Life in the olden days

Nashville, TN – Today was a day for high collars and cravats, and hoop skirts and bonnets. Actually, fleeces, gloves, and parkas were more like it to ward off the very chilly temperatures that descended on us overnight.

We had booked a bus tour with Peter, the GrayLine rep, yesterday – remember how thrilled he was to have customers?  Well, last night we had a call to tell us the tour was off, because we were the only ones who’d signed up.  The plan had been to visit the Hermitage, President Andrew Jackson’s estate, and BelleMeade Plantation, as part of a six-and-a-half hour bus tour. Fortunately, we had what we needed to take the tours anyway – on our own.  It was a very worthwhile day.

The Hermitage wasn’t far from the KOA campground, so we went there first.  We were met at the front door of the mansion by Jim, dressed with a collar, cravat, caped black coat and….earmuffs!  Not quite vintage garb, at least from the chin upwards, but essential on a day that hovered around freezing.

The gracious rooms inside gave us a glimpse into the lifestyle of the 7^th US president in the years after his retirement. He was in poor health, we learned, from a bullet that lodged near his heart following a duel when he was 39 and remained there till his death at age 78.  We were amazed at how many things he accomplished throughout his life, especially considering this major challenge.

We strolled along the pathways of the estate, and saw examples of buildings where Jackson’s many slaves lived, plus the garden where the president and his wife are buried.  The Hermitage was a large and busy farm in his day, but now the fields have been replaced by huge expanses of lawn which, in warmer weather, will most likely be beautifully green.

After a quick lunch, we set off for BelleMeade Plantation, to the south and west of the city.  We would never have found it without the GPS, which took us on so many twists, turns, pikes, parkways and interstates that it made our heads spin!

As we waited for our guide to show us through the mansion, we chatted with the only other couple in our little tour group.  They were the Olsons from Olympia, Washington, and they told us they’d come to Nashville to see their two sons perform the song they had composed.  “Sunrise”, by the Olson Bros Band, had won a national songwriting contest, and the boys won $5,000 and a trip to Nashville to perform it and meet with some agents.  They were clearly very proud parents.

Inside the BelleMeade mansion were large rooms with high ceilings, opulently decorated with brocades and crystal chandeliers, carved wooden furniture, ornate ceramic vases, and silver tea services.  We were allowed to walk right into each room (instead of peeking in the doorways, as we did at the Hermitage) and examine the everyday objects of their lives, such as quill pens, leather-bound books and bone china teacups.  It was quite an eyeful, but afterward Val declared he was “plantation-ed out” for the time being!  So we’ll check that off the list for a while.

Music in the streets

Nashville, TN – A misty, fresh-washed morning greeted us today with a clear, peach-coloured sky and not a trace of rain.  While Val went for his shower, I strolled over to the office to find out about things to see in Nashville.  I was introduced to Peter, the GrayLine bus tour representative, at his little desk.  I guess bus tour organizers don’t have a lot to do on a Tuesday in early January, because he nearly fell over himself with delight at having a customer to serve.  It was a bit of a challenge for him, because we had hit the high points on our last visit in 2011, but he had some good suggestions.

For today, we decided to drive downtown and stroll along Broadway Street, where we could stop in at the restaurants and bars that offer live musicians throughout the day.  It was a bit early for lunch, so we headed north toward the State Capitol building, and went inside to see about a guided tour.  Crowds of men and women in business suits were flowing through the doors as the guard checked our ID, greeting each other like it was the first day of school, so as we waited with them to catch the elevator up to the main floor, we asked a woman next to us what was happening.

She told us it was the opening day of the legislature, and she was an aide for Dr. Joe DiPietro, the president of the University of Tennessee, who was standing next to her.  She graciously introduced us, and he told us he was there to find out about funding for his institution.  We felt a bit like party crashers in our casual clothes but no one gave us any sense that we were not welcome.  It was kind of exciting to see state representatives in their finery, all set to start a new year. 

The building itself was quite grand, with paintings of previous governors on the walls, and sculptures of President Andrew Jackson and President James Polk set into niches near the large marble staircases.  We learned that slaves and convicts quarried, shaped and transported the limestone blocks that went into the building’s construction in 1845.

Just a block or so from the capitol building was the Tennessee Museum – and admission was free!  So we spent an interesting hour looking at artifacts from prehistoric times through to pioneer days and the antebellum era.  There were exhibits about US territorial expansion, Davy Crockett, and early lifestyles.

Music was spilling out of the restaurants back on Broadway when we got back, and we stopped at Rippey’s BBQ restaurant for a pulled pork sandwich.  A girl band was just packing up on the small stage when we got there, and another started to set up while we ate.  By the time we finished, they were just starting up, but we were not inclined to linger for too long.  Not every performing group skyrockets to the top from their first gig!

Back at the Nashville KOA, one of us made use of the laundry facilities and the other opted for a siesta, followed by a map-and-computer session to figure out the next couple of waypoints on our journey. With brochures, guidebooks and the internet, it’s not hard to assemble all the information we need!

