Gatlinburg ... a Practically Unplanned Adventure! June 27 - July 5, 2009 About This Page:

[christiejay]

Continuing with Day 1 - June 27

Because we spent more time at Colbert Ferry than I had thought we would, I already knew that we would have to skip over the next trail to make up some time. So we crossed the bridge, and shortly came into some heavy rain in Tennessee. It was pretty rough for a while but never got so bad that we had to stop. I was really hoping to be able to drive the portion of the Old Trace that is in this area. We had done this in ‘04, but had to skip it in ‘06. I wanted to drive it today to get some pictures. But the closer we got to it, I realized we wouldn't be able to. The rain had slowed down but it was still raining, and that's no kind of weather to be driving on a 2 ½ mile dirt road! I was beginning to wonder about whether we'd be able to even have a decent picnic supper. But as we approached our supper site the rain cleared out just to a light sprinkle and eventually stopped.

Our traditional supper stop is Meriwether Lewis, milepost 385. It is so named because he is buried here. First going in, I got confused and we ended up driving around by the gravesite. (Not sure why I didn't get a picture of that! ) Going back out to the other road, we stopped at the exhibit building (log cabin) for the first time. We weren't sure it would be open this late (it was a little after 6:00), so Jay and Joshua stayed inside the truck while I went to check it out. It was open, but it wasn't so impressive that I felt the boys should come in to see for themselves. It was a small room (half of the cabin) with a few display boards about Meriwether Lewis. Perhaps "next time" I will get some pictures. After a couple of minutes I headed back out so we could go eat.

This is another of the 3 main stops on the Trace, and in addition to Lewis' gravesite area, it also has a free campground, trails and a picnic area. You have to drive about a mile in to get to the picnic area, and on the way in we wondered whether we would just have to eat in the truck, because I knew the picnic tables would be wet from the rain. We checked out the one table by the parking area, and it actually seemed to be dry - I guess the worst of the storm passed south of here. But Jay decided we should just tailgate. So he opened up the tailgate and we spread our food out on it and ate!

I got kind of bored just standing around eating my sandwich, so I started walking. While in the exhibit building I noticed that somebody had written in the guest book that the falls were awesome. I never knew there was a waterfall here. But as I walked to the end of the parking area, I could definitely hear some water. So I walked for a short distance up the trail to investigate. Nothing exciting, just where the stream went over some rocks on its way down the hillside, but you couldn't really call that a waterfall, and certainly not awesome. There were some other picnic tables in this area, which gave them a great view.

By the time I got back Jay and Joshua were about finished eating, so I asked Jay if he wanted to walk down to the river, just below the parking area but out of sight because of the hill. He wasn't so sure, he thought it wasn't going to be worth the short walk, but for some reason decided he would walk down there for a few minutes. And his reaction once we got down there? "Why didn't you tell me all this was down here?" It wasn't until I got back home and read my old trip reports that I realized that indeed, he had never seen this area! I had taken Joshua down there in ‘04 while Jay napped (he had worked all night the night before we left), and in ‘06 we were a little pressed for time so we skipped it.

At first we just walked along the river (we later found out it was the Little Swan Creek) and looked. I was amazed at how clear the water was. The way it was flowing gently over the rocks, at times you couldn't tell where the water began. We saw lots of small fish, and even crawfish in the water. Jay tried adjusting my camera several different ways to get a picture of them, but the pictures kept turning out black. We stayed down there a long time, walking a little ways in both directions. Joshua enjoyed throwing rocks in, and Jay picked out several smooth river rocks to add to our collection. Here's the pictures I took while we were down there:













After stopping off at the restroom we started driving back out to the Trace. But as we neared one of the scenic overlooks just above the picnic area, I saw that the sun was setting, so I asked Jay to stop so I could try to get some pictures. They didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped for, but I guess they're fairly decent:









This one is probably my favorite, the clouds are so cool looking:










Finally we got back on the Trace and headed north once again. But of course we didn't get very far! We pulled into the parking lot for the Sheboss Place, Milepost 400.2, because it had an interesting name and I wanted to check it out. But when we got to the parking lot, I wouldn't get out because this cute bunny was eating and I didn't want to disturb him!


Jay just rolled his eyes at me and we kept driving.

Up next: There's always time for "one more stop" ...

[lauren-roxy]

Another great update Christie!!

[chezp]

Another great update - beautiful photos of the clouds.

[pamcarey]

I really like the pictures of the creek! It looks like a pretty place!

[Colexis Mom]

Just getting caught up Christie! Great updates and great pictures!! More please!!

[Lemap760]

Where do you get all the information you have about which mile markers to stop at and such? I would take a road trip with you anyday.

[christiejay]

Thanks everybody!

Originally Posted by pamcarey

I really like the pictures of the creek! It looks like a pretty place!

It was very nice that day because we were the only ones there. In '04 when we first arrived there was still a large group there that had cooked out and been playing all day. Thankfully they left while we were eating, and then we had a chance to go down and check it out while it was quiet. I think this place is pretty popular with the locals.

Originally Posted by Lemap760

Where do you get all the information you have about which mile markers to stop at and such? I would take a road trip with you anyday.

