Prologue
Our volunteer assignment this winter is at Ocala National Forest in north central Florida. Before we start there in early January, we will visit President Jefferson’s home in VA then Nashville, TN. Next we go back to Red Bay, AL for a few coach repairs at the factory then to Florida. We will visit Scott, Tara and the boys in their new house J then spend some time birding on the west coast of Florida. New Years will find us in the West Palm Beach area visiting friends and then it’s off to work at Ocala through the end of March.
Day 1 Monday 11/29/2010 On the Road Again
We have not lived in the coach since we returned from Texas last April so it is taking us a while to remember where things are. We said our good-byes to friends and family over the weekend and hit the road today. An uneventful 425 miles brought us to Lickdale, PA. Traveling in winter means arriving at campgrounds after dark so it was a bit of a challenge for Carl to flush and de-winterize the water system. All went well aside from a leak in the icemaker! I guess we’ll have to “Rough It”.
Day 2 Tuesday 11/30/2010 On to Monticello
A short but rainy, foggy drive brought us to the Charlottesville, VA area. We stopped for lunch at the Virginia welcome center at the West Virginia border. In the mountain of travel literature we picked up was information about the Book Fair, a huge discount bookstore. It was not far out of our way so we stopped and it was like we had died and gone to reader’s heaven. Two huge floors of books priced between $3 and $6 dollars. Less than an hour later we checked out with a box of 23 books.
Day 3 Wednesday 12/1/2010 Visiting Thomas Jefferson and More
It is easy to love Thomas Jefferson. He was the original 18th century techno-geek, always looking for new and better ways to do things, he sent Lewis & Clarke on their famous exploration and most importantly was one of the earliest advocates for religious freedom and the separation of church and state. Oh yes, he was also our first Secretary of State, second Vice-President and third President. And yet, with all of these accomplishments, he requested that his tombstone declare that he wrote the Declaration of Independence. His home at Monticello outside of Charlottesville, VA is a reflection of all of these achievements. There are Native American artifacts brought back by Lewis & Clarks, 18th century technical devices like dumb waiters to bring wine bottles up from the basement and his “polygraph” that made copies of his letters as he wrote them (he left about 19,000 letters!!!) and of course his tombstone declaring his proudest achievement. Monticello was a great tour. We also learned about Commander Uriah Levy, a distinguished naval officer whose love for Jefferson moved him to purchase and preserve Monticello after Jefferson’s death. Since Levy was a rare Jewish naval officer, it is easy to speculate that Jefferson’s advocacy for religious freedom greatly influenced Commander Levy. We next visited the home of James Monroe, our fifth President perhaps best remembered for the Monroe Doctrine which basically told the European nations to stop colonizing the Americas. Monroe fought alongside Washington and then was assigned diplomatic roles. Monroe’s home at Ash-Lawn Highland, adjacent to Monticello is a modest structure though it contains numerous artifacts from their time spent in France. On his first trip he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase with Napoleon. On his second trip he negotiated the release from prison of Mme Lafayette and Thomas Paine. Monroe was so popular that he ran unopposed for his second term. George Washington was the only other President to run unopposed. Our last stop was at Mitchi Tavern where we saw how roadside taverns operated in the early 18th century.
Day 4 Thursday 12/2/2010 It’s a Long Way to Nashville
Today was the longest drive of this entire trip. It is 505 miles to Nashville, almost all on interstate highways. It was an uneventful trip, made easier for Carl as he listened to podcasts to pass the miles. He only uses one earpiece so he can still hear what’s going on around us as we drive.
Day 5 Friday 12/3/2010
Nashville
We spent a wonderful day in Nashville, well named as Music City. Our city tour gave us the overall sense of the city and pointed out highlights like the Ryman Theater, Country Music Hall of Fame, Music Row where all of the recording studios are, the local radio station where Oprah got her start and Taylor Swift’s condo. Our tour guide was a musician named Otis who just returned from playing a gig at a music festival in New Bedford, MA. After the tour we visited the Hall of Fame where we viewed a series of displays chronicling the history of country music and its personalities and wonderful exhibits on Tammy Wynette and Hank Williams Sr & Jr. After dinner at a local BBQ place we visited a couple of bars offering live music (there are hundreds along Broadway in Nashville). Tonight was the Nashville Holiday parade so we watched that, a fun parade with floats and lots of marching bands. This is the Music City after all. After the parade we drove to the Opreyland Hotel and enjoyed their enchanting holiday light display as well as the huge hotel with fountains and waterfalls. Sandy said it was like a tasteful Vegas hotel! It was almost eleven when we got back to the coach; a pretty late night for us old folks ;-).
Day 6 Saturday 12/4/2010 The Hermitage and More Nashville
We slept late this morning. Carl did something momentous today; he applied for Medicare!! since he will be 65 in March, it’s time. Once on the road, the first stop was the Hermitage, the home of President Andrew Jackson. We enjoyed the tour and learned a lot about Old Hickory. Curiously, on this trip we have visited the homes of the 3rd, 5th and 7th presidents. After the Hermitage it was back to Nashville. We toured a few more bars soaking up great country music and concluded our Nashville visit at the Grand Olde Oprey at Ryman Hall. It was two hours of wonderful music interspersed with commercials. We had not realized that we were attending a live radio broadcast, one that goes back 85 years hence the commercials were part of the show. For us, Music City sure lived up to its name and we had a terrific time. Since Nashville is only 200 miles from the Tiffin plant in Red Bay, perhaps we’ll come back through Nashville again.
Andrew & Rachel Jackson's Tomb Front of the Hermitage
Day 7 Sunday 12/5/2010 On to Red Bay, Alabama
A short 200 mile drive to Red Bay, AL, home of the Tiffin factory where our Motorhome was built. We stopped for lunch at the Meriwether Lewis National Historic Site where the famous explorer is buried. It is believed that he committed suicide a short four years after completing his epic journey to the Pacific with his friend John Clarke.