Back Roads on a Cloudy Day

   Went out for a solo drive on the back roads of Middle Tennessee last Saturday. I do more scouting for places I want to come back and photograph when I'm out solo for a few hours than I do actual stopping. I am usually too afraid to get out alone or can't find a safe place to pull over. Still got a few interesting pictures.

Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day

   Maybe I already am a time traveler. Or perhaps my "past lives" are too prominent in my current life. Why else would I be so magnetically drawn to a different time? I just don't feel like I belong here. Surely I'm not the only person out there like this. Or maybe I'm just crazy and should be committed?

Dec 2, 1864 Captain Theodrick Carter of Franklin

   Captain Theodrick (Tod) Carter

 20th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Smith's Brigade

Bate's Division Cheatham's Corps, 

Army of Tennessee C.S.A.

   Born at the Carter House March 24, 1840 and educated at Harpeth Academy. He was an attorney-at-law and a Master Mason. Tod enlisted in Co H, 20th Tenn. Infantry May 1, 1862. Appointed Assistant Quarter Master on Oct 24, 1862 and served as a war correspondent for the Chattanooga "Daily Rebel" using the name "Mint Julep".

Small Business Saturday

   Small businesses, slowly vanishing. Find them today and give them business. Where would our country today be without them.
   Will you visit a small business in your town today?

Sam Davis, Boy Hero of the Confederacy

Sam Davis was a member of Coleman's Scouts, of the Confederate Army. While on a scouting mission, he was captured in southern Tennessee. He was held in Pulaski, TN for 7 days. He would not tell the name of his officers or who had given him the Union information that he was captured with, supposedly saying "I would rather die a thousand deaths than betray a friend." He would be hanged in Pulaski on November 27, 1863. He was buried in a cemetery there, but someone from his family came and retrieved his body and took him to his home in Smyrna, Tennessee.

The Real First Thanksgiving-in Virginia

   Despite what most people think or are taught, there was a feast to give thanks before the Pilgrims up in Plymouth had their infamous gathering. Of course, most people also think that Plymouth was the first English settlement in America-more people should learn about Jamestown and Virginia. The plantation just north of Jamestown, known as Berkeley, was the place where the first official Thanksgiving was held.

National Register of Historic Places

   The National Register of Historic Places was created in the United States in 1966 after the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act. The NRHP is the official list of buildings, structures, sites and districts that have been regarded as deserving of preservation. There are more than a million places in the register, with roughly 30,000 added each year. Inclusion on the list does not guarantee protection, and many properties are lost each year due to demolition and neglect.

On This Day 1864: Battle of Johnsonville

  On this day in 1864 was the Battle of Johnsonville, Tennessee, in the Civil War.
~~Old Johnsonville(quoted from historical marker)~~

Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge

   Opened in 1994, this is the first segmentally constructed concrete arch bridge in the United States, with sections being cast in nearby Franklin, Tennessee. It is located near the northern terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway that runs from west of Nashville to Natchez, Mississippi.

Historic Bridge Awareness Month

   The month of November is Historic Bridge Awareness Month. Old and historic bridges are being destroyed at an alarming rate. I understand that many need to be replaced by new bridges because the older ones are sometimes beyond repair. But I have also seen examples of those same old bridges being saved from destruction and given new life as pedestrian bridges. Rails to Trails and bike paths over those bridges that can no longer take on the weight of vehicular traffic. Please save historic bridges, they are just as important to the history of this country as any of the buildings that are saved from demolition.
   This month I will be posting photos of various historic bridges, some that have been saved, some that have been lost, and some that are in danger.

   ~Harrisburg Covered Bridge~ 400 yards south, this bridge was built over the East Fork of the Little Pigeon River in 1875 by Elbert Stephenson Early, an area resident who owned Newport Mills. The bridge had deteriorated and its loss was threatened until it was restored in 1972 through the joint efforts of the Great Smokies Chapter and the Spencer Clack Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
    This covered bridge, one of the few remaining in the state of Tennessee, was renovated again in 2004. It is located east of the town of Sevierville, north of the Smoky Mountains.
 