Thanks! I always like to be organized, and know what my options are. Although I didn't do too much advance planning for this trip in particular, I still had notes and reference materials from our two previous trips so it was simple to fall back on that.

Where to find info about what's on the Trace? Since we live on the Trace, I can go to our local visitor center and pick up the official map/brochure anytime I want. Or if we drive down to Natchez to visit family, we can pick up one down there. There are some available at the main sites along the Trace. And since I have such easy access to the map, I never really gave it another thought! So I had to look around. I admit I never go to the official website, so I had to check it out before I could answer you.

Natchez Trace Parkway (U.S. National Park Service)

There are a couple of places here to get the same info - from the main page, click on To Receive Information By Mail and they will mail you the brochure. Or, click on Plan Your Visit to download a copy of the map that you can view and/or print. The information about each stop is on the reverse side of the map, which I don't see on their website. So you would have to request one by mail to read the descriptions of what's available. It looks like they show you the main sites on the website, in the Planning section (what to do), but you don't get the full listing online.

And this is the book I keep referencing: Amazon.com: Guide to the Natchez Trace Parkway (9780897325950): F. Lynne Bachleda: Books It's a few years old now, but not that much has changed with the actual stops along the Trace. Obviously the chapters that reference businesses in the neighboring communities might need to be updated, but the rest of the info is still valid. (Except for that gas station at Jeff Busby that was closed ... still haven't heard anything about that!)

[christiejay]

Continuing with Day 1, June 27

We drove a little further, and even though the sun had officially set, we thought there would still be enough daylight for one more quick stop - Jackson Falls, milepost 404.7. My book said that it is named after Andrew Jackson, and that even though there was a bit of a descent to the falls, it was paved, bridged and stepped. We figured we could handle that!

The interpretive sign:


For some reason I ended up getting ahead of Jay and Joshua so here they are catching up to me (trust me, it doesn't happen very often! ):


And here is the map on the sign, just before we got started on the main section of the trail:

You can see the gray road across the bottom is the Trace. Then you see the exit we took that went under the road and came up into a nice-sized parking area. And lastly the short trail that leads to the falls.

It was very easy to get down to the falls. Here are some pictures I took on the way in:
Looking over the handrail into nothing but forest ... you could hear water but not see any.


One of the bridges (and Joshua's head!)


Looking onto the opposite side of the trail ... I think I took this same picture on the way back out!


Just before reaching the final descent to the falls ... you can just make out through the trees the wall of rock that the water goes over, although the actual falls would be to the right of this shot.


You'll have to excuse how dark these pictures are. It didn't seem that dark when we were there, but because the trail leads down from the road into a heavily wooded area, and because the sun had already set, we didn't have much daylight left, and the light levels were really too low for picture taking. The falls were lovely, I wish I could have gotten at least one really good shot of them. I walked down past the falls to turn around and get a better view of them.

Jay and Joshua by the falls, if you can make out any water that is!


At this point Joshua said he had to go to the bathroom, so it's a good thing there were facilities at this stop. Jay went back up with him, I knew the boys could make it up the hill faster without me. I stayed behind to take some more pictures, trying to get closer and/or higher and find some interesting angles. That's what these pictures are:
The area where I was standing below the falls:


Um, yeah ... you can just barely see the water streaming across the rock in between the trees ... squinting might help


You can see the last bit of daylight peeking through the trees up there:


There was this interesting vertical rock


Unfortunately it had fallen victim to vandals :




Part of the waterfall ran down the straight face of this slab of rock and dripped off all along the length of it:








Then I figured it was time I better make my way back up the trail.


The climb up was pretty tiring. At least it is paved! I had to take a couple of rest breaks along the way. The boys were waiting for me at the truck. It was possible to walk the opposite direction to an overlook, and I had wanted to do that. I thought it was fairly close, but Jay said he had walked a little bit and it was going to be too far to do tonight. Turns out it was much further than I thought - and actually it just took you to the overlook which was the next stop on the Trace anyway, half a mile up the road. So it was no big deal that we didn't do it.

Shortly after this stop was another that we made before it got too dark - Water Valley Overlook, milepost 411.8. (Keep in mind that once we climbed back up from the waterfall we were back on "road level" so there was still a little daylight left to see by.) To get to the scenic view you had to drive down a short loop road. The Trace book mentioned that there was a picnic table here, and the only thing that spoiled the view was the TVA power lines! Well, as you can see from our pictures, that about sums it up.









Jay insisted on zooming in on the house on the far side, and since his camera has a more powerful zoom he did the honors:


I wonder what these people think of having their picture taken? This overlook was on the East side of the road, that is why the lighting is so different from the pictures I took of the sunset at Meriwether Lewis.

Up Next: What do you think a $40/night hotel room looks like?

[mcc0313]

Christine I just found your TR and I am loving it. The pictures are wonderful. Can't wait to read more.

[Katara81]

Great updates! I'm all caught up! Very nice pics.

[chezp]

Another great update and more beautiful photos.

[PrincessSharon]

Great updates, Christie! I would've been freaked out about the bees! I think my favorite part so far is the falls. It looks really peaceful there.

