picture, so naturally I couldn't refuse her.

Crytal Shawanda, RCA recording artist, very good. Then this guy, can't remember his name walks in the bar and the band ask him to join them on stage for couple of songs. He plays and has played with major CMA groups. He was amazing with that guitar, then he left to the entire bar standing and applauding. I guess this happens all the time someone walks in and joins the band, they have pictures of just about everyone in country music at one time or another. We'll see who we see at "Tootsies" the rest of our stay.

Wednesday, May 28

Nashville, Tn.

We left Shepherdsville, Kentucky at 9:00 AM so we would make it in plenty of time for our 11:00 AM appointment at the Bowling Green Campers World. Well we made with plenty of time to spare. Shepherdsville is in the eastern time zone and Bowling Green is in the central. They were able to get us in a half hour earlier. The weather today was cloudy and scattered showers all day. Suppose to be nice and the 80's and low 90's for the next week.

The highways in Kentucky leave much to be desired, bumpy and broke up all the way down I65. They seem to change at the border. Paying 4.49 t0 4.59 for diesel, seems to be close to the same in both states.

We arrived at our new RV park around 1:30PM, set up everything and Carol did a little laundry. Then I decided to drive down and fill up the truck and Carol said she woould like to find a gorcery store. After filling up we headed south on the "Old Louisville" highway. Before we new it we were right in the middle of downtown Nashville. I suggested we get out and walk around, it was still early. We were standing on the corner of 2nd street and Broadway when I thought I should call Ryan and get the phone number of his close friend Jake, who had lived and worked in Nashville for a few years. Jake was very surprised when I told him where we were. We wanted barbeque, Jake said walk right up 2nd street to The "Wildhorse Saloon". WOW! , defintely warrants a second trip while we're here. Live music, 3 stories........a fun place and great food. After a couple of drinks and dinner we decided a walk was in order, so we walked up Broadway. I'm sure we'll be back.

We never did find a gorcery store. There is alway tomorrow

The RV park were in now, Nashville Country RV Park, is nice. People are friendly, wifi signal is good, finally have cable where I can watch some sports but probably won't be around much. Spaces are close together, but we've seen that before.

Having a beer at the "Wildhorse Saloon" . You get to keep the glass, if you get more beer they just refill your glass.

We ran into the "King" on Broadway.

Hard Rock Cafe a block from LP field.

Joe's crab house, where we parked.

Walking up 2nd Street.

Tuesday, May 27

Shepherdsville, Kentucky

This morning after breakfast we drove over to Clermont to visit the Jim Beam distillery. What a great way to start your day off, sampling Bourbon. The Jim Beam Distillery has been owned and operated by the same family since the late 1700's. We both enjoyed the tour and the country side. The 2 bourbons I sampled were a higher quality than Jim Beam Black. The smoothest was Knob Creek. The bourbon chocolates were a special treat.
After Jim Beam's we went back to Louisville to tour Churchill Downs and visit the Kentucky Derby museum. We went on a behind the scenes tour and there was only 4 of us so we saw and visited many places the general public never see. Jockey's locker room and shower room with custom installed shower heads (about 5 feet tall). The silk room, where the owners' silk colored outfits are hung. The announcers room, what a view from here. Press room where the press from around the world congregate. Millionaires row, The Turf Club plus much, much more. We were out on the track , in the stables. The tour was very special, I'm glad I let Carol talk me into going back. Our guide, a nice young lady, was very knowledgeable. We were both tired after exploring Churchill Downs.
After we returned to the RV park we had dinner and I had a nice visit with a another camper that owns a Cedar Creek. He was very enthused when I told him about our club. After dinner I started to pack up a few things. We leave for Nashville tomorrow. We plan on a quick stop in Bowling Green, I have an appointment at Campers World for an awning center support to be installed on the 5th wheel.
We really have enjoyed our stay in the Louisville, Kentucky area, wish we could have planned more time here.

Gate #1 at Churchill Downs

Jockeys dressing/locker room

Carol holding up the silks worn by Kent Desormeaux, the jockey that rode "Big Brown" to victory at this years Kentucky Derby

The stalls (horse locker room)where the horse's are saddled and readied for the big race.
Well Carol found her a hat for next years derby..........right!

The little statue of a jockey will have this years winning jockey's silk colors and the horses name on the base until next years Derby winner.
Here's what the finish line looks like at track level
This is the spot where all the horses are photographed with the jockey mounted and owners and trainer at hand. The entire area the horse walks from the stable down the long walk way and this photo area is padded with cushioned tile.

The courtyard behind the main gate
The Turf Club
At Jim Beam's distillery
These large buildings with a system for storing the oak barrels with bourbon for the aging process.

The Jim Beam home

Front yard of the home with the distillery in theback ground.

Monday, May 26

Shepherdsville, Kentucky

Today we decided to tour the Perryville Battlefield, the largest Civil War battle in Kentucky. It was approximately a 60 mile trip to the town of Perryville. A beautiful drive through the rolling hills and ravines of the Kentucky country side. We first stopped in the town of Bardstown, very old town but it didn't seem like much was open so we continued to Perryville. Several of the buildings in Perryville are from the Civil war era and the Mayor is a direct descendant of one the property owners where the battle took place. I won't get into the history of the battle, but there were over 7500 men/boys killed or wounded in this battle. It was a very violent battle, one surviving soldier said the ravine ran red with blood another said the hand to hand combat was so violent that footing was slippery because of so much blood. Can you just imagine the field day our present day press would have with a battle like this. Carol and I spent most of the day walking the different battlefield and skirmish lines with a map from the information office. The beauty of the hills, grassy fields, trees and flowers are overshadowed by the quietness and ere stillness of the battlefield. As Carol and I walked among the fields and up the hills I noticed and made mention to Carol that wherever there had been a large loss of life, a hillside, a ravine, a hilltop there was a large growth of wild white daisies. I asked the attendant at the office, who was a local historian on the battle, about the daises, she said they just grow wild.
After we left the battlefield we found the Jim Beam distillery. It was late in the day so we'll return tomorrow. We returned to the RV park it's about empty compared to what it was when we arrived.
Tomorrow we plan on going to the Jim Beam distillery and the Kentucky Derby museum.

Memorial for the Confederate soldiers that fell at Perryville

The Union soldiers memorial

At this point(ridge) confederate artillery lob shells to the ridge beyond the trees that had union artillery shooting back and down in the ravine. Down in the ravine were confederate soldiers trying to take the ridge. They eventually did but with considerable loss.
The ravine and some of the old fencing. Some of the small stone walls built by troops were still up.
The opposing ridge with the Union artillery. Union infantry were on this ridge and in a cornfield to the left of this picture. Noticed all the white daisies in the ravine and coming up the hillside.

the bouquets of daisies scattered the hillsides and ravines has if marking the sight of a fallen soldier.

The picket fence in the bottom of the ravine

Another field that was a corn field where the union infantry from Wisconsin was over run and almost wiped out by confederate infantry. Notice the daisies.

Starkweather's Hill, a strategic location where union forces fell back to.

Another battle site at Perryville. Donelson's advance, confederate troops were ambushed by union artillery and infantry from the ridge on the left and another on the right(not in picture). This is where a surviving soldier said the ravine ran red with blood.