Mother Nature's car wash

Nashville, TN – If there was the slightest trace of Ottawa road salt anywhere on our car or motorhome, deeply tucked away in some crevice or groove, today’s drive took care of it totally.  Great swaths of rainwater swept over every surface of both vehicles for all of the 140-odd miles we covered on Interstate 65 between Elizabethtown and Nashville.  Val cranked up the wipers to full speed several times, and back to regular speed, and only a few times to occasional speed when the rain let up a bit. Both vehicles are now gleaming as if they just rolled out of a carwash – and it was free of charge.

In spite of the inclement weather, we’re happy tonight, because for the first time since our departure, we get to sleep in our own bed with our own comfy pillows and cozy duvet inside our little home on wheels!  We’ve set up at the Nashville KOA where we stayed in 2011 on our way to Arizona, so there are some familiar landmarks as well.

Setting up again after putting the RV in cold storage (so to speak) over the winter takes some doing, because the plumbing system is filled with pink antifreeze and every single household item that could freeze (dishwashing liquid, frying pan spray, toothpaste, you name it) has been removed.  Also, we haven’t used any of its amenities for several months, so we have to relearn where everything is and how everything works!

In addition, we had to stock up on everything from bran flakes to salad fixings, and when you’re shopping in a store where all the brand names are different, it takes almost twice as long (do they have white tuna packed in water? Which brand of peanut butter has the least sugar? Where do they keep the raisins?).  However, we managed to find everything on our list and cart it all back and find places for it all, so we’re back in business.

It’s not exactly warm here.  Frederic, the young man who registered us, said there was snow in Nashville a couple of weeks back, and the forecast low overnight for the next few nights is going to dip below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, so we’ll be using the furnace for sure.  Good thing we filled up the propane tank when we pulled in.  Still, it is much milder than we’ve felt in a long time, and when I stepped outside a few minutes ago, I actually heard the chirping of a robin nearby!

After our challenging shopping trip, we decided to treat ourselves to dinner out at Cracker Barrel, a popular restaurant in these parts.  The chain provides down-home food like meatloaf and biscuits in a country home setting, featuring a huge open fireplace and decorated with farm implements and vintage signs.  It was so comforting to enjoy a hot cup of tea and a good dinner after a damp afternoon.

Kentucky's rolling hills

Elizabethtown, KY – It’s only been a few days, but we are already feeling the embrace of the south in many small ways.  First of all it was the fare at our breakfast buffet this morning—hot biscuits with sausage gravy, and packets of instant grits where you’d normally find oatmeal (although there was oatmeal as well).

Then it was the gentle twang in the receptionist’s words when I called to make our hotel reservation this morning – punctuated with “honey” – and the huge letters painted on the water tower in Florence, next to the Interstate 75 as we drove along: “Florence, y’all!”  And tonight, at the Cracker Barrel restaurant where we went for supper, we enjoyed catfish served with more hot biscuits, and encouraged our server, TJ, to keep chatting so we could enjoy his charming southern accent.

Probably the nicest development has been the warm weather.  We actually saw the sun for a good part of the drive today, and aside from a few icicles on some rock faces we passed, there was no sign of anything frozen!  Our winter jackets were really too much for the short walk to the restaurant this evening.  I left my scarf and hat behind.

Our route took us through Cincinnati – Ohio’s third largest city – and across the Ohio River on the same road we’d traveled coming back from New Orleans last spring.  From that point, though, we turned off the I-75 and headed southwest into Kentucky and toward Louisville.  This city is named after King Louis XVI of France, and is most known for being the site of the Kentucky Derby.

We took the I-75 into Louisville and followed the GPS instructions to connect with I-65, but in all the profusion of concrete arteries through the city centre, we ended up hearing a plaintive “re-calculating” from the device when we thought we’d followed the instructions correctly.  So, after a bit of a detour through some secondary roads and a few stressful words between pilot and co-pilot, we found ourselves back on track.  We are so spoiled to have a machine that can pinpoint our position from a satellite hovering over the planet and (eventually, anyway) get us to our chosen destination!

Elizabethtown is just south of Louisville, just off Interstate 65, and the town is named after the wife of its founder, Colonel Andrew Hynes, who established a homestead here in 1793.  Kentucky is a very pretty state, with rolling hills, streams and farms, and that famous blue grass that is so nourishing for the horses that are raised here. We are enjoying the sight of green fields, and I imagine Kentucky must be a lovely place to visit in the summer months.

 

Blow ye winds

Springboro, OH – We are just south of Dayton, Ohio tonight, after a very wet and windy drive.  There was a thick fog in Windsor this morning when we pulled away from the hotel and headed for the Ambassador Bridge, which would take us into the United States. (Today's picture is of the bridge as we saw it last year, returning to Canada.)