[christiejay]

Thanks everybody for keeping up so far! I appreciate all your comments.

[christiejay]

Concluding Day 1 - June 27

As you might be able to guess, there was "one more place" I really wanted to stop, and that was at the double-arch bridge toward the end of the Parkway. I thought I remembered a pull-off on the far side of the bridge, which gives you the opportunity to park and walk back to a scenic overlook of the bridge as it crosses over the highway below. Well, we were just a little too late to see it this time, as it did finally get dark. When we arrived at the bridge, we pulled into the parking lot, but we didn't bother getting out. For one thing there were no lights and it was way too dark. But also there was a sign there, as there is at many stops along the Trace, stating that the area was closed from sundown until sunup. So after quickly adding the site to our GPS listing, we pulled back onto the road.

One note about the wildlife we had seen today. This is almost guaranteed when driving the Trace! We saw a few turkeys and rabbits during the day. But at night we started seeing deer. And once, I looked up to see an owl in the road - at least it looked like he was sitting in the middle of the road! I freaked out, but he flew off before we ended up having a collision. Jay said that actually he wasn't sitting in the road, but had flown down to scoop up another animal that was in the road. I had been looking down for a split second and missed that part.

Finally we reached the end of the Trace at milepost 444. Here we took Highway 100 east into Nashville, and shortly thereafter turned right on Old Hickory Boulevard. This road sort of makes a loop around the south end of town and takes you past some beautiful homes (mansions) in the process - the Harpeth Hills/Harpeth Heights area. We took this road all the way around town, until it turned into Bell Road and went up past the airport and eventually met up with I-40. The further we drove, Jay kept asking me if this was our turn. The GPS wanted to take us onto an interstate, but my spirit of adventure wanted us to keep driving on the same road. Somehow I convinced Jay to stick with it, although I could tell he was tired of it. But if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have. When Old Hickory Boulevard turned into Bell Road it went down to just 2 lanes, and there were lots of traffic lights all along the way. So next time we will meet up with one of the interstates (either 24 or 65) and drive up to I-40 that way.

Well, the good news is that once we got on the interstate we were almost at our hotel. I think it was the very next exit we needed - Lebanon. All we had to do was cross over to the other side of the interstate, and the hotel was right there. A note on our schedule: I originally had us arriving at the hotel at 9:00. And we would have made it, too, except for two things. One, taking the extra time at the last couple of stops along the Trace. And Two, not getting on the interstate when we had the chance. We arrived at 10:15, which wasn't too bad. Jay went to check in, and it didn't take him very long before he was coming back out with our room keys. We were going to be on the back side of the building, so we drove around, only to find that most of their parking lot was roped off for resurfacing. So we put the truck in reverse and parked on the end of the building. It wasn't too far of a walk to our room, though, so it wasn't that bad. Plus we were on the first floor so we didn't have to fool with the stairs, or look for an elevator. We carried in the one bag that had our clothes for tomorrow in it, plus my overnight case, the cooler, and a few miscellaneous items we didn't want to leave out in the truck overnight.

Now, remember I had paid only $40 for this room, so I didn't know what to expect for the money. But I was pleasantly surprised when we went inside. Here's my pictures:
The view of the beds from the door:


Standing by the beds, you can see the desk, chair and entertainment center:

That's a flat-panel TV on the wall. You can see the microwave on the shelf. The large door on the right-hand side of the unit is actually a refrigerator - it was huge for a hotel room.

Looking from the same point into the vanity area.

In there you've got your typical iron and ironing board, hanging rod with a shelf above it and a hair dryer.

Standing at the vanity looking back gives you these two views:




I had to take a separate picture of the vanity area up close because I was so impressed with it:

I'm no expert on countertops, but I really believe this one was granite. It looks a little cheap in this picture (I should have taken another one even closer I guess) but it was very nice in person. Plus I loved the beautifully framed mirror. It was a very nice touch.

Jay put Joshua in the tub for a bath while I organized our belongings. (So I didn't get the chance to take a picture of the bathroom, but it was pretty standard. It did have a couple of nice features - a curved shower rod and an adjustable shower head.) As soon as Joshua was finished with his bath I got a shower and Jay went to Wendy's to get something to eat. He had decided to leave the truck parked where it was, since there were so few parking spaces available, and just walk to Wendy's which was right across the road. But when he came back he had Happy Meals from McDonald's! Turns out the inside of Wendy's was closed, and he didn't want to walk through the drive-through! He kept trying to get me to eat one of the two meals he had purchased, which I didn't understand because I never said I was hungry ... Eventually he ate the second meal too.

So we thought that our room was pretty nice, although it needed some new furniture - you could see scratches here and there, and a couple of the cabinets or drawers didn't close exactly right. But for only $40 I thought it was quite a bargain. It would have cost $45 without the AAA discount. It was clean and we had no problems whatsoever during our brief stay. I spent some time trying to organize my papers and things, and make sure we had what we would need for the next day. Finally it appeared that all was in order, and I went to bed.

Up next: Day 2- Our Journey Continues

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Christie!! I hope it's not bad things to come!!

ETA: I guess we posted at the same time! Glad the room turned out to be okay!!