Photographing County Courthouses

   One of the things on my bucket list was to visit and photograph every county courthouse in the state that I live in, Tennessee. It might be a strange thing to put on a bucket list, but I'm a strange person. I love the architecture of these buildings, especially when they rise up from the town square of a small town in the middle of nowhere.

Why Do Places Become Abandoned?

   I am obsessed with "abandonment". I am not really sure why. One reason may have to do with my love of history. These places were once a place where people lived there lives. Of abandoned stores, they were a place of employment and where all the locals got their essentials. Perhaps they came to the store once a month, and maybe they even brought eggs from their farm to trade for flour and thread. Many stores were also the post office and a place to just hang out, talk to friends and neighbors, learn the town news.

Bruton Parish Churchyard in Colonial Williamsburg

 Here lieth the Body of Mr Joseph

Scrivener who was born at Oldney

in Buckinghamshire in England

and died here the 14th of October

1772 in the Fiftieth Year of his Age 

Obsession With Salem, Massachusetts

   I was not feeling well when we visited Salem, but it did not detract from my feeling of awe when seeing it for the first time. The sadness of the Trials memorial. The awesomeness of The Burying Point Cemetery, this rich history, the sense of familiarity from having seen the area on so many television shows. There were times I would just stand and look around, trying to take it all in, hardly believing I was really there. I know that I really, really want to return.

Liberty Tour Day 4: Beautiful Vermont down to Philadelphia

   If you have been reading these each day that I post them, I thank you. If you have stumbled upon this post as a first then welcome. Today I am writing about the last day of our quick four day trip from our home in Tennessee to New England. Arriving in Vermont the night before brought my 'visited states' total to 40. Despite my not feeling well the day before, I had a wonderful time and loved being able to form actual opinions on a place rather than relying on assumptions.

Liberty Tour Day 3: Maybe See a Lighthouse in Maine

 

   Leaving Salem, Boston and Massachusetts was sad for me. I'm not really sure that I could live there, but I absolutely want to visit that area again and again. But we were on a mission to visit all of the New England states, so on we went. 

Liberty Tour Day 3: Lost in Boston and Seeing Salem

   Bumper to bumper traffic at 6am going in to Boston, of course. Remember, I don't need no stinkin' gps, I got maps and instinct! Take Storrow Drive, sure, that sounds right. Charles River, ooh pretty! There's an exit for Fenway, take that! Oh, not Fenway Park...where are we? Wrong way, take a right at the next street, then another right, then a left, just a few more streets. I think. Yes! There she is, what a beauty!

Quick Trip down the Bristol-Memphis Highway

  A week or so ago, we took a "quick" trip to Sevierville to pick up Mom for something-er-other. I put "quick" in quotation marks because "quick" would mean the 3 hour ride along Interstate 40. But we actually had most of Sunday so we took Highway 70, the old Bristol-Memphis Highway, roughly from

Day 2: Galveston Island, Texas

There will be more day 2 coming, but we spent some quality time in Galveston and I want to post some of the better photos from there.

We watched sunrise on the beach and picked up a few shells along the way.

Drove by the new Pleasure Pier a few times.

We took the Bolivar Ferry back and forth, saw quite a few dolphins from the observation deck.

Stopped by the ruins of the supposed former home of pirate Jean Lafitte.

Bishops Palace, one of the many beautiful homes along the main road. Also one of the few survivors of the devastating 1900 hurricane that nearly leveled everything on the island.

Tune in tomorrow for more photos from Houston and surrounding area!

Finally a day trip!

  Hooray, we finally took another day trip! I will add some photos later this morning, but right now I want to write out our basic route.

  We started out driving the new full route of Tennessee State Route 840, which recently opened a new stretch to make it a complete half loop around Nashville.