As we crossed the bridge we could barely see its huge trusses and cables, so getting any kind of view of the area was out of the question.  I was hunched forward in my seat, trying to read the directional signs for RVs through the mist and fog as we approached the border crossing.  Even though I could make them out, we still had to be redirected by an attendant!  Someone should go through all those hoops with the eyes of a newcomer so they could see how unclear the signage actually is!

Our border official was unsmiling and terse as he shot questions at Val and requested a look-see inside the RV, opening the bathroom door in case we were harboring any fugitives in the tiny space.  Still, we were not searched beyond that, unlike the van ahead of us in the line.  So we bid farewell to our native land and headed past the factories and mean streets of Detroit, shrouded in the mist, dodging some sizeable potholes along the way.

Sudden gusts of wind made Val grip the steering wheel a bit tighter as we left the urban areas and passed fields and farmhouses.  The windshield wipers got a good workout today as well.  At least the temperature did not dip to freezing levels, so it was just wet, not icy.  We actually caught glimpses of green grass in some areas, even though it had been extremely cold and snowy only days before.

Our route followed Interstate 75 the whole way.  Michigan went by quickly and we then entered Ohio, passing through Toledo and on toward Dayton.  The concrete walls at the Dayton interchanges were decorated with space shuttles and biplanes to remind us that we were passing through the area where the Wright brothers’ airplanes first slipped the surly bonds of earth. 

There’s an airplane museum nearby where visitors can actually take flight in a replica of the first plane.  Val said he was really not tempted to see what it was like seeing the ground drop away from a machine made of rags and old bicycle parts.

Springboro is a suburb south of Dayton where the country’s most affluent neighbourhoods can be found, although we didn’t see them from the interstate.  The town was also a way station for fugitive slaves using the Underground Railway to find freedom.

Brisk winds were still whipping our hair about as we walked from the hotel to a nearby restaurant for dinner.  We were glad to get back to our room afterward, armed with hot drinks from the dispensers in the lobby.  Nice touch.

Westward ho!

Windsor, ON – If you were headed out on a long, long journey and wanted to start it right, you probably wouldn’t find a better way to do it than we did yesterday. We spent our first night out in Acton, ON with a couple of dear friends, Scott and Mary Jane, who not only wined us, dined us, and put us up in a cloud of down-filled comfort, but also pulled out maps, guide books and travel photos of their trip to California and filled our imaginations with wondrous ideas of where to go and what to see. 

To back up a bit, we got up bright and early yesterday morning to accomplish all the last-minute tasks in the house and in the motorhome. We were blessed with a clear day that was comparatively warm after many days of bitter cold.  That made hitching the little Honda FIT to the back of our motorhome a lot easier, since the best way to make the connections properly is with bare hands. We pulled away at last, around 9:30, and headed for the open road. 

Highway 401 was clear and bare and the sun shone most of the way, except for a cloudy patch shortly before we reached Toronto that swirled a few snowflakes about us.  Once we got past the big city, we could see, in the bush, grim evidence of the recent ice storm that crippled the area over the Christmas holidays. It reminded us of Ottawa’s storm back in 1998 – and of Mother Nature’s amazing ability to overcome such challenges.  Now, in the Ottawa area, there is little evidence of the damage that looked so terrible all those years ago.

Cleanup crews with trucks and equipment were clearing broken tree limbs and debris in and around Acton when we arrived shortly after four in the afternoon.  Scott came out and hopped in his van to lead us to a parking area near their home where he’d arranged for us to leave the motorhome and car overnight, and then drove us back to the house.  That’s when the wining and dining, and a wonderful evening of catching up on news and adventures, began.  We had so much to talk about that it was hard to tear ourselves away and get some sleep.

The aroma of bacon, eggs, toast and coffee greeted us this morning, and we sat at Scott and Mary Jane’s new kitchen island while they completed breakfast preparations.  Scott also concocted a spectacular smoothie for us to take with us, made with carrots, kale, bananas, blueberries, cranberries, chia and flax seeds, yogurt, ginger and coconut, all liquefied in their Vitamix machine!

A soft snow had fallen overnight, so we had some sweeping off to do on our rig.  We had hoped to be able to swing the RV and car around in one arc to exit the parking lot, but it was just too tight!  So we unhitched the car, made the turn, and hitched it up again.  It didn’t take too long, and then Scott led us to the turnoff where we parted ways.

The highway was messier today, and it was foggy for a while on the 401 headed for Windsor, but later on the ceiling lifted and the road cleared a bit. The clatter of ice plates flying off the roof of the RV startled us the first couple of times as the temperatures rose, but now the snowy cap is gone, to our relief – and we don’t think we sent any vehicles behind us into the snowbanks with the debris!

Watch this space!

Here's a picture of our motorhome and car when we were heading home from the south last year.  You can see the slide out the back of the RV, where our bed is located, and the hitch that allows us to tow our little Honda FIT.  It was a great trip, and in a few days Val and I will be starting another; this time we will be heading west to California and back!  Hope you'll follow along with us on another travel adventure.  Coming soon.