Summer 2012 the kids spent a few days with the grandparents while James and I enjoyed a wonderful trip to Nashville, the Rainforest Cafe, the Parthenon, and a trip down the Natchez Trace. This was a wonderful mini vacation. There is no doubt that this trip needs to be made again with the children, maybe someday soon. The trail was beautiful. We started at the top and went to Lawrenceburg Tennessee. We stopped at every possible stop along the way. The first stop was the trace head. There were bikers everywhere, the kind with and with out motors. Next, we make a quick stop to see the following bridge and then on to Franklin. Franklin is a beautiful town. They were preparing for a Blackberry Jam Festival. Best that I could tell this is a bluegrass festival. We did not tour anything in this town because they wanted money, but there was a beautiful home/ museum named the Carter house and a civil war battlefield. I would love to go back someday.
The next stop was the Carter house. This home was used by Ms. Carter as she raised 11 children while her husband was away at war. The house was all boarded up but the area was gorgeous. would love to have a garden and a fence like this. We also got to ride on the original Trace that the pioneers took many years ago. It was a one lane road that went for about 2 miles. At the beginning of this ride was a beautiful tobacco barn.
There were two waterfall stops of the trail. The first is known as Andrew Jackson Falls. Due to the drought it was nearly dried up. James got sung by a wasp which I had made mad by runnning my hand along the rail. The funny thing about this hike is that we initially stopped one place and hiked 1/3 mile to the next parking, lot hiked back, got the car, drove to the site, and then hiked the 900 feet to the falls. We felt like hot idiots. NO we were. But it was fun. The second falls pull off was beautiful. It actually had water. We also visited a creek along the way. The water was perfect for swimming on such a hot July day. I had on jeans and James did not want to wet his sandals so we just dipped out fingers in and went on our way.
The last memorable stop was Meriweather Lewis's grave site. I learned that Lewis died of a gun shot wound. There is question was to whether it was self inflicted or not. He was to be traveling back to Washington DC with journal papers. His papers did finally make it to Washington. This location has the house where Lewis died. A park ranger is stationed there to answer any question about Lewis and his life. This stop was very educational and we will visit here again, maybe even camp as there is a great little national park campsite. there.
The day ended was a look at Lake Laura, a beautiful place for fishing and camping. (camping is only for those who come to fish). Then home. Wow we were tired but it was a great